Page 28 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Gods above, what the hell was he supposed to do?

Rion didn’t see the creature that grabbed his ankle. Its teeth sank into his flesh and Rion fell. He kept a tight hold on Arianna as he rolled across the forest floor, cradling her head. He should have prevented it from hitting the ground the first time. He never should have gone after those two Fae.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Even if she’d hated him, she wouldn’t be dying in his arms right now.

Rion got back to his feet and kept going, trying to dodge large groups amidst the trees. A distant command echoed from his right. Rion scented the air. Fae. Niall.

Shit.

He veered left, straining in the darkness to search for any signs of the enemy.

Another Dark Fae slammed its body into his and Rion fell again, barely keeping his hold on Arianna. His ankle twisted. Cracked. Rion roared and the rocks came to life, rising up to shred the creature to pieces.

Sweat rolled down his face. His body shook. Rion tried to stand again and nearly buckled from the pain radiating through his foot.

Panic overtook him again. He desperately searched his surroundings. Anything. Anything.There. Rion kept his magic ever moving as he ran with a limp toward a large rock jutting up from the ground. With barely more than a thought, he tore through the center of it, creating a hole large enough for him to enter through. The Dark Fae tried to follow, but Rion crumbled the rock entrance back in on itself, sealing him and Arianna inside.

Rion gritted his teeth against the pain and gently set her down on the hard stone. He couldn’t see, but he could hear her breath and heartbeat. His hand found her wound and came away slick with blood.

She needed help now.

He had to do somethingnow.

Rion cursed at the creatures bashing their bodies against the rock, chipping away at it piece by piece. He took those pieces and let them fly in random directions.

Rion placed his hand on the ground next and searched for their vibrations, catching all who stood anywhere near the wall in his clutches before crushing their bodies.

His head spun, exhaustion washing through him. This couldn’t be it. This wasn’t the extent of his powers. He’d held up an entire city only a few weeks ago.

And perhaps that was the problem. He’d been in captivity. His magic had been suppressed for over two months, then he’d unleashed it in a way he’d never done before. He’dtrained endlessly afterward, trying to recover and process his anger.

Then he’d had to fight again and now Arianna—

It was too much. Too much on his mind and body and soul.

Rion clenched his teeth and planted his feet. He shoved the pain to the back of his mind. Let it be too much then. He’d let his body crumble before he let Arianna die in this makeshift cave.

Rion blasted the entrance open, using the debris as a weapon before he reformed the wall, closing his mate inside.

The Dark Fae lunged at him, but they were fewer in number, or was his addled mind just imagining it?

Rion tore them apart, whipping his magic around his body in a frenzy. He drew the only remaining blade he possessed and slammed it into one of the creature’s eye sockets then let his magic do the rest.

He just had to make a path. Once these creatures were destroyed, he could figure out where he was and make a start toward the nearest village.

If the dark creatures hadn’t destroyed that too.

Rising voices sounded too close. Shit, he’d forgotten. There were Fae closing in as well. Likely not Niall, as he’d previously thought, but they could his underlings. Rion could smell Pádraigín on the wind. He could smell them all really. Or was it just a glamour meant to throw him off?

Rion didn’t stop moving. He was a living storm. If he didn’t make it out of this, then neither would she.

Images from his time in captivity plagued his mind. Pictures of Arianna’s body withering before his eyes. Her lips slowly curling back from her teeth as decay took over and stole her from the world.

Rion roared again, fighting the sharp pricking sensation in his eyes and the way his throat suddenly burned.

A group of Fae rounded the corner. One stopped to look at him, their expression a mixture of awe and surprise.

Rion’s heart pounded harder when they veered straight for him. They would know Arianna was nearby. If he let them catch her, she’d be subjected to Niall’s torment just as he’d been.

---