Chapter 152: she will die?

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: she will die?

The water reached his waist, then his chest. He sucked in a breath at the sudden warmth against his chilled skin, his muscles slowly relaxing despite his lingering distrust. Once he was fully submerged up to his neck, he turned toward Amelia, who stood at the edge with her arms crossed.

"Now what?"

"Go under."

He stared at her. "You’re not even going to tell me what I’m supposed to do down there?"

"Nothing. Just stay under for a couple of minutes."

"And if I can’t?"

"I’ll pull you out."

He drew a long breath and moved toward the deeper part of the pool. Then he hesitated, turning to give her one last look.

"Just so we’re clear, if I start drowning, you’re pulling me out immediately."

"Yes."

The warm water closed over his head.

For the first few seconds, Caleb concentrated on holding his breath. He could feel the water moving gently around him, but there was no sharp chill, no discomfort beyond the familiar pressure in his chest as he tried to remain still.

Then a strange tingling spread through his fingertips.

He opened his eyes.

Tiny points of light drifted through the water around him. They were pale and almost translucent, floating slowly past his face like glowing dust caught in a breeze. One brushed against his hand, and a faint shiver ran up his arm.

Caleb frowned and turned his palm over.

Another light drifted close to his wrist before dissolving into the water. More appeared around him, gathering in greater numbers until he could see them moving through the pool in every direction.

He should have been wondering how any of this was possible.

Instead, something deeper caught his attention.

A strange sensation stirred beneath his ribs, so faint at first that he almost mistook it for the discomfort of holding his breath. It felt as though something inside him had begun to wake up after a very long sleep. The feeling spread slowly through his chest, then down his arms and into his legs, leaving a peculiar warmth in its wake.

Caleb’s brows drew together.

What was happening to him?

The sensation grew stronger. It wasn’t painful, but there was an unfamiliar pressure building inside him, something that seemed to reach beyond his body and tug at a part of him he couldn’t quite identify.

He tried to focus on the glowing lights, but they blurred before his eyes.

His thoughts began to drift.

He no longer seemed aware of the water pressing against his skin or the ache building in his lungs. The strange pull inside him grew more insistent, drawing him toward something he couldn’t see. It was as though the pool had opened a door somewhere deep within his mind, and something on the other side was calling him toward it.

Caleb closed his eyes.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then—

He gasped.

Air rushed into his lungs so suddenly that his chest hurt. He stumbled forward, coughing as he tried to catch his breath, his hands flying to his chest.

But he wasn’t in the pool anymore.

He stood in a place he knew better than almost any other place in the world.

Moonfist Territory.

Yet the moment his eyes settled on the figure lying in the war field, his entire body went rigid.

A man was sprawled on the floor, one arm twisted awkwardly beneath him. Blood had spread across his clothes, pooling beneath his side and streaking the polished surface. A blade protruded from his chest.

Caleb couldn’t breathe. Because the dead man was him.

For several seconds, he could only stare. His mind refused to make sense of what his eyes were telling him. He took an unsteady step forward, his gaze fixed on the lifeless face, searching for some detail that would prove he was mistaken.

There was none.

"No..."

He saw the person standing over his body.

Someone he had trusted. Someone he would never have imagined capable of doing something like this.

His lips parted, but no sound came out.

Why?

The question burned through his mind, followed by a dozen others. How did this happen? Is this truly the future? This has to be fake right?

He tried to step forward, desperate to get a better look, to understand what had happened.

The corridor blurred.

Caleb jerked as the scene vanished around him.

Suddenly, he was somewhere else.

His gaze landed on Amelia, in a bloodshed battle field.

She lay on the ground, her body still. The three Ellington brothers were gathered around her, and the expressions on their faces made Caleb stop cold.

Enzo knelt beside Amelia, his hands trembling as he held her. His face had lost all its usual composure, his grey eyes fixed on her with an anguish Caleb had never seen in him before. Reid was beside them, his face drawn and pale, one hand wrapped around Amelia’s as though he could somehow keep her there by refusing to let go. Dean knelt close to her other side, his head bowed, his shoulders rigid with the effort of holding himself together.

None of them looked as though they knew what to do.

And Amelia...

Caleb’s stomach twisted.

Her body was beginning to dissolve.

Tiny particles lifted from her skin, glowing faintly before drifting away like dust caught in sunlight. The change spread slowly, stealing pieces of her away while the brothers clung to what remained.

"No," Enzo said, his voice breaking. He bent closer to her, shaking his head as though he could deny what was happening. "No, don’t do this. Stay with me."

Amelia’s lips moved.

She was speaking to them, her expression strangely peaceful despite the tears gathering in her eyes. Whatever she was saying, it sounded like a goodbye.

Caleb couldn’t hear a word.

He stepped forward.

Caleb had known they cared about Amelia. It was obvious in the way they watched her, the way they constantly hovered around her, and the way they seemed ready to challenge anyone who upset her.

But this was something else entirely. Whatever they felt for her ran far deeper than he’d ever imagined.

He took another step.

An invisible force caught him around the middle and dragged him backward.

Caleb stumbled, his eyes widening as he fought against it.

"Wait!"

He dug his heels into the ground and reached toward Amelia, but the distance between them only grew. The harder he struggled, the stronger the pull became. He could see the particles drifting from her body, could see the brothers refusing to let go, but he couldn’t reach any of them.

"Amelia!"

The scene stretched away from him.

He tried to move forward again, panic rising in his chest, but the force yanked him back so violently that he lost his footing.

Then everything disappeared.