Page 71 of Soul of Salvation

Then, the blood drains from my face, my pulse kicks into overdrive, and everything in me begins to go cold. Draven. I lose focus on anything else going on around me. Solely focused on him. I have to get to him.

On shaky limbs I scramble up on my feet with a wince, feeling the bond in my chest slowly become dull. Suddenly, another scream tears me from my thoughts and I whip my head around.

“Emma!!!”

Before I can blink, Kye is charging at me, knocking me back right as a rain of dark arrows streak down to where I was just standing. To the place where Kye is now standing…

“Kye!!!” Cora’s rippling scream tears through the cave. The air deflates from my lungs. Cora’s eyes are panicked as she shoves and thrashes against each ghoul that charges her.

Looking back at Kye, his amber eyes are wide, mouth parted open as he slowly looks at me. His legs give out, slamming his knees to the ground. A dozen arrows had to have pierced straight through his body, all to save me.

“Kye,” I choke out. Grabbing his head with both hands, my eyes bouncing back and forth on his. His chest hitches in a sharp gasp for air. A strangled sob rips from me as I pull him in, holding him to my chest. His breathing is shallow and strained, raspy and wet as blood starts to trickle from between his lips.

With a jerk of his arm, he uses the strength he can muster to grab hold of me, making me pull back to look at him. “Go. Save. Him.”

More tears tidal wave out of me as I sob, my eyes frantically darting all over him. My hands are violently shaking as I press them to his wounds, needing to stop the bleeding. So much blood. It seeps through my fingers as I place my palms over another hole with all my weight, willing the blood to stop, wishing I could save him. But I don’t even think Cora’s power can heal him back to health after this. Not with all the holes gaping open, streaming with blood.

“I can’t leave you,” I cry out, tasting the saltiness of my own tears.

“Prin…cess.” His breath catches on the word, his face scrunching up in pain. “We will see each other again.” A large, calloused palm cups my cheek. “You were the one th–thing that made my life worth living.”

I sniff, wiping the wetness trailing down my cheeks with the back of my hand. “You made me strong,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip to try to stop it from shaking.

A wobbly smile lifts his mouth as he wheezes to draw in a breath. “Y–you already were. This w–was always how I was m–meant to go. Pro–protecting you.” Slowly, his body starts to loosen its tension, the hand on my cheek falling limp. And I watch… I watch the amber hue of his eyes dull, becoming lifeless as one final puff of air leaves his crimson lips.

Tugging his head to my chest, I rock back and forth as guttural sobs tear from my throat. No. This is a dream. A fucking nightmare I need to wake up from.

“No!” I scream, lying him flat on the ground, as I begin to shake him. “Kye!” I shake and shake and shake. Determined to force life back into him. “Wake up! I need you to wake up!” I pound on his chest with tightened fists. “You can’t leave me!”

My fists continue to pound unforgivingly, and the tears falling from my eyes soak into his shirt. I pound and pound, demanding air to fill his lungs. But then his head flops to the side, signifying the cold truth.

Kye’s dead.

I stare numbly at him, my fists pausing midair, letting them fall to my sides with defeat. Why? Why does he always have to be the protector? Another rack of sobs cripples me. Kye deserved more than anything to be the one protected. I was too blinded by my need to get to Draven that I left myself vulnerable. An easy target. And I hate myself for it. He didn’t have to die.

Hunching forward, my head rests on Kye’s still chest.

But then, every muscle in my body feels like it’s being electrified. I jerk my body up when I realize it’s coming from the bond. Draven. The water lingering in my eyes blurs my vision, but I blink it away. Launching to my feet, I sprint until my lungs scream.

Whiro holds Draven in a giant hand made of shadows, hovering him above the Sea of Souls, and it’s like my heart is hanging from a noose, waiting for the drop. Draven remains unconscious, his limbs dangling off the darkness cradling him, and my heart lurches in my chest.

“Stop!” My voice shreds the inside of my throat as I fall to my knees, willing to beg Whiro not to harm my mate. “Please,” the word breaks on my tongue.

Clashing steel and grunts still rage on behind me, knowing Fynn and Cora must be tiring out from keeping the ghouls away. Whiro’s head twists slowly, pinning those deadly eyes on me.

“Take me instead.” A broken tear leaves a trail of desperation in its wake.

A rumble echoes from his chest. “You still don’t understand, Emmerelda,” he spits with venom. “No one can replace the chosen. Not even you.”

With a final, menacing glare, he lets Draven fall.

I’m on my feet in half a heartbeat. Dodging the whips of darkness Whiro throws at me, because nothing…nothing will stop me from getting to my mate. And everything raging inside me that’s been slowly building finally explodes. Darkness lashes out in every direction, a storm of my own making. The main force of it drives right into Whiro, stunning him.

Keeping my arms pumping, I leap in the air. Just missing the final blast of power Whiro had sent to the stone beneath my feet, causing the ground to break apart. Grasping hold of my darkness, I shadow jump from one stop to the next until I’m diving into the Sea of Souls headfirst.

The glassy water is neither cold nor warm. It feels like nothing at all, yet I still have to hold my breath. Pumping my arms outward, I swim towards him, letting the bond guide me. Even as I chance to open my eyes, it doesn’t burn. Somehow, below the surface, I can see everything.

My hand brushes against something firm and when I turn to look, I startle. Air bubbles escape my lips in a rush.

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