[ Gansey hadn't known how it had felt, exactly. He had known what was happening. He had seen the results of Ronan being attacked, and how utterly terrible that was. He had watched his best friend fighting for every inch of his survival.

In a way, that was what he'd always wanted for Ronan. He'd wanted him to fight for his life instead of trying to destroy it. But not like this. Never, ever like this.

Guilt washes off Ronan like a visible thing. Gansey stares at it, and then at the boy behind it. Ronan has had so much pain these last few days. ]

I had to. It was the only way to stop it. I had to right that wrong.

[ For all of their sakes. For Noah, for whom the wrong was done. For Adam, whose body had been invaded. For Ronan, whose mind had no longer been his own. For Cabeswater, which had loved them all so much. Even enough to die for Gansey, in the end. ]

Ronan, it didn't last. Hadriel didn't bring me back. Cabeswater did. I thought it would be the end, but it isn't, do you see? I'm not dying anymore.

[ And this time, he intends to keep it that way. ]