Page 95 of Vows Forged in Blood

I can’t move.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

She’s…gone.

The roaring in my ears gets louder, near deafening, the pain in my chest unbearable.

“Alaric,” Elias yells in my ear, somehow loud enough to be heard over the din in my head, the destruction of my entire world raining down around me. “Listen, damn you!” He shakes me hard enough to force me to obey.

My entire body jolts—a nearly silentthump-thumpof her heart. There’s still a spark left, a tiny one but…yes, it’s there. There’s still time. I meet Elias’ gaze and he nods.

“You must hurry.”

“Handle things here and at their stronghold. I’m taking her to Ashcliff.”

“Good luck, brother,” he says, clamping me hard on the shoulder. Enid dashes up then and he whirls to catch her, pulling her into his arms as she screams and cries. He mutters something low in her ear and I see her sink into him like he’s the only thing that could possibly keep her afloat just before Dahlia and I disappear. We land in our bedroom and I immediately stagger to the bed and place her gently atop it.

“Alora!” I cry. “Alora! To me! NOW!!”

A moment later the door bursts open and Alora hurries in, shock on her face. “My Lord, we didn’t—oh gods!” she whispers as she takes in Dahlia, still and bloody on the bed. Livia and Vernon file into the room behind her, expressions quickly changing into matching ones of horror. “What’s happened?”

“Fire. Now,” I bark, ignoring the question. I turn back to the bed but hear them scurrying behind me to obey. Triston bursts in, lagging behind the others and quickly starts taking orders from Alora. My heart is racing so fast that the beating is just a constant, faint buzz, the individual beats undiscernible, and my blood feels like cold acid in my veins. I cannot lose her. I willnotlose her. I take the briefest of moments to steady myself and then I ease onto the bed beside my mate. My love. My everything.

I shift behind her and pull her back to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her. Tears prick my eyes, but I don’t dare think about the possibilities. I tear into my wrist again and force it between her lips. She only needs a few drops of my blood in her system. After enough has trickled down her throat, I brush her hair aside and lean down, my lips brushing her throat.

“Come back to me, Keeva,” I whisper brokenly before sinking my fangs deep into her flesh. She doesn’t react and my heart clenches, but I force every ounce of will and power I can into thevenom now pouring from my fangs, demanding that it work its will and transform her into one of my kind. After a few minutes, I pull away and lean back against the headboard, holding her tightly in my arms and, for the first time in a very, very long time, begin to pray.

I know it’s coming, but when her heart thuds with its final beat and then falls silent, that small spark that remained fading into nothing, everything inside of me rebels, every instinct roaring and clawing like a feral beast. I hear the faintest gasp from across the room as Alora realizes what’s happened, quickly whispering to the others to leave immediately. A vampire who’s lost his mate is…unpredictable, to say the least. My mind reels, desperate to rip the heart from my own chest to try to stop this agony, but I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force the clamor away. I have to hold on.

She will return.

She will survive.

She will come back to me.

And so, I wait.

Chapter 48

ALARIC

“We got here as quickly as we could,” Elias says quietly as he sinks into a chair beside the bed. I don’t know how much time has passed, but I haven’t moved an inch since the moment Dahlia’s heart stopped beating. The turning can take days, but…has it been too long? Is she…gone?

No.

I won’t think of it.

She will return. She will wake and she will be healed and whole and mine, forever more. I grit my teeth, daring the gods to try to say otherwise.

“The stronghold fell quickly—the majority of those left behind were woman and children, or the very old, and most of them did not wish to fight. Those who tried to make a stand did not last long, most taken out by their own people, actually. I still can’t quite believe it. All this time, there were so many who didn’t want to fight us…” He shakes his head and clenches his jaw, and I know that he’s wondering the same thing I am:how many lives were lost needlessly on both sides? How much innocent blood has stained our blades and souls?

“Anyway, we left those who surrendered there with a contingent of the army to keep watch until we can figure everything out. The rest were dispatched.”

“Good,” I say, hate and rage making my blood boil. Those who wanted war are the reason my mate was taken, the reason she was hurt. The fact that she not only killed Kilgren, but ended the entire fucking war, is still something I can’t quite wrap my mind around, though it isn’t surprising. I think that Dahlia can do just about anything once she sets her stubborn mind to it. My lips almost curl in amusement, but I can’t seem to bring myself to smile.

Not until she wakes.

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