Page 91 of From Frost to Flame

Arden’s arrow in his chest, the crack when it pierced his back, and the compass pointingat him as he held Lex in his arms.

“You are the last piece I was able to part with. You were important and needed protection. I delivered you to Orion so you were watched over by the greatest warriors in all of Vela until you were strong enough to defend yourself.”

I’m her. I’mher.

“Don’t be so hurt. You were my greatest creation. The griffin and the serpent were your much older siblings, but you witnessed how fragile they were. Creations thrown together in haste. But you? You were forged in flesh under the prolonged suffering of your other mother. It was a hospitable birth for a Death Walker. The moment you came from her womb, you were my marvel. A sentient being, born of the great warriors who locked me away in Tartarus in the first place. I knew the last piece of my soul would forever be safe with you.”

“Siblings,” Silas repeated. The word tasted slimy in the back of his throat. The idea that she viewed him as equal to these mindless vessels made him sick. He remembered slicing the griffin in half and eating the serpent. Guilt crushed his lungs.They were innocent pawns, too.

“Don’t feel bad. I wasn’t as attached to them as I am to you.”

“Why? I don’t understand why you would do this to me. If you loved me, how could you use me like this?"

“Of course I love you. My little wolf, I love you more than anything, because you are me. That’s why I can’t stand seeing you degrade yourself with these creatures. You are better than that.Weare better than that. You are me, down to the bone, with some modifications I plucked from the werewolves for good measure. You will continue our legacy.”

“Legacy?” he muttered, not understanding.

“I can only come to the surface realms occasionally because of what the werewolves did. Tartarus always calls me back. But if you did as I did, cloaked the world in suffering and death, I could feed on it enough to break free. You could feed on it, too.” She smiled as if suggesting a sweet family outing to him. “You’re a legend now. Imagine how much more magnificent you could be if you fed on their suffering like you’re meant to. If you stopped starving your better half, you’d be more magnificent than the stars you worship.”

“I don’t want any of that. It’s not who I am. It’s not the life I want.”

“You want a life with that little bloodsucker, but that’s unacceptable.” All the kindness from her voice vanished and was replaced with that rage. “All the pieces of the soul must be broken for me to die. You are the last. He only lives if you perish. Are you really willing to die for him?”

“I am,” Silas said without a shred of doubt. “I’d die a thousand deaths for him. So, kill me now, or watch me kill myself the moment I’m freed.”

She scowled with disgust. “I hoped you would come to your senses. Clearly you are a danger to yourself. I can take care of that.”

“Silas! You need to run!”Lex’s voice rang out, breaking through her icy hold.

A crack rang in his ears and for a moment he ceased breathing. Unbearable pain radiated from his chest and spread through his limbs. He looked down at the source. Her rigid tentacle had punctured his chest like a dagger. Its piercing tip split the gem in his chest. He felt the shards come alive and burrow deeper into his flesh, making his muscles burn.

Then, he was falling.

She tossed him like worthless trash and his cheek smacked into the mud. An agonized scream erupted from his lips. The world flickered in and out of hyperfocus, and the mud beneath him began to cake with ice.I’m dying. I must be dying.

“Get up,” Castor demanded from somewhere far away. “You have to get up.”

Silas pushed through the blinding pain as black blood spilled from his chest onto the ice. He looked down at his hand and his eyes widened in terror. The ink from his tattoos bled together as his skin turned pitch black. Bones in his hands, feet, and spine stretched and bent against his will. He fought with all he had to hold on to his body. To Lex. To Orion. The pain swallowed him whole.

He woke floating in thick, sludgy ink in an endless void.

“Let me out of here,” he called into endless black. He fought to get to his feet, but it was as if he’d fallen into a thick tar pit. “What is this?”

“Don’t be afraid,” his mother cooed from somewhere in the dark. “You’re in your own mind, my little wolf. No safer place to be.”

“What did you do to me? Am I dead?”

“Of course not. I’d never harm you. I split my soul within you so I could take over. You had become a threat to us both. This will be better. We’ll be closer this way. Here, locked away in your subconscious, there are no silly wolves or vampires to distract you.”

With a grunt, he heaved himself to his feet. He whirled around, searching for a sign of her, but only blackness greeted him. “Let me out! Whatever this is, let me out!” He stomped forward and with every step, he sunk further into the sticky pool.

I have to get back to Lex. I have to find a way out.

Lex’s anguished scream cut through the dark and tore through his heart.

For the first time since they met, the ever-present pull in his chest vanished. It was as if someone had clipped the thread that tied them together. “No. Lex? Lex?”

Nothing.

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