Page 23 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Rion ducked beneath a winged talon that reached for him and blasted the creature’s skin right off its body. Arianna attacked another, a spear of ice flying straight through its torso. They kept moving toward the break in the wall.

Others saw and followed. Trees were growing where the wooden planks had failed. If they could just hold the line a little longer—

A scream echoed from behind and Rion pivoted, heart pounding, to find two Fae who’d been separated from their comrades. Arianna paused too, but the others kept moving, fighting back the creatures with everything they had.

“Rion.” He heard his name at the same moment he felt her pull on the bond. He knew what she wanted.

Rion glanced toward the two being herded away. Everyone else had already left them to their fate. A fire wielding male and a water bending female. An unlikely duo fighting side by side to the death.

More of the Dark Fae turned their attention toward the pair. An easy meal.

Arianna’s magic exploded, carving a path in their direction, but they both knew she wouldn’t reach them in time. Even now he saw the male buckle.

“Get them,” Arianna commanded, her fear reflecting down the bond.

Get them. Go after two complete strangers or stay at his mate’s side. He’d already made his decision, but the pleading in her eyes had him reconsidering.

Arianna kept fighting to reach them, her magic blasting creature after creature. She’d never forgive herself if they went down. He knew that pain. The ache of being too late. The drowning guilt of knowing you could have done something but weren’t strong enough.

“Rion,” her voice echoed above the violence. Rion shoved another creature back, snarling as he ripped it apart. His eyes tracked their comrades’ movements. They had to move. Now. They were too far away. Arianna was vulnerable. She hadn’t spent decades on the battlefield. She didn’t understand that some people just couldn’t be saved.

“Rion,” she screamed again and the absolute panic that shot down the bond somehow reminded him of the time he’d pushed her away and left her crying on her knees.

Rion looked back toward the two Fae who were fighting with absolutely everything they had. What if that were he and Arianna one day, left to their own devices, praying someone would intervene?

What if no one did?

Rion snarled and sent a wave of magic flying toward the couple. “Stay close to me.” Her relief was instantaneous and she obeyed, keeping right on his heels as they ran through the narrow path he’d carved among the creatures.

His magic circled her, even as it ripped through any who dared to lunge for him or his mate.

The couple spotted him, but it wasn’t fear that shone in their eyes at his approach. It was relief and hope. And it … startled him. These complete strangerswantedhis help.

Rion propelled his magic outward. It circled the two Fae and blasted the creatures away, giving them an opportunity to flee back toward the wall and their waiting comrades.

The female wrapped an arm under the male’s shoulder and hauled him to his feet. Rion held the line for them, following in their wake. He glanced behind and found Arianna smiling. He returned it. Then one of the fire-breathing creatures with large horns barreled right into her.

His world froze. Fractured. Shattered.

Too late, too late, too late.

Fear and agony radiated through him as he watched the beast’s horn tear straight through Arianna’s right side. He saw the depth of the wound then the blood that rushed to fill it. Her smile faltered. Faded. Another slammed into her from her other side and she went spiraling forward. He was too late to stop her head from slamming into the ground. More were coming, just inches from sinking their fangs into her flesh and tearing his world apart.

A ringing echoed in his ears and the earth split at their feet. Rocks and dirt and everything he could command all splintered apart as if by some unseen force.

Boulders tumbled over one another and a chasm so deep he couldn’t see the bottom split wide open.

Arianna plummeted into the fissure, along with the horde of Dark Fae rushing toward the scent of her blood.

Rion’s body was already moving, but his magic was faster. It wrapped around her left arm and wrenched her to the side, away from snapping teeth and claws grappling for purchase.

Rion jumped for her, wrapped an arm around her waist, then lifted them both up and out.

His eyes raked over her body. She wasn’t screaming. Wasn’t moving. His magic kept fighting as he lifted her head, and his hand came away bloody.

He couldn’t breathe. Every fiber of his body screamed for her. His magic spun in a violent circle, tearing the skin away from anything that dared to approach. He lifted the fabric of her torn shirt and a strange drowning sound escaped his throat.

Blood. It was something he’d seen a thousand times, yet it had his body trembling as if he’d never laid eyes on it.

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