Gabriel suddenly kicks Beast in the legs, temporarily sending him backwards.

“Fuck you, Charlie.” Gabriel stands to his feet. “This was never personal. It was both our faults.”

“It was your fucking fault!”

Gabriel swings his fist against Beast’s head, but it doesn’t make an impact. He returns the blow with ease.

I move closer, balancing my weight as the rain falls harder.

I watch in horror as they trade bloody blows, feeling my heart drop with every step I take.

“Stop!” I yell. “Please, stop!”

Neither listens to me, and just as Beast is picking up a jagged spire and aiming it at Gabriel’s eye, a bolt of lightning strikes them both.

They fall to the ground at the same time, and the lightning strikes them again.

And again…

When it finally stops, they’re both lying lifeless on the ground and smoke is rising from their bodies.

No, no, no…

Isabelle is suddenly behind me, sobbing uncontrollably.

She rushes over to Beast in tears, burying her head against his chest.

Too stunned and heartbroken to speak, I peel off my drenched coat and press it against Gabriel’s head wounds.

Bright red blood soaks through the fabric, and his lips turn blue.

“Please don’t leave me here alone,” I whisper against his chest. “Please, Gabriel…”

His face pales, and I can no longer feel his heart beating. He doesn’t show a single sign of life.

“I love you,” I whisper. “Please…”

With every second that passes, my sadness evolves into anger as I overhear Izzie. I can’t help but think about how she had no issues with me dying, no problem sacrificing me to salvage her own fantasy of being a silly princess.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” She cries. “I’ll be right back…”

I grip the handle of my dagger and prepare to follow her inside so I can kill her, but Gabriel suddenly grabs my wrist.

“Don’t,” he whispers.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not dead, Belle.” His lips curve into a faint smile.

I glance at the blood spewing from his stomach and hold back a sob. “You’re pretty damn close. Stop talking.”

“I love you, too,” he says. “I think I loved you when we were just writing each other in the books, long before I knew who you really were.”

“Please stop saying words.” I clasp his hand. “Just stop.”

“I love you, Belle…” He repeats anyway, and then his eyes roll to the back of his head.

I immediately burst into sobs and lay against his lifeless chest.

Someone touches my shoulder from behind, but I don’t make a move to look.

I can’t.

I tilt my head to give Gabriel a final goodbye kiss, but steaming raindrops start to fall from the sky. Each one stings my skin, and I’m forced to move away from him.

The moment I stand, his body is suddenly pulled backward and up into the air. Like someone is pulling his strings from above.

Beast’s body moves next, and they both spin in the air as the rain and clouds give way to a clearer, storm-less night.