Page 33 of The Sacred and the Tormented

This was who they’d called to help his mate? Did they really believe he’d let someone like her anywhere near the anchor that rooted what was left of his soul to the world?

Did he even have a choice?

This female, Sive, took a step into the room and Rion growled, rising to his full height as he placed his body between her and Arianna. The male at the female’s side grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back, but Sive gently rested a hand on his chest and drew a symbol there. It glowed for the briefest moment before disappearing.

The male’s heartbeat slowed. His breathing eased too. The pair stared into one another’s eyes, seeming to have a silent conversation of their own before she turned back to face him.

No. Not her. Anyone but her.

Something was wrong. Different. Rion pulled his lips back from his teeth. He didn’t want this female anywhere near Arianna.

Arianna’s heart skipped again and Rion’s throat burned. He tried to swallow it back, bury it down, but the tears formed anyway, lingering to cloud his vision.

He wanted them all out. He needed them out. If Arianna was going to die, then she’d do it in his arms and he’d go with her.

His breath came faster. Pain blossomed in his chest and constricted his ribs. He grabbed his shirt, willing the agony to pass. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe.

“What have they done to you?” His world paused at the sound of her ethereal voice. Blood thrummed through his ears. Pounding. Pounding. Pounding.

She gave him a sad smile then lifted one hand and drew a symbol in the air. “So much darkness. So much pain.” Rion felt something in his shoulders give way. Like a tiny sliver had been chipped from the fear consuming him. “Has no one shown you kindness?”

His gaze wandered to Arianna.Her, he wanted to say, but his lips wouldn’t move.

The female drew another symbol in the air between them.

The lump in Rion’s throat thickened.

She drew another.

His lips parted and a strangled gasp escaped. His mind cleared another fraction then he could finally put a name to the emotion swirling through him.

Not fear.

Terror.

Absolute terror.

Because if he lost her—if he lost her—

The female’s features came into focus. Soft blonde hair hung down to her hips in gentle waves, the strands loosely held back from her face with a pair of twists that circled the crown of her head. Her eyes were honey colored and carried so much warmth within that he felt his own body relaxing even further.

She took another step into the room, her hands still moving in a slow, methodical motion. Rion stepped back and she paused.

“Is that better?”

“What are you doing to me?” His voice came out raw and broken.

“Nothing that will harm you. And sadly, nothing that is permanent.”

He felt warm again, able to think clearly too. She stepped again, closing the distance so that she was only an arm’s length away. Her gaze drifted to Arianna lying on the bed behind him.

The female’s other hand drifted to her stomach and he finally looked down, noticing the swell. She smiled at him then Rion scented the air.

Not female. Woman. But her scent was strange, a mixture of something he couldn’t place. Not a half-breed but—

Her hand stopped drawing symbols between them. Grief flooded through his already fractured heart, as if she’d torn down every wall he’d built to hold it all back.

“Help her,” he begged. It was a broken plea. He’d give her anything if she promised to save his mate.

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