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CHAPTER ONE

Sole decision can result in a cascade of actions that you never intended This was one of those ti my life, not even when I felt like there was no way to survive the pain of losing , re myself to breathe, and that to to resolve itself if I could just survive the h the day But, so ed on me and my love for this boy

It wasn't only my fate that depended on this one decision - it was the fate of mankind Until then, I didn't see how my affection for Collin could possibly condemn the world and unleash the apocalypse, but now I did Collin's prone form breathed silently next to me after Kreturus took possession of his body The ancient deh lesions that were inflicted by the lesser deed There was nothing that could have prepared me for this moment, because there was no preparation for a decision like this

My life or his

And whose life was it? Whose life was I taking? Was he Kreturus or Collin? Had the demon invaded his body and taken over histhere helpless There was no way forfor Collin to wake up And no matter what, that was a terrible idea If Collin were awake, he could talk towas all right and that we could be together now

There is no way I'd ever forget what I'd seen, that Kreturus was actually inside of him But, how could I kill the one I loved? He was part ofinto his chest No, this was the only way And I knew this wasconfrontation between me and Kreturus, and that I needed to do it before Collin awoke

An internal signal erupted inme what to do - what I had to do If I reame would be over There would be no one left to carry on my role as the Prophecy One and cause the end of the world There would be noKreturus' plans This was like a ga would be vulnerable

Sing hard, I pushed back the fear that was choking htly incould destroy both angels and demons Its poison did not discriminate It was lethal no matter who touched it

The fang was poised over my heart, and ready to strike

There was no hesitation in irl in the prophecy, and this was the only way to ensure it would never come to pass Without my tainted blood there would be no one to free Kreturus Without lanced at Collin as hter around the silver tooth Every muscle inneeded to pierce my heart It was the only way for the poison within it to kill me instantly The hout my body In one heart beat I would die In one heart beat the prophecy would end I breathed deeply, one last breath, as every ounce of rage, every broken hope and shattered dream came to the front of my mind

And I swung

It was an action that I would undo, if I could It was this act of martyrdom that created a ripple effect in the pond of my eternally screwed-up life This one selfless act is what ultimately led to the corruption and de didn't piercehappened so quickly that it's difficult to say exactly what happened But, as the fang swung towardscream erupted and I was knocked to the floor The tooth collided with soet Instead, the fang caught the skin between my breasts, as a hand tried to stop me But, the force and speed ofsliced a U across my chest and up into my shoulder Cri It cut through me like I was made of butter My flesh hissed as if it were burned The blue sapphire seruether withmy chest

My words were incoherent screams at first, as I doubled over I didn't knohat happened How did Ipain of the poisoned fang, I sahat caused my aim to falter

Collin

His blue eyes ide and panic stricken He was speaking, but I couldn't understand what he was saying The pain was too intense to focus on anything else His words sounded like babble, and made no sense to me As I writhed on my side he reached forwaves as his hands extended toward my wound with an expression of terror on his face He kneeled overdown his face I finally understood what he was saying His unfatho

He was screa, "Ivy! What did you do?"