Page 124 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

No.

A howl of pure agony tore through me, hot tears falling down my cheeks as I refused to accept that she was gone.

No. Eleanor couldn’t die for me.

If anyone should have died for my ancestor’s sins, it was me. No one else.

I reached for the mate bond between us, but the connection was gone.

I howled again, bitter anger rising over my pain as I let my power loose, not caring about the consequences as I reached out for Eleanor, for help, for anything at all that could bring her back to me.

Something in me snapped, and suddenly I was no longer in the valley, but in a field I didn’t recognize. Eleanor was gone.

Panic surged through my veins.

“Eleanor!” I bellowed, searching for her to no avail. “Eleanor!”

“Blood of Bernard,” the voice—if it could even be called that—came from behind me.

I turned to see a woman in loose, flowing garments moving toward me, the silk of her dress whispering across the soft grass. Her dark hair floated even though there was no wind, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make out anything but her blazing eyes, even though she was right in front of me. Her features seemed to morph every other second, like I was looking at a mirage.

A chill went up my spine as I realized this was no ordinary woman.

“You are the first in your line to reject the boon that has been gifted to you.” Her voice reverberated between us.

I should’ve felt a sense of awe in her presence, but I was consumed by the rage and pain of losing my mate.

“I never asked for thisboon,” I growled, angry tears springing to my eyes. “Eleanor shouldn’t have to bear the cost of the deal between you and Bernard.”

The woman wasn’t perturbed. Her tone remained perfectly casual.

“Your sacrifice has already been made. Your curse is broken.”

My instinct was to yell at her. To curse and fight her, even if she killed me for it. She was my only hope, and I’d do anything to force her to listen to me and help Eleanor.

But that was all I had done my entire life: fight and kill and fight again.

Where had that gotten me?

I fell to my knees and pressed my head to the soft, fragrant grass.

I would lay aside my ego. I’d lay aside anything for her.

“Please,” I groveled, knowing that whoever she was, goddess or piety, she was powerful enough to do something for Eleanor. “Take me instead, and let my mate live out the rest of her life.”

I was supposed to die in two months. I’d accepted it. I’d prepared for my inevitable death and put plans in place for Eleanor to be taken care of after my demise. She couldn’t die before me.

“You made a deal with my ancestor before,” I said when the woman stayed silent. “Please make one with me as well.”

The woman stayed silent for a few more moments, her hair and robes still floating in the nonexistent wind.

“You would sacrifice your life for this?” she asked, an odd note of curiosity in her voice.

“Anything.” I didn’t hesitate as I raised my head to meet her gaze. “I would sacrifice anything for her.”

I would have done anything the woman asked if it would guarantee Eleanor’s life.

Was this the sort of desperation that led men to sell their souls?

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