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BAZ
Lamb pulls away from the man he just drained, and looks back at me, grinning.
“See? It’s not that hard,” he says.
I shudder and struggle to keep my gaze steady. “I can’t do that,” I whisper.
“Sure you can! Now, let’s find you some real food,” he smirks, gesturing for me to get in the car with him. I do, reluctantly. “Let’s prowl the town, like true vampires! I can teach you so many things you can’t even imagine right now.”
Minutes too late, I realize we are driving away from Las Vegas and into the desert, where I know all my friends are waiting. I finally understand his motives. He must have found out where they are.
“Turn the car around,” I snarl.
He chuckles. “I was just thinking how long it would take for you to realize what we will be doing. To be completely honest with you, we are just going there for one person.”
I know exactly who he is talking about.
“No,” I say definitively. “Kill me instead.”
“We both know that would be nowhere near as fun for me, would it?”
“I can’t believe I took so long to see you for who you really are, you fucking bastard. You betrayed me!” I can barely keep my voice from shaking.
Lamb says, “Yes, all right, I’ve betrayed you. Just keep your cool, Baz, and you’ll live to hate me for it.”
I’ll live. Simon won’t.
SIMON
Baz should be coming now. He’s taking too long. What if something happened? I turn to Penny, and she gives me a reassuring smile. It’ll be okay, she mouths.
Then, I see two figures on top of the dunes. One is obviously Baz, his lean but muscular physique recognizable from a distance, and the other seems to be Lamb. Oh, shit. He motions to someone behind him that none of us can see, and moments later, a group of vampires enter our line of vision.
Once they all see us, Lamb signals them to halt. Lamb leans into Baz and says something.
I can’t tell what he is saying, but they both look at me - one with malice, and one with pain. Lamb puts his arm around Baz with a grin, like they are best friends. Baz just stands there, completely still. I see horror in his eyes.
I think I know what is about to happen.
BAZ
“Do it. We both know I will kill him if you don’t,” Lamb whispers into my ear. Tears stream uncontrollably down my face. I shake my head, and think I’m sorry at Simon.
“All right, then, let’s do this my way,” he says with a shrug. He orders me to stay where I am, and steps towards him, licking his lips. I watch his fangs pop.
No.
Before I know it, I throw Lamb to the ground and lunge towards Simon. I pull him into my arms, holding him tight. I kiss him as I run my fingers through the bronze curls I missed so much. He sobs into me. We fall to the ground.
“Just bite me. Finish this, right now,” he says, baring his neck. “Save yourself.”
“Simon, how can you say that?” my eyes widen in miserable disbelief. All I can focus on is his mole. It’s perfectly round and dark brown.
“Just do it! It will be easier for everyone!” he yells through his sobs. I can’t process what he said. How could he think that? I look into his eyes to see if he is serious. He is.
Simon takes a deep, shuddering breath and looks away as I take my gaze back to his neck and lean in. I can see the blood rushing through his veins, I can almost taste it on my tongue. But I don’t bite, I kiss him. I kiss him as much as I can. I have a bad feeling in my gut, so I try to remember every inch of the boy I love with my whole heart.
I realize that I’ve never told Simon I love him, not in a way he believed. Not in a way that he could let in and hold on to.
You were the sun, and I was crashing into you.
Everything he is to me. That he is everything.
I’d wake up every morning and tell myself…
“I need to go,” I say. “I need to end this,” I try to pull myself away.
“No, Baz, stay with me,” he holds me closer, digging his fingers into my back like claws. I force them off, and get up. He reaches for me, weeping. He doesn’t know how much I love him. He’s never really heard it.
I’d tell myself…
“If anything happens, I love you,” I tell him with a sad smile as I walk towards Lamb.
This will end in flames.
SIMON
Will that be the last thing he says to me?
One of Lamb’s disciples drags me up to stand, and pulls my arms behind me. I struggle to escape, but he is much stronger than me, and I just waste my energy.
I yell for Baz, but the vampire cups his hand around my mouth, silencing me.
BAZ
We circle each other, our pearly-white fangs on full display. This continues for a few seconds, and then he lunges at me with more speed than I had expected, and I barely have time to move away. I swing a kick at his side, but he anticipates it and uses my momentum to throw me off-balance. I am constantly on the defensive as he moves with swift, calculated aggression.
“You will never be good enough for that boy,” he says after I narrowly dodge his punch, an evil grin on his face.
His words catch me off-guard. He knows that was the low blow, and we both know that what he said is true. Simon is so good, so pure. I, on the other hand, am a monster. The devil in love with the angel. The self-hate I suppressed for so much of my life resurfaces. I see red.
“He is too blind to see you for who you really are,” he continues, knowing that he is getting the reaction he wants.
I freeze involuntarily. He sees my moment of weakness, and catches me in a headlock before I understand what’s happening. I can’t breathe. I claw at his arm, leaving deep scratches in his porcelain skin.
“Let me make it easier for your little Chosen One to let you go,” he spits into my ear. With lightning speed, he draws a dagger from inside his suit, and leaves it deep within my stomach.
Everything goes black.
PENELOPE
I watch, paralyzed with horror, as Lamb drops Baz’s limp body on the ground, blood seeping out of his gaping wound. He wipes his hands coolly as he walks away.
Simon rips away from the vampire holding him. His legs carry him to Baz’s side, and he crumples to his knees in the spreading puddle of crimson.
“Baz, wake up,” he cries, cradling his head in his lap. He strokes his jet-black hair with a shaking hand and stares at the dagger. He knows better than to pull it out.
“B-Baz!” his voice cracks with desperation. Tears fall from his eyes and land on Baz’s forehead. He presses both hands to his stomach around the weapon and tries to stop the bleeding. The intricate roses on Baz’s shirt are barely visible in all the red. He draws a weak breath, and violently coughs up blood.
“Somebody help him!” Simon’s scream is heart-wrenching, dismal. His eyes have a manic glint to them, and he looks at each one of us, waiting for us to do something.
But no one moves. We all know Baz is beyond our help. Even my magic can’t bring him back. I lean into Shepard, quietly crying into his shirt. He puts his protective arm around me, but it doesn’t bring any comfort. It just reminds me that my best friend will never get to feel Baz’s reassuring arm around him again.
BAZ
The sky is a cloudless, cerulean blue. I never paid much attention to it before.
SIMON
He is paler than ever. The features of his face become more sunken, and his cheekbones protrude further than normal. Even his hair loses its beautiful silky shine.
“Baz, baby, open your eyes,” I cry, gently patting his cheek. He does, tries to focus on me, and closes them again.
BAZ
The sand is warm. I like how it heats my back.
SIMON
He is slipping away from me, and I can’t do anything to stop it. I haven’t needed my magic more at any time in my life. I am an empty shell. Completely useless to the world. The Chosen One… ironic, isn’t it.
My tears splatter over his face and mix with the blood coming from his sallow lips.
If anything happens, I love you. That’s the last thing he said to me. And I never got to say it back, not when he could still hear me.
I fold myself over him, my broad wings enveloping the two of us like a cocoon.
“Baz, I love you… I love you, I love you, I love you. Wake up, baby, please,” I whimper, cupping his face in my hands. The only thing I care about is keeping him alive.
BAZ
There’s a familiar smell around me, and I can’t figure out what it is. It’s smoke without the glowing intensity of a fire. Then I hear him, but I struggle to hear what he’s saying.
Simon Snow.
SIMON
I pull Baz close to me. There is less blood coming out of his stomach now, so I know the terrible, imminent end is near.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” I repeat the words like a mantra.
I can feel Penny’s hand on my shoulder, but I elbow her away and turn all of my attention back to Baz. He is the only thing that matters. Right now. Always.
He tries to open his eyes again, and that somehow brings me more will.
BAZ
His eyes are a bright blue. Bluer than I’ve ever seen them. Like the sky.
PENELOPE
“Simon, let him go,” I say, but he doesn’t hear me. He holds Baz even closer, and listens to his ragged breaths with an ear to his chest.
It’s a miserable sight. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling right now. Even though I know it won’t help, I cast all the healing spells I know.
“Early to bed and early to rise! Get well soon! Good as new!” I recite on repeat, but my words bring no results. I step back, tears in my eyes.
BAZ
You were the sun, and I was crashing into you.
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”
I finally understand what he is saying.
I’d wake up every morning and tell myself…
It brings me the relief I didn’t know I needed.
I’d tell myself…
I’m finally free.
This will end in flames.
SIMON
His face relaxes, and his body goes limp.
This is not happening.
Baz can’t be dead.
No.
PENELOPE
Simon’s scream rings through the atmosphere. He clutches Baz’s body. He rocks back and forth, gently stroking his hair. He howls in agony, as if he can feel all the pain in the world.
Baz is really gone. I can’t believe it.
I embrace Shepard, squeezing him as hard as I can. He holds me close, and I can feel his tears seep into my hair.
I wish I could do something. I think this is the first time in my life where I truly have no idea how to help my best friend. Like a coward, I turn away into Shepard’s muscular chest, letting my emotions go.
I feel extraordinary heat on my back.
SIMON
A strong rumble charges through my body. It’s different from anything I’ve felt before. But somehow still familiar. My mind clears. My hands buzz. I realize what it is.
Magic. My magic is back.
I feel like I always do when I am about to go off, but this time, I actually see the golden glow radiating from me. This whole experience is new. Before I know what I am doing, I pull the dagger out of Baz’s cold body and hurl it aside. I press my hands to the wound, and channel all my energy into him. This is my last chance to bring the love of my life back.
I am more powerful than I have ever been. I feel everyone’s stares on my back, but I don’t care. I focus on Baz. The way his skin feels under my hands. The way my magic seeps into him. I love you, I love you, I love you, I repeat in my mind. The words really are a mantra now.
The glow brightens, and I feel the intense heat. My breaths are deep. I am the most powerful mage in the history of magic, and everyone knows it. No one can stop me. Not Lamb, not his entourage. No one.
PENELOPE
I have never seen anything like this before. Simon is brilliant, and I have to shade my eyes to keep looking at him. His magic is back! His red wings are spread wide, as if he is about to take off into the sky.
I suddenly feel like everything around me is being sucked towards him. When he went off before, I haven’t felt like this. It’s like I’m being pulled to him.
He screams, but not in pain.
He is pure power.
Is Baz opening his eyes?
BAZ
Simon really is the sun now. He shines so bright, I can’t look at him without squinting. He is golden, like I always imagined him in my dreams. The most beautiful boy in the world, alight with magic.
I feel his heat within me, and smile weakly.
Then the world explodes in flames.
PENELOPE
There is fire all around me, but it doesn’t touch me. It even moves away when I step towards it. It’s as if Simon cast a protective spell on the people he loves when he reached his magical peak because I see that Shepard and Baz are untouchable, too.
Lamb and his crew, however, are not so lucky. They try to pat away the flames engulfing their clothes as they run away. One of them casts Make a wish!, and the fire around them disappears. They flee the desert.
SIMON
The inferno around me continues to blaze. I try to put it out, but I just seem to feed it with my magic. I begin to panic. What if my friends are already dead? What if I killed them all?
But then Penelope walks towards me, the flames parting for her. Shepard is by her side. I sigh in incredulous relief. Did I do that to them when I went off, or did she cast a spell on us? She smiles at me, and then at something behind me.
“Look around,” she grins.
“What?” I say, confused. But I turn anyway.
Baz.
He sweeps me into his arms, holding me to his chest. I can’t believe what I am seeing. I gaze into his deep grey eyes before kissing him like I did that night in the forest. I feel electric. I feel my own energy coming from his body. I feel magic coursing through my veins.
I pull away, and smile wider than I ever have before.
Baz is alive.
BAZ
The fire reflects in Simon’s eyes, it looks like an ocean is in flames. It’s like I am looking at him for the first time, which I guess I am, in a way.
This ends in flames, just like I predicted. I pull out my wand, and glance at him. He nods, and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Make a wish!” my voice booms, and the wall of fire extinguishes immediately. I look at Simon, and remember the first time we did this, that day when the dragon attacked Watford.
“I love you,” he says, a single tear streaking down his cheek. “I didn’t think you would ever hear me say it.”
I kiss him instead of replying, and let him take the lead. Simon runs his fingers slowly and gently down my body, eventually getting to the bottom of my bloodstained shirt. He pulls it up. I look down at him, and then see the thin scar where Lamb’s dagger pierced my skin. He lifts the shirt even higher, and we notice that my buckshot wounds are gone, too.
I meet his loving gaze, and pull him into me.
“Thank you for saving my life,” I whisper into his bronze curls.
He levels his face with mine, staring into my eyes for a long moment, and kisses me. I interlace my fingers with his and squeeze. He squeezes back.
SIMON
The sun is beginning to set. Penny, Shepard, Baz, and I climb to the top of a dune and watch as the sky turns pink and orange. We all sit side by side, and Baz’s head is on my shoulder. I cannot believe I used to take moments like these with him for granted. I rub my head against his affectionately. He smiles. I sigh deeply as I wrap my arm around him.
I look over at Penny and Shepard, and my heart fills with warmth as I see them sitting identically to us. He hugs her close, and kisses the top of her head.
We feel safe, even though we know there are many dangers waiting for us ahead.
In this moment, we are untouchable.