Page 1 of A Surrender Of Hope

ONE

Lennox

Indescribable pain courses through my body as I spin, arcing the blade of my ax and bringing it down on the Beastia stupid enough to get within my reach. My breath whooshes from my lungs as the silver blade of my weapon slices through the flesh of the monster’s thick, corded neck. My body trembles, my magic rebelling and confusing the absolute fuck out of me as my knees threaten to give way from the pain slicing through my chest.

There is no wound; no Beastia or rogue Hunter has gotten close enough to deal a physical injury before I’ve cut them down. Yet my whole body trembles like a fatal blow has been struck.

“What the hell?” I rasp, tightening my grip on the handle of my ax as my vision swims.

“Lennox?”

Valen’s voice washes over me, the sound distorted as I stumble back, grunting as another wave of pain races through me. But this time, the sense of loss makes my heart stall, the cold bite of despair is a feeling I haven’t felt since my brother's death.

The pain slowly settles from full-body agony to a sharp stabbing feeling at the center of me. I gasp, placing my ax on theground, my vision still dark as I harness my magic and tug on it, wondering what the hell just happened. Had someone cast a spell on me?

“Nox!” Valen’s voice shouts at my side, my blurry vision working enough to see him step in my line of vision and disembowel the rogue Umbra Hunter charging me. “I can’t find Meyer! I think something’s wrong, but our connection isn’t completed yet, so I can’t tell what it is!” his panicked voice says as he turns to face me. Hands fall on my shoulders and shake me until I sluggishly move my eyes to his. I look down on my older brother, noting how his white-blond hair is stained red, his porcelain skin is tarnished with mud and dirt, and his pale green eyes are wide with fear.

Reality crashes against me like a tidal wave, bringing back the sounds of battle and death I hadn't realized were missing. The ringing in my ears slowly ebbs away as Valen’s words register in my mind. My magic wilts as I hold on to it, and I shake my head, realizing what had been causing my pain. What I had hidden from my brothers… and obsessed over every night… who I started to treasure more than anything else in this god-forsaken realm.

“No!” I rasp as I attempt to inflate my lungs again, spinning out of Valen’s grip as my eyes desperately scan the dark, blood-soaked battlefield in front of me.Creed has her. She’s fine. He would never leave her alone,I tell myself as dread pools in my stomach. My heart drops when I find Creed slicing through a thick group of Hunters with the Ranger Jennings at his side. My brows furrow, and true panic starts to settle in as I spin in a circle, looking for the Regalis bloodline. If Creed’s not with her, then Razar has returned.

“Where is she?!” Valen shouts again, his voice cracking as he looks every which way, sensing what I already know but refuse to believe. My head whips to the side then stalls, my gaze snappingback to a familiar face as I squint to stare across the field. Razar stands at the top of the hill to the south of the Castle, staring down at Meyer, who he’s holding in his arms. Her long blonde hair, pulled up in a tight ponytail on top of her head, whips out behind her as a gust of frigid winter air courses around them, and my shoulders relax at the sight.

I take a step forward, needing to get to her as fast as possible, just as her body collapses in Razar’s hold, head lolling to one side. I can’t tear my eyes away from my worst nightmare as Razar stares down at Meyer in horror, his eyes shifting to his shaking blood-soaked hand as he holds it up in front of him. Only then do I notice the black fletching of the long, Demon-carved arrow protruding from Meyer’s back. My stomach revolts at the sight, my magic racing from me in a deadly wave, sending everyone but Valen to their knees before me.

My breath hitches as Razar claws at the dragon-scaled armor Creed made her, tearing it from her body as he shakes his head in denial at the sight in front of him. Time stops, and a sound I’ve never heard before echoes around us as I sprint toward them… towardher. Hunters and Beastia alike jump out of the way, and I realize the sound is coming from me, the roar so loud that my throat hurts. I hear Valen shout something behind me as I run, but I ignore him— ignore everything as I press myself to move faster.

Razar’s lips move, making out the wordPupas his dark eyes slide slowly back to the girl in his arms. In the next moment, he drops to the ground, keeping Meyer cradled carefully in his arms just as an arrow flies over his head, and I bare my teeth, furious that I’m not there to protect them yet. Razar’s eyes snap up, but I don't watch anything but the slow rise and fall of Meyer's chest as her brilliant emerald green eyes darken.

“No… no… no!”I shout desperately, trying to get to her, my magic crying out to heal her mortal body. I feel my heart andsoul shatter into a million pieces when her eyes flutter, lips parting, blood dripping from them, shining like rubies. I watch in horror as the moment I know will impact the rest of my life forever plays out in front of my eyes. Razar twists, moving himself and Meyer to the side just as he snatches another arrow straight out of the air—the black onyx tip only centimeters from Meyer’s still form.

He snarls, looking back up before he snaps the black wood of the arrow in half, letting it fall to the snow beneath him as his hand moves to cup Meyer’s cheek. “Don’t!” he yells at her as I close in on them, so close I can see the bloom of dark red soaking through Meyer’s shirt. Razar’s breaths come in rapid succession as her body goes limp in his arms. “Meyer!” he screams, but she doesn't answer. Her eyes flutter shut as she pulls in a ragged breath, her chest no longer rising with breath, just as I crash to my knees at Razar’s side.

My hands dart out, black magic sparking at my fingertips as I place a palm on my Little Demon’s ice-cold skin and try to shift her from Razar's arms. His hold tightens, wide eyes locked on her pale face, refusing to let me take her from him. He shakes his head, fingers digging into Meyer’s flesh as he growls under his breath and shakes her a little, trying to get her to respond.

“Give her to me!” I roar, frustration and fear twining together, leaving me desperate as the agony of not feeling the small mating bond she started spark in my chest—the pain… the ache, the desperation—causes my magic to rebel before bursting from me in an angry wave. It had been Meyer's half-formed mate bond dying in my chest. The animalistic Demon I carry inside me, the other half of my magic I possess due to my royal lineage, roars in outrage, clawing to the surface, desperate to be set free.

Need her… save her!

I shove my magic into Meyer’s body, eyes moving from her still chest to her bloody, and pale parted lips. My breath catchesas pain rolls through me. My magic is searching for the slightest flicker of life. Something to grab onto and save… something…ANYTHING!

“No!” I bellow when I don’t find anything. There’s nothing there!

“Mi Sol!” Valen shouts, falling to the snow at my side. I finally tear Meyer from Razar’s arms, making my brother fall back, his eyes never moving from my Little Demon, as shock and something darker grow in the air around him. His magic is stirring to life as his breath stills.

“Nox? She’s okay… You can help her, right!?” Valen cries out, his hands moving to Meyer’s bloody chest, pressing there like he will somehow save her with his will alone. His pale hand moves from her chest to her neck, fingers trembling as they cup her soft, delicate flesh, smearing bright red blood against her snow-white skin.

Heat fills my eyes as I stare down at the girl who unknowingly stole my heart, trapped it in her clutches, and made me fucking feel again.

I didn’t want this!

I didn’t want her!

I fucking fought the magnetic pull I felt toward her from the moment I barged into that decrepit little cabin she called home. I closed myself off to her as much as I could, and I treated her like garbage to keep her away. But no matter what I did or what walls I built between us, Meyer smashed through them. She implanted herself in my every thought, in my every dream… she fucking owns everything I am.

“Th-there’s not a pulse,” Valen rasps, his fingers moving from one side of her neck to the other, touching her, searching for her… always her neck. Was this what he was doing when his finger lingered there? Was he reassuring himself of her safety? That she was alive and with him? There hasn't been a day Ihaven’t noticed Valen’s hands moving to the delicate column of Meyer’s throat.

I snarl at his words, refusing to believe what I see. She’s not dead! Meyer is not allowed to leave. I didn’t give her permission for that.

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