Page 38 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

My heart thudded. “I have, okay? And when I think about them, I tend to go off the deep end. All I know is that I can’t lose him. I wouldn’t survive it. The pain I felt in that tunnel was as if every molecule in my body split and fractured. It was worse than any stab or punch. I thought I was broken before, but . . . my soul cleaved in two, Reggie. I felt it. A part of me died when Gabby did, and whatever part was left, whatever he helped heal, died down there with him, too.”

Reggie’s eyes softened. “I fear for the changes is all I am stating. Your appetite, in all aspects, has increased. Your behavior and temper are erratic, and you know it. I fear it is only the beginning of what you gave up.”

I said nothing for a long moment, the rolling stalks of flowers blowing between us. “You think I’m turning into a monster?”

“I do not know what you are turning into, but you have evolved past what you were, and it changed things. You brought a god back from death, Dianna. That act alone has never been done and will have required equal payment in return. If you think there will not be dire consequences, you are a fool. Can you look at me and say you don’t feel it, too?”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry. As long as he stays alive, the universe will continue to spin or whatever it does.”

Reggie stepped closer, something that looked like concern darkening his eyes. “I thought you would have come to the conclusion that him knowing what happened in the tunnel would be beneficial, yet you seem determined to carry this secret to your very grave.”

“I don’t plan to. It’s just not the time.”

“When is the time?”

I sighed far too loudly and turned away from him. I walked under a half-fallen tree, if you could call the overgrown plant a tree.

“I don’t know, but right now, it doesn’t feel right,” I said, dropping one of the overgrown, broken branches. I heard Reggie’s feet behind me, only a hair away.

“The longer you wait, the harder it will be for both of you. He has a right to know. They are healers, but not even their potions can alter a death wound.”

I stopped. “Is that what it is?”

“I assume only,” Reggie said. “I have been searching through archives. It exhausted me to look through time as such, but all I found as of right now is that death wounds can be permanent. They even remain with the reincarnated ones.”

“Reincarnated?”

“Those with enough power to transcend lives are born once more, over and over, until their true purpose is reached. The blade was imbued with your blood and ancient magic. It was meant not only to kill him but also to open every realm. It has succeeded in both of its objectives. I fear normal healing potions and concoctions will not suffice.”

I shook my head before rubbing a hand across my face. “I can’t trust them, not fully.”

Reggie lifted a single brow. “Yet you trust them enough to give him medicine, to try, and fail, to heal him.”

I spun from him, knowing damn well he knew why. He wanted me to say it once more. Maybe I was selfish. Maybe I needed to push Samkiel even harder, and maybe I was still taking it easy on him, but I couldn’t escape that godsdamn tunnel every time I closed my eyes. I would never forget holding him as his skin turned ashen and cold.

“Why is this such a huge issue for you?” I snapped. “Because you can no longer see?”

Reggie stopped behind me, and I was waiting for him to say something. When he remained quiet, I sighed and turned around. Reggie’s gaze was focused on the tree line, and I stopped to listen. A whirring sound echoed through the forest and then stopped.

“We were followed,” I snarled.

“Not followed,” Reggie said. “A trap.”

I pushed past him and strode toward the forest’s edge. He whispered my name, but I didn’t stop until I reached the clearing. There, behind a closing portal, was a tall man with one eye in the center of his face. He closed the top of his gauntlet, sealing the portal. At least a hundred soldiers surrounded him, all wearing that ridiculous gold armor Nismera outfitted her army in.

Reggie whispered near me. “There are at least thirty, including the commander.”

I smiled softly, patting his shoulder. “Good, I’m just going to go say hi. You stay here.”

“Be careful.” Reggie nodded to the soldiers. “Nismera knows what you are. She would not send soldiers without something strong enough to subdue you.”

“Duly noted.”

I cleared the brush, and all eyes turned toward me. “So, since you are all here, I take it Nismera got my note?” I pouted. “Such a shame she did not come herself. Tell me, does she always send her lackeys?”

“So, you are the Ig’Morruthen she so desperately wants?” My eyes fell on the one-eyed general as he stepped forward. He towered over the other soldiers, and they fell in behind him, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords. “I expected you to look different, scarier perhaps. You are tiny.”

I glanced down at myself, then back toward the towering, one-eyed commander. “I think everyone is tiny compared to you.”

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