Page 119 of Gift from the Wing

He’s failed to realize—they all have other than my Primary—that the two have merged into one. There’re no longer multiple sides of myself that battle for dominance. When my Primary’s soul nuzzled itself inside of me all sweetly, my monster came crawling to her feet like a starved animal begging for a scrap of meat.

Now it’s her soul, myself, and my monster against the demons.

I won’t be telling him that currently, the three parts that make me whole are losing this internal battle.

He doesn’t need to know I can’t stop replaying how those hostages laid there, hopeless, begging for me to deliver them death with just their eyes. It was the same way I looked at anyone new who waltzed into my stone cage when I was taken.

No one ever granted my request. Nor did I grant theirs.

“I’ll keep you updated,” Tillman finally says, breaking the silence.

My eyes follow him out and when he shuts the door, I let out a deep, relieved breath.

Finally.

My demons want free.

My darkness wants to descend.

Spinning on my heel, I face a petrified Darstein. Twirling a dagger in my hand, I bend down to eye level and ask, “Any last words?”

His mouth opens and closes repeatedly as incoherent blabbering spews out.

Groaning impatiently and rolling my eyes, I slam my palm over his mouth.

“Never mind. I don’t give a fuck.”

Sixteen

Willow

“Her soul is still strong,” Aria whispers beside me, pulling me out of zoning out.

I feel like I’ve been staring through this glass pane for days, when it’s only been a couple of hours. The longest, most dreadful hours of my entire life. No amount of physical torture comes close to this level of mental and emotional suffering.

I give Aria a very unconvincing tight smile and squeeze her hand back before moving away from the glass and turning back toward the table we have set up in the hall.

Scattered across its surface is every piece of information the academy, the palace, and Gaster possess on Mystara Hollow and the nonmagical realm.

While Jamie, Draken, and a few select healers work in there on Oakly, pumping her full of magic, the rest of us are out here, reading everything we possibly can to figure out a way out of this for her.

When we first arrived, Aurora had already called in the best of the best and had this secluded room ready to go for her.

Unfortunately for one of the healers, he made the grave mistake of forgetting his bedside manners. He said that even if we could save her, she’d be brain dead from how hot her body was. Before anyone could interfere, San and Ry attacked.

I still don’t know or care if he’s woken up yet.

None of the other healers have dared utter a negative word.

When Keeper and Draken arrived back with the ingredients and purpose of the infection, Gaster, Neil, Theo, and Aurora jumped into action, collecting everything they could get their hands on in breathtaking time. Since then, we’ve been at this table.

Searching for what feels like impossible answers.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen San’s gift in true action. It goes far beyond the realm of just reading and retaining information. He can speed through the pages in the blink of an eye. It takes him around six minutes to devour an entire book and I’m pretty sure by this point he’s read everything on the table twice.

“Come see me, young one. Take a break.”

I release a shuddering breath and close my eyes. Tanith’s ability to soothe my dragon with gentle words is astonishing, but my fear, anxiety, and fight not to give up resist the comforting feeling.

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