Page 145 of A Game of Love and Betrayal

Her lungs squeezed, squeezed, squeezed until they were on the brink of exploding. Her heart boomed. Tremors ran through her, and she rocked back and forth.

Then her gaze dropped, catching on the ring on her fourth finger.

A shuddering, broken gasp escaped her.

Her soul cracked. Fissures spider-webbed from that point, spreading through her.

Agony engulfed her.

Dead.

She shattered into a million pieces. It was like she’d been shot all over again. The pain of a thousand wooden stakes being shoved into her exploded inside Brynleigh’s heart.

She screamed, but the cry soon contorted, becoming a twisted, mangled keening wail.

Anguish flooded her, stemming from her broken heart. It filled every crevice, every crack, every fragmented part of her soul. It wasn’t a quiet trickle of grief or a blanket of despair like she’d felt when her family died.

No. This was different. Deeper. Darker. More complete.

This devastating, world-shattering pain would destroy her. There would be nothing left of Brynleigh after this.

Not that it mattered.

He was dead, and she was alone. Oh, gods.

Betrayal coursed a bitter path through her. Zanri did this to her. Jelisette abandoned her. Ryker died on her.

She was alone, and it was all her fault. She had no one to blame but herself.

Tears streamed down Brynleigh’s face as she stared at the wedding ring. The jewelry mocked her as if it knew that she’d been married for less than a day before becoming a widow.

Alone.

She wept and screamed and cried until her throat was raw and her fangs ached. And then, when she had no more voice, she rocked back and forth.

A deluge of pain ran through Brynleigh, the grief a never-ending torment of betrayal and anguish and despair.

And she broke.

Minutes passed. Hours. Days. Time had no meaning.

No one came to see her.

At some point, she must’ve drifted off to sleep. Curse her young vampiric body for still needing rest.

She woke with a start, still living the same nightmare. Still betrayed. Still forsaken by her Maker.

There were more tears.

How could there be so many tears?

Ryker was dead because of her. He was a good man, a great one even, and she’d gotten him killed.

She never should’ve agreed to this stupid plan.

And to think she once thought this was nothing but a game.

She was a fucking fool.

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