Page 29 of Fated

Before Ash could reach us, the second ripper stepped into his path.

Ash moved fast, and with a sickening snap, the ripper’s body fell to the ground.

Then, I stared with terror-stricken eyes as Ash stumbled back a few steps, a knife protruding from his stomach.

No!

Ash yanked the knife from his abdomen and tossed it aside, where it rattled against the floor. The last thing I saw was him heading toward me before a sharp, slicing pain shot through my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, but instead of darkness, I saw something else. It felt as though I were looking through someone else’s eyes, as though caught in a memory not my own.

Lying on my side in a bed, I was facing a beautiful black-haired woman.

Her smile was radiant, lighting the room and warming something deep inside my chest.

She was the center of my universe, my love for her overwhelming, an all-consuming type of love, the kind shared between true soulmates.

In an instant, the scene was torn away, shattered by a guttural wail that filled the room.

I opened my eyes to find Ash still in the same spot, his face a mask of shock and confusion.

My head whipped around toward the source of the wailing, seeing the guard who had just bitten me now lying on the bed, hands clutching his head, tears pouring free.

His body convulsed with sobs, the sound of his pain raw and agonizing.

Without thinking, I reached out and placed my hand on the man’s arm.

As soon as my fingertips made contact with his skin, a strange sensation spread through me—a prickling itch in my palm. It carried a sense of terrible wrongness, a darkness that made my stomach twist.

I lifted my hand to the man’s face, pressing my palm against his cheek. To my astonishment, my hand began to glow faintly, emitting a soft light. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I could feel the wrongness, the darkness—and I pushed against it with everything I had.

As my light pushed forward, the darkness receded. Suddenly, I was in another vision.

The same black-haired woman appeared again, this time wearing a beautiful white wedding gown. She was walking toward me, and my emotions were inexplicable, having never felt anything like it, an overwhelming sense of awe mixed with deep affection and reverence.

Then, the vision shifted, and I was sitting on a porch swing with her by my side, my hand resting on her swollen, pregnant belly. Beneath my palm, the baby squirmed, a soft, fluttering movement sending a wave of delight and awe rushing through me.

It was such a tiny, yet profound sensation, like holding a secret miracle in my hand. Pride swelled in my chest, marveling at the new life growing beneath my touch.

Suddenly, the force of the darkness pushed back against my light, throwing me from the vision, knocking me back with its intensity. My hand had stopped glowing, and when I looked up, I gasped. The man’s eyes were no longer cold and gray but warm,golden, and full of life. Slowly, the darkness seeped back in, clouding his irises until they returned to a lifeless gray.

The man, still sobbing uncontrollably, stared at me.

“Who is she?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

“I … I don’t know,” the man choked out between sobs.

“You love her,” I whispered.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, jittering before opening them again.

“I loved her, oh God, I loved her so much,” he cried, wiping his face, smearing tears and mucus across his cheek. “That son of a bitch, he made me kill her. I killed her,” he wailed.

My heart fractured for the man, for the loss of such great love.

Tears welled as I whispered, “Who made you kill her?”

“Agidius,” he muttered. My heart stilled, and cold dread settled over me.

“I’m so sorry.” I meant it with every fiber of my being, looking at the large broken man before me.The monster—no, he wasn’t a monster. Agidius had made him one, stripping him of his humanity, creating a blank slate that he could forge into his own weapon.

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