Page 84 of Blood Bound

My family surrounds me, their hands reaching out to comfort me, but I can’t bear their touch. I curl in on myself, clutching the pendant to my chest as if it could somehow bring him back.

But it can’t. Nothing can.

Darick is gone, and the dawn of this new day has never felt so cruel.

26

Chapter 26

Rowan

Aday never felt so much like eternity. I stare numbly at my family as they bustle about me…as if the world didn’t just end.

But maybe that’s because it was my world that ended. The one I never knew that I wanted. Until it was snatched away from me.

My eyes are aching, throbbing from the floods of tears that I’ve wept. Now, there’s nothing left to cry out; my eyelids are swollen and puffy.

I feel wrung out.

Mom gently guides me through the front door as we get home. The familiar scent of cinnamon and sage wafts over me, but instead of comfort, it brings a fresh wave of grief. Just days ago, I was in this place, wishing the connection was gone, and now-

I can’t finish the thought.

“Rowan?” A small voice chirps. Poppy scampers down the banister, her usual sass replaced by concern. She takes one look at me, and her tiny shoulders slump. “Oh, Ro…”

I collapse onto the couch, my legs finally giving out. Dad drapes a blanket over my shoulders, but I barely feel it. Everything’s muted, like I’m underwater.

Kara kneels in front of me, her eyes dark with concern. “Ro, you need to eat something. Or at least drink some water.”

I shake my head. The thought of food makes my stomach revolt.

Gran settles beside me, her hand finding mine. “Rowan, dear. I know it feels impossible right now, but—”

“Don’t,” I croak, my voice raw. “Please don’t tell me it’ll be okay. It won’t.”

I close my eyes, feeling the weight of Darick’s pendant still clasped in my palm. His last gift to me. A sob builds in my throat, but I’m too exhausted to let it out.

I fight off the images, the memories of the morning flooding back: The mayhem after our escape…witches swarming the building, securing every corner. I remember begging them to find Darick, my voice hoarse and desperate.

“There has to be something!” I’d screamed, trying to push past the arms holding me back. “He can’t just be…gone.”

Then they’d brought Heath out in magical restraints, his face a picture of defiance. I’d lunged at him, fingers clawed, magic tingling at my fingertips – weak as it was. Dad had held me back.

“Rowan,” Mom says gently, pulling me back to the present. “You need to accept—”

“No,” I cut her off, my hand clutching Darick’s pendant. “We never found him. He could still be out there, healing, like before.”

Before… When I’d been the one to burn him.

Kara and Dad exchange a look that speaks volumes.

“Ro,” Kara starts, her voice gentle but firm. “Even if he survived the initial sunlight, the building was thoroughly searched. There was nothing left but…”

She trails off, but I know what she’s not saying.

Dust. Ashes. Nothing.

“You’re wrong,” I insist, my voice breaking. “All of you. He’s survived before. He’ll come back. He has to.”

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