Page 96 of Brutal Birthright

An ocean of silence rolled around the catacombs as she saw the bloodstained evidence coating his skin.

“Stop fussing.” She didn’t need to see him like this.

Petite fingers hooked under his chin, forcing his head to lift and meet her stormy eyes. Oriana knelt between his boots, not looking at him with pity—he couldn’t fucking stand it if she’d felt sorry for him or some kind of bullshit like that—but instead, her eyebrow arched, almost in a challenge.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were a snarling animal when wounded. Now shut the fuck up and take us to your cottage so we can get you clean. You reek of death.”

Somehow, those words were the exact balm his battered weary soul needed to hear in that moment. Oriana didn’t panic or worry over him, just took all his beaten-up state in her stride. Of course, he knew thousands of questions were just waiting to pour forth like a torrent. But for now, she kept the dam securely in place.

He damn near let out a groan as he portaled them straight to the open-air bathroom at his cottage. Using his magic to not only fill the stone pool for bathing but to light a candle in the single lantern hanging from the moss-covered wall. Stars glittered in the dark sky overhead, spreading a carpet of a million pinpricks of light against the inky blackness of the moonless night. When he turned, he gritted his teeth, catching a flash of himself in the mirror’s reflection.

Dark streaks coated everywhere, from his neck down to the waistband of his trousers. Leaving the sight of reddened, puckered slashes through his tattoos that continued to heal with each passing moment. Rowan added an extra healing spell to the steaming waters to help aid the process.

Oriana stood with arms folded, eyeing him carefully, not making a move to undress, which was entirely unacceptable. Fuck whatever flesh wounds he’d sustained; she better be naked and in his lap immediately.

“Get your ass over here.” His teeth gritted.

“No.”

“Don’t make me take you over my knee.”

She hooked her hair over one shoulder and flicked dark eyes up and down his bloodied torso. “No way. I’m staying fully clothed until I get some answers.” With arms crossed and a defiant tilt to her chin, her stubbornness was on full display.

Rowan sighed heavily. Shucking out of the rest of his clothes, he plunged into the steaming pool. All the magic infused into the water set to work immediately. Easing the sting and the burn of his partially healed wounds and accelerating the process of repairing each wound. As he dipped his head below water and scrubbed fingers through his hair, he could not only feel the pain ebbing away, but the energy he’d expended during their fight began to return.

Straightening up, he allowed the droplets to run off him. Stripping away all the bloodied evidence of the night. As he settled back against the side, seated on the rock ledge, he watched his little faerie studying him with a solemn yet curious expression on her delicate features.

“Niall and I went to investigate the portal that had been opened.” Scooping up a handful of water, he cupped it to his face. Using both hands to scrub over his brow and stubbled jaw.

Known as the Seal of Elharean, this was the kind of dark magic they had attempted to destroy for centuries. A portal to an unknown realm, opened by their dark sorcerers, releasing a kind of magic that was unfathomable. The type of power that no one in living memory had encountered. So potent that whatever had been unleashed toppled their own Elharean dynasty in a single strike barely moments after the Seal had been opened.

The vampiress Nelloix–one of the herbalism professors–had been manipulated and used to open the chasm. She and her fated vampire mates had survived what was, from all accounts, a battle that none saw coming. Ultimately, the House of Elharean succeeded in their ongoing quest to harness the power of the Seal, but in doing so, tore the very fabric of reality to unleash a primordial kind of power. A deep rift descended into places unknown, with beings able to travel between their realms and take prisoners.

After the events that day some had organised search parties to descend into the cavernous rift opened below the House of Elharean’s once-glorified mountain fortress. Disappearing through the portal in order to try and find those who had been taken, but to his knowledge none had been seen or heard from since.

Now, as witnessed by Niall and himself, the place was a smouldering heap. Charred rock was all that remained, surrounding an endlessly deep chasm in the ground.

That was where the two of them had encountered the entity. The very same one that had killed Saskia that night, and every sign pointed to it being responsible for the other murders. Leaving behind the litany of markings on the bodies of its victims like a gruesome calling card.

It was also where he’d recognised scenes from his nightmares that made his blood run cold. In that moment, things around him began to feel more like a prophecy than a recurring dream.

As Rowan sat, lost in his thoughts, he felt the water slosh beside him. Looking up from where his hands still covered his face, he saw Oriana sink into the water and sit on the ledge beside him.

“You seemed a little preoccupied for the hundred questions I had ready to fire at you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Plus, this pool looked amazing, and I couldn’t wait all bloody night for you to rediscover the ability to speak.”

He fought back a twitch threatening the corner of his lips. Smart ass.

“You’ve healed.” She murmured, almost as if to herself, while tracing soft fingertips over his ribs and up along his chest.

“We came across the entity that killed Saskia.” He watched her face. Seeing her eyes widen just a fraction at the blunt news. “It emerged from a portal that had been opened not long ago. We don’t know what or who has control of it, but all we do know is that it comes from the other side of that chasm.”

“And it sunk its claws into you.” She furrowed her brow. “How is Niall?”

“Still a handsome dick. He got off lightly. When it first struck, I was in direct line of it and took the majority of the force before we could shield ourselves.”

His brother would be fine. But it still didn’t resolve any of their problems, nor did they have any answers on how they were going to prevent it from striking again. There was no fighting whatever dark magic controlled the thing.

They had merely done their best to survive the onslaught until they could escape. Bloodied and with flesh torn apart.

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