The Lycan King's Muse

Ep 72: The Cost of Love

There is no heartbeat I can hear.

"No... no... no..."

I use my power to feel every wound in Lyall's body. Deep or shallow, I close them all, stopping his bleeding. Then I return all the bruises on his skin to normal. I fix every broken bone and torn ligament.

But no matter what I do, the heart doesn't beat. And his skin is getting colder.

"No no no."

My tears drop to Lyall's face one by one.

Still. No heartbeat.

"No!"

I bang on Lyall's chest, hoping that it will restart his heart again.

But it doesn't.

"No..." I whimper, no longer able to control the tears drenching my face. I bury my face in his chest. His wounds are all patched up but his shirt is still soaked in blood. At this point, I don't know if my face is sweet from his blood or from my own tears. I grip his shirt so tight that my knuckles are turning white.

"No..."

I forget about the other people in the room as I wail in tears. This isn't fair. He came for me, he fought for me, and he helped me breathe again in the sea of my own making. And now the world is telling me I took too long to heal myself to save Lyall? That the world couldn't even spare me just one more second with Lyall?

Regret washed over me as I keep repeating in my head how awful I am for not being fast enough in breaking the crystal. That even though Lyall told me to take my time, I should have... I should have–

My trail of thoughts stops when someone touches my hand. I look up to a glowing figure right in front of me. Unlike the white light from before, this glow doesn't hurt my eyes. Yet it prevents me from making out the face of the figure. All I know is that the figure seems familiar.

"No, Mars," the figure says in a feminine voice. I recognize the voice as the same voice of the witch that helped deliver Ed's ash to me. "Don't beat yourself up for needing to take time to yourself."

"But Lyall is..."

"I can return your mate to you," the Goddess says, "But returning a life comes at a cost. When I returned Sky's life, it came at a cost to your daughter too."

"What?"

"Rest assured, it won't affect your daughter in any way. It's just that she won't be able to access her magic until she is of age," the Goddess explains, "But Sky was a Shadow Walker, and because shadows stay in this world, it was easier to resurrect him. While resurrecting a lycan warrior will cost more magic."

"What are you saying?"

Despite the glow around her which makes me unable to see her eyes, I know I am looking at her eyes.

"You would need to exchange your power with your mate's life. I don't know how much power will be taken in the process, but there is a possibility that you'll lose all your magic."

I blink.

"My dear Mars, I wanted you to go to the Lycan Kingdom so you can recognize the power within you. And you have bloomed so wonderfully. Lives come and go, and death is inevitable. So you don't need to–"

"Deal."

The Goddess takes a moment to process my answer. Again, despite not being able to see clearly, somehow I just know that she is blinking at my words.

"You'd give up your magic just like that? You haven't even explored the entirety of your magic. You don't know what you're truly capable of."

I return her grip on my hand. "Not just like that. He isn't just anybody. And I don't need any magic to feel special. It's a low price to pay to get Lyall back."