Star Crossed Liars ✔

Chapter Forty Two

"NO!" I shouted, lunging forward as Graves slumped to the floor. 

I grabbed onto his tongue, looking down his throat as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Though, my attempts were futile. Even I knew that one he had swallowed the pill, there was no way he was going to survive. I fell backwards, 

"There's nothing I can do," I breathed, pulling my hair back from my sweaty face. "He's as good as dead. A specially crafted suicide pill, a mixture of wolfsbane and silver, practically burns you from the inside out."

"Shit," Orion swore.

"The best we can do is stay here with him, in case he decides to spit out one last thing before he dies," I whispered, as if Graves could hear me anyway. "Besides, I don't think it would be very nice to leave him to die such a painful death alone."

It was a gruesome process to watch. His eyes went white, the very edge of his iris showing from the top of his eye. His body completely fell to the ground, writhing and slithering around, though his bones were already turning stiff and hard. Foam started to pour from his mouth as all the colour drained from his face, his skin sinking into his skull as the blue veins shone. His whole body caved in on itself, skin taut over cracking bones. A burning sensation rose through my throat, feeling immediately sick. But I did nothing, only patiently waiting with him. I spared a glance to Orion, whose face had already gone green and was facing the other way with his hands on the wall and head hovering below him.

The foam erupting from his mouth slowly started turning red with blood. That's when I knew he was close to the end.

He reached out his hand in slow jagged movements, his mouth permanently stuck open with a clear expression of death. I hitched my breath. He was dying, and yet he was reaching out for me. All I could think of was that if I was him, if I was dying, bleeding out from the inside on the enemy's floor, completely alone knowing that the very cause I was believing in was coming to an end, I think I would want some form of support. So I grabbed his hand, his bony fingers clasped with mine as his nails dug into my skin.

"I just... wanted... peace," He forced out, uncomfortably spluttering. His entire body stopped and started as if his nerves were short-circuiting, and then, nothing.

I pulled his hair back in an attempt to check his eyes, feeling the creepy, cold texture of his skin.

"He's dead," I forced out, "It's over,"

I pulled myself and slightly rubbed Orions back, "Sorry," He forced out, "It's just... I didn't think it would be like that."

"Don't worry, most people can't watch it." I assured him, "But I didn't want him to die alone."

Orion took a moment, lifted his head before shaking it off. "We need to go, the others are waiting in the meeting room, and we have a lot to plan, especially with everything he's told us."

The stone hallway was empty as we rushed through it, the only sound was the echo of my feet against the floor. As I felt the sunlight on my face, I took a deep breath, ridding my lungs of the musty, polluted oxygen that I had been breathing.

Just as Orion had instructed, the others were waiting in the meeting room.  Ivy was leaned against Julian, practically asleep. Val was anxiously picking at her nails and Lia was muttering something to Gabe. 

As we walked in, their eyes went straight to us,

"What happened?" Gabe asked immediately. 

"He's dead," I updated grimly, "Suicide pill since we refused to take care of him. He told us everything in the expectation that we would hide him from the rogues."