Page 212 of Gift from the Wing

Fuck, this is about to be painful.

I nod slightly, and she mimics me, then lays her forehead to mine and throws us right into the past. In the middle of a bloodbath.

Keeper’s tearing men apart left and right with no fucking care in the realm. No one that’s in his vicinity is safe. He demolishes them as if it’s nothing more than a walk in the forest.

The entire time, he screams in rage. It’s so clearly written across every swipe of his dagger-like nails or in the tearing of body parts. I swear, I can sense his anger like it’s my own.

Once he’s finished, he breathes heavily, then zooms back through the forest and a sense of shock rushes through me when he bursts through the door of a home.

And I see her, my mom. Well, I can’t see her fucking face because of that sack, but I know it’s her. I’m so frozen in my own mind, I can’t do anything but watch.

“Oh, Elementra. What happened?” she shrieks, jumping up from her seat and rushing to him like all she cares about is making sure he’s okay. He pulls her in close, presses his face into her neck, and takes a deep breath.

I swear he and I exhale at the same time.

A shuddering breath that I can’t control right now falls from me at the sound of her voice. Fuck, I’ve missed that sound. Her singing, her nighttime stories. Sometimes the words would slur, but they were still gentle and comforting.

“It’s time foryou to go,” he says tenderly.

“What?” she asks, taken aback by his words.

“The others have told the Summum-Master about you, about us. He’s showing keen interest now. You must go.”

Her head shakes back and forth furiously, and she latches on to the burlap sack still hiding her face from us.

“Why…why can’t I stay with you?” she asks, choked.

“Because he will use you against me. He will make you suffer, just to control me. I can’t allow that to happen. I can’t watch that happen because I won’t be able to protect you from what he will do. My life is in his hands, and he will continue to hold whatever he can over me. That now includes you.”

“Keeper. I don’t want to leave you.” She cries and my heart cracks open.

“I wish you didn’t have to, beloved, but you must. You must live for yourself. For us. Please, do not fight me on this. It’ll only make it harder.”

Beloved…

Keeper wraps his hand around the back of her head and holds her against his chest. Her cries seem endless and the longer she pours her heart out, the more mine breaks.

Witnessing what my parents could’ve been is gut-wrenching.

Gently picking her up, her arms wrap around his neck, while her legs circle tightly around his waist, and they’re off.

A decade feels like it passes as he just runs. It’s as if he was trying to find a place so far in the forest, maybe they both could’ve escaped.

But the end of his line finally comes, and the dark ward comes into view.

“Do one thing for me before you go, beloved,” he whispers when he sets her down.

“Anything.”

“Take off the mask.”

She trembles at the request but nods nonetheless and I hold my breath.

Her hands shake uncontrollably as she slowly pulls it off, and her midnight black hair is the first thing I recognize. I used to brush it and play with it. All the women at the brothel used to sit around and do each other’s hair.

I thought I was supposed to as well.

“You’re the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen,” Keeper mumbles with wide ruby eyes, then leans forward to lay a kiss on her forehead. “Do not wait for me, my beloved, but know that one day, I will find you, and I will give you all of me.”

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