The Legend of the Eight: The Twisted (Book 3)

16: Do Not Go Gently

SIXTEEN: DO NOT GO GENTLY
MAY 7
KATE DIAMOND

SHE DIDN'T LOOK AWAY WHEN he caught the Stone. She didn't look away when the light in his face faded away and was replaced by an unsightly, sickly gray color. She watched in horror as his hands seemed to age before her eyes, turning gray and veiny. Over her shoulder, someone cried out for him. But she wouldn't turn to see who. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Liam!" Cam was the next person to shout and he began climbing over fallen shelving units to reach him. Liam had fallen to the floor, sitting with his eyes wide and his hands on the Vacancy Stone as it syphoned the magic out of him. Cam reached him moments later and snatched the Stone out of Liam's hands, returning it to the bag which he then slipped on his shoulder.

Liam remained seated, blinking but not speaking. His mouth hung open like he was in the middle of the world's most dramatic gasp but quickly, Kate's vision blurred with tears.

"We have to—" she tried to say but the words wouldn't form on her lips. "We—"

"Cam, give me the Stone," Wil barked the order in the face of panic, taking over the leadership role that Liam usually held. "Then you and Drew grab Liam. We have to get him back to the house."

Cam and Drew did as they were told and then Wil, with the bag on her shoulder again, turned to Chloe.

"Call your brother. Tell him we're on our way back. He has four hours to fix a potion that's going to save Liam's life. And Liam?"

Very weakly, Liam lifted his head to look at her.

"Stay alive, okay?" Wil told him, climbing out of the room with the others. "We're going to fix you. You just have to hold on."

BACK AT THE HOUSE, DAMON worked in the kitchen while Liam laid in his bed, looking worse and worse as the hours ticked on. He survived the drive from the Armory back to the house and Kate spent the entire time holding his hands and begging him to hold on.

There wasn't much she could do for him once they got back. In fact, there wasn't much anyone could do. Damon had tested three separate potions on Liam though neither seemed to have the desired results. At that point, he was relying on educated guesses as there was no recorded cure for contact with the Vacancy Stone and every wizard who ever touched it died reportedly hours later.

But they weren't giving up. Cam, Logan and Nicole devoured the library of books that Kate's parents left behind while Chloe helped her brother with the potions. Phoebe worked with Drew and Wil to understand how Wil was able to survive when she lost her magic though it didn't seem their research was proving successful. Kate opted to stay at Liam's bedside—she couldn't bear the thought of leaving him alone—and held conversation after conversation with him to keep him alert and awake.

"You're going to be okay, Liam. Do you hear me?" she said, sniffling through her tears while she squeezed his hand in hers. "You have to be. You're our rock. You're my rock. So you have to be okay. You have to pull through this. For me."

Liam coughed through a chuckle, smiling at her while he laid in his bed. His aquamarine eyes hung heavy and weak but he kept them locked on her.

"You have to stop doing that, you know," he said, still smiling. She frowned, confused. "You have to stop assuming that I'm going to do whatever you ask me just because you add a for me at the end of it. Because I will, just for the record."

She wiped under her nose. "Liam, I'm serious. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're Liam. The Golden Boy. The leader. We can't do this without you. I can't do this without you."