Page 134 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Kirian … Tears welled to the surface and Arianna covered her mouth. Gods, Kirian was gone and the way Ellie had looked at him. Her stomach twisted. Did that mean her sister was gone too? Had Vairik corrupted her mind beyond repair? Was there any hope?

The door creaked open and Arianna started. She gripped her blankets, staring at a male she didn’t recognize. Thankfully Talon followed right behind him. Her shoulders relaxed a fraction.

Talon had cleaned up, changed clothes, and had his hair pulled back in his usual fashion, but both were staring at her with concerned looks on their faces.

“How are you feeling?” the male asked. He moved closer, but carefully, as if afraid to startle her. Was he a healer? A Weaver?

“What happened?” Arianna asked.

Talon sat at the foot of the bed and clasped his hands together. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

She tried to bring the memories to the surface, but it was … difficult. As if they were too heavy. Each slipped from her grasp, one after the other.

“I remember Ellie,” Arianna clenched her jaw, fighting to prevent the tears from falling. “And Kirian.” Talon nodded, but she saw the emotions in his gaze. The grief. “I remember the Dark Fae and—how did we escape? Is Ellie—Did we get her—”

“She’s in the other room.” The way he said it had dread settling in the pit of her stomach.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s … resting and alive. We don’t know what Vairik might have done to her yet.”

“I want to see her.”

“Okay, but can you rest a bit first? Maybe get something to eat?”

Her stomach growled in response. “Are we safe?”

Talon nodded. “For the time being. We’re hoping Vairik believes we were all caught in the blast.”

“What blast?”

“You don’t remember running?”

She pressed a palm to her temple. “It’s coming back, but … I think I blacked out at some point.”

“Ashling is gone. Apparently there was a volcano under it. It erupted.”

“The timing seems a little convenient.”

“We think your magic triggered it. Saoirse mentioned something about pressure building beneath the surface.”

Arianna did recall her magic burying into the ground, digging deep, but when she reached for the memories it was like a white hot poker slashed through her brain. She grabbed her head again and winced. The stranger in the room stepped forward then paused.

“Don’t push yourself,” Talon said then exchanged a glance with the other male. “When we were separated, do you remember where you were?”

“Yeah,” Arianna said, a familiar anger rising to the surface. “They caught me.” The male stiffened and she clenched her fists. “I can still—he was in my head. They both were.” She hated the lingering oily feel of Vairik’s presence. As if he’d scarred her with his essence.

“Both?” Talon questioned.

“Niall and Vairik.”

“And you feel okay?”

Arianna met his gaze. “I think so.” After seeing what Ellie had done, Arianna understood perfectly well what he was asking. Could Vairik have altered her mind without her being able to tell?

“You think he did something to me?”

“It’d be surprising if he didn’t.”

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