Page 182 of Gift from the Stone

“NO,” I scream.

Time stops.

Ice blocks my throat, cutting off my windpipe. For a solid three seconds, nothing. My body does nothing but freezes. Staring at the spot she was just standing.

She’s gone.

Breathe. Fight it. Fight it. FIGHT IT.

I lose.

The beat of my heart echoes in my ears, pounding viciously at the cage I’ve kept it locked in until it burst free from its imprisonment. My gift, the shadows that obey every command I cast, violently explode from my chest, wrapping the gym in pitch-black darkness. The only time they’re ever reckless is when I tell them to be, or when it comes to her.

Her. Her. Her.

I search the darkness of my soul for her. For her light. I beg and plead for it to guide me back. But there’s no light to be found. Just the demons waiting for me.

They’ll kill her. There’s no bringing her back.

She’s strong. She’ll fight until we find her.

There is no finding her.

She’s gone. Gone, gone, gone.

They’ll slice her up. Do as they please to her body.

There will be nothing left for you to find.

Should’ve taken better care of her. Protected her better.

On and on they taunt me, mock my fears, my failures. Our failure. We failed her. The answer is clear as day to me. This is what she saw. She knew this was coming. When I saw her darkness glaring back at me after her vision, it matched the darkness I saw moments ago. This was the reason why.

And we didn’t stick closer to her. We left her alone in the command room.

Sensing my turmoil, my shadows swirl and coil themselves around me. Their movements mirroring the raging tsunami brewing within me.

“Caspian, rein it in,” my brother’s voice calls to me, but I ignore him. There’s no reining it in.

A solid fucking punch lands across my jaw, knocking me off balance. By the time I right myself, fucking livid, he’s standing there, just as pissed. He’s a shining beacon of deadly light that nearly blinds me. Something about seeing Corentin so fucking out of control clears the cloud of anger and fear from my mind.

“He’s losing his shit too. I’m not alone.”

“Of course I’m losing my fucking shit. My Primary was just stolen, my brothers are out of their fucking minds, and no one seems to be able to pull themselves together but fucking me. So get yourself together right fucking now and call your darkness back,” he bellows in my face. And it seems to snap me back to reality.

I obviously voiced my observation out loud, but the meltdown he’s having currently and the cheap shot he took at me brings me back from the edge I was ready to dive right off of. I pull my shadows back in slowly, promising them retribution for what’s been taken from us.

No giving in to the demons today.

Time to find my little Primary and kill every single person who dared look at her.

Now that my shadows are allowing light to filter back into the gym and I no longer have tunnel vision, the destruction in here is everywhere. The gym was never secure. It was under attack the entire time.

E.F. members are sprawled across the floor. I have no clue if they’re all alive or not. Some are moving, twitching, some even sitting up, but there’s no doubt, they got their asses handed to them.

“Fuck,” Nikoli shouts from a few feet away from me before he, San, and Jamie sprint forward.

Damn, when the hell did they get in here?

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