로그인Chapter 189Lucas’ POVThe hospital hallways smelled of antiseptic and panic. My hands were still sticky with Damon’s blood, drying now, cracking against my skin every time I moved my fingers. I didn’t even realize I’d been pacing until Hannah gently touched my arm.“Lucas,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “please sit down.”I couldn’t. My knees were locked, my chest tight, my ears ringing with the sound of the gunshot that refused to fade. The red stains on my shirt looked darker under the harsh hospital lights. I stared at them, feeling like if I just rubbed hard enough, just maybe… I could erase the last hour.The doors to the emergency room swung open.The doctor stepped out. His scrubs were stained too with red and brown, and I hated that I noticed that detail. His face said it all before he even opened his mouth.I froze anticipating his response, hoping for a positive feedback.“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, eyes lowered. “He lost too much blood. We tried everything we coul
Chapter 188 Lily's POV The flashing red and blue lights painted the night in chaos, strobing across faces frozen in horror, across the scattered debris of what should have been a perfect evening. Hands grabbed me — rough, cold, metallic cuffs clicking tight around my wrists with a finality that should have terrified me but instead only fueled the fury burning in my chest. I could hear the panicked voices, the shouts of the crowd, the echo of sirens bouncing through the square like war drums announcing my failure. "Get off me!" I screamed, thrashing against the two officers dragging me across the pavement, my heels scraping against the ground as I fought their grip. The feathers of my peacock costume scattered around me like torn wings, beautiful plumage reduced to trash littering the street. How poetic. How perfectly symbolic of everything that had gone wrong. "You don't understand! I didn't kill who I wanted to kill!" The words tasted bitter on my tongue, acidic with disappointme
Chapter 188 Lily's POV The flashing red and blue lights painted the night in chaos, strobing across faces frozen in horror, across the scattered debris of what should have been a perfect evening. Hands grabbed me — rough, cold, metallic cuffs clicking tight around my wrists with a finality that should have terrified me but instead only fueled the fury burning in my chest. I could hear the panicked voices, the shouts of the crowd, the echo of sirens bouncing through the square like war drums announcing my failure. "Get off me!" I screamed, thrashing against the two officers dragging me across the pavement, my heels scraping against the ground as I fought their grip. The feathers of my peacock costume scattered around me like torn wings, beautiful plumage reduced to trash littering the street. How poetic. How perfectly symbolic of everything that had gone wrong. "You don't understand! I didn't kill who I wanted to kill!" The words tasted bitter on my tongue, acidic with disappointme
Chapter 187Piper's POVThe sirens wailed closer, the blue and red lights flashing against the chaos, painting everything in alternating strobes of color that made the scene feel even more surreal, more nightmarish. People were crying, whispering, recording—phones held up like they were documenting a show instead of a tragedy, and the sight of it made bile rise in my throat—but all I could see was Damon.Lying there in Lucas's arms, covered in blood that seemed impossibly dark against the grass, against his skin, against everything. Too much blood. Far too much.The man who confessed his feelings even when I wasn't ready to hear them, standing there vulnerable and honest while I hid behind confusion and fear.And now, he was slipping away right in front of me. "You have to fight, Damon!" I sobbed, my voice raw and breaking as I crawled closer on my hands and knees, not caring about the blood soaking into my dress, not caring about anything except getting to him. "You have to make it
Chapter 186 Damon's POV Everything was blurry. The world had turned into a slow, bleeding haze of color and sound—sirens, screaming, the muffled thump of footsteps. But above it all, I could hear Lucas. He was shouting my name over and over, his voice cracking like it hadn't in years. I wanted to tell him to calm down, to stop making that sound…it hurt hearing him like that... that was a different kind of pain altogether. But my mouth wouldn't move the way I wanted it to. My body felt so heavy, like I was sinking into the earth. Like gravity had decided I belonged somewhere beneath the surface, pulling me down with invisible hands. My limbs were lead weights, unresponsive, disconnected from my brain's desperate commands. I could taste blood, it filled my mouth every time I tried to breathe. My chest burned, each inhale shallow, ragged. The air wouldn't come properly anymore. My lungs felt like they were full of something thick and wet, drowning from the inside. Every breath was a
Chapter 185 Lucas' POVDamon had a faint smile on his face. That's what destroyed me most , it was heartbreaking and wrong, weak and fragile, almost peaceful, like he'd accepted something I refused to acknowledge. Like he was saying goodbye. His lips were pale, drained of color, and they curved upward just slightly at the corners as he struggled to breathe. Each inhale was a wet, rattling sound that made my chest constrict with terror. "Stay with me, Damon… stay with me," I begged, my voice cracking under the weight of panic I couldn't control anymore. The professional mask I always wore, the composed exterior I'd perfected over years — it was gone, shattered completely. "Don't you dare close your eyes. Look at me. Damon, look at me!" My hands pressed down hard on the wound, fingers splayed wide, trying to cover as much area as possible. But the blood wouldn't stop. It just kept coming, soaking through my fingers no matter how much pressure I applied, warm and terrifyingly stead







