Page 120 of Brutal Birthright

Rowan was stronger than anyone she knew.

He’d survived three centuries of battle.

But… nothing was happening. He lay there, like a felled timber on the carpeted floor, with his face turned to one side and dark hair coated with reddened dirt, half covering his face.

Ri was aware she was shouting, but there was no coherence to her words. Just desperate pleas and begging for someone to help. To do something. To try and fix him.

Please.

Tears tracked down her cheeks, which were still completely covered in a thick layer of red dust still stuck to her.

Blinking as hands pulled her backward, she could make out Ruby through the tears but couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.

They were trying to take her away from him, and Ri lost her mind. Digging her fingers into the cotton of his shirt, she refused to be moved from him. She wasn’t going to leave his side.

Then, Niall was there, gently moving her out of the way so that he could get a good look at his brother. His usual easy-going nature was gone, and his brows furrowed as he took in the state of the one person none of them would ever expect could end up like this. Pulling at Rowan’s shirt, the material gave way to reveal a sight that made her heart nearly stop beating entirely.

Symbols covered his lower back and side that looked as though they had been crudely carved into his flesh. Ghastly black shards embedded into his skin and they were everywhere she looked. More seemed to appear the longer she sat, gradually turning numb beside him. There was a seething mass of blackened flesh and dark magic below the surface of his tattooed skin.

Ri was going to be sick. She slumped backwards into Ruby’s arms, and that’s when she could hear Finnic speaking.

“The idiot fucking put himself in the way. If it wasn’t for him, that thing would have killed me.” Held in the embrace of Lukah, his own fated mate, he explained what Rowan had done.

The stupid, selfless asshole had saved Finnic’s life. And in turn, left himself at the mercy of whatever this entity had done to him.

Or whatever it was doing to him on the inside.

“We have to save him. Ru-Ru. Please.” She begged, with hot tears streaming down her face.

Her sister tugged her in tight against her chest. Soothing her with gentle noises and reassurance that they would do everything they could.

“Can’t we take him to the Goddesses?” Ruby was speaking with Niall over her head now. Ri felt like she was floating out of her body. Somehow, observing the bustle of the room around her while also being here. Her sister and Niall had been through their own nightmare, and the Goddesses had seen fit to help them the night Ruby sacrificed herself.

So why the fuck weren’t they taking him there now?

“It’s spread too far to try and move him.” Niall was running magic through Rowan’s body as fast as possible. Attempting to contain the spread while also help him heal. Or, at the very least, fight off whatever darkness was beginning to take hold. “Without knowing what this is, all I know is Fiadh intended for it to kill. Just like with the other attacks.”

Finn looked distraught. “And your other sister is still there… stuck in that fucking place.”

Looking up at the man, Niall jabbed a hand through his hair. His face was drawn with pain. “Bri is strong. She knew what she was doing.” But there was a weight to his words that left them all in no doubt that he wasn’t fully convinced either.

“Is Belle…” Alright? Alive? Fuck. Ri couldn’t stomach the thought that all of this had occurred because of her. She should have just let Fiadh take her life and spared everyone else from this fate.

Sitting half slumped against her sister on the floor, she couldn’t take her eyes off Rowan’s grey face. Tilted towards her, she wanted to reach out and stroke fingers over his strong profile, but he was still lying flat on the floor as Niall continued to work on him.

“She’ll recover. Lachie took her straight to Castle Nitorna. They’ve got healers there, and not to mention Nell, plus Lia went with them also, who will all take care of her.”

Ri sniffed through the thickness of her throat. Like a rope coiled tight that refused to relinquish her from a strangle-hold as she suddenly felt the wash of dread that she might lose this man.

The man she loved with all her heart.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Ruby spoke softly against her forehead, pressing her lips to give her a kiss as she walked into the darkened bedroom. She stroked a loose strand of her hair behind the pointed tip of Ri’s ear.

For a week now, Ri had remained on watch beside his bed. But nothing had improved.

Rowan still didn’t wake.

Almost as if his soul was trapped somewhere else, not in his body, or that was how it felt to Ri. It was like he was beside her, but not at the same time.

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