Page 192 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

“What is it?”

I took a ragged breath.

“The knot in my chest. It calls to the Well. To the magic within. It’s like it’s unraveling the closer we get. I don’t know if I can bear the pain.”

Tharan clasped his hand around mine.

“It’s okay, Aelia. I will help you.”

“You’re going to have to carry me. I don’t think I can walk.”

“Of course, my darling.” Even through the darkness I could see the beginnings of a smile on his lips, making my heart skip a beat. It had been a long time since I trusted someone so completely.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

We crept through the forest on silent feet. Amolie gave me a piece of willow bark to numb the pain, but it barely touched the fire in my chest. I kept looking down, expecting to see a glowing hole, but none surfaced.

I lay my head against Tharan’s chest, focusing on the sound of his heart, reveling in his warmth.

“You’re burning up, Aelia,” he said.

A chill crept through my body, and I began to shake uncontrollably.

“I feel cold,” I whispered as my teeth chattered together.

Tharan paused, laying me against a tree. An invisible hole bore into my chest. Squeezing my eyes tight, I tried to focus on anything but the pain. Tharan brushed the sweat-soaked hair sticking to my damp brow behind my ear. When had I started sweating?

“I won’t take you a step further if you don’t want me to. I will not risk your life for this.” Removing his cloak, he placed it over mine.

“No,” I said, fighting through the agony. “We have to do this. It’s the only way to stop them.”

“If you want to stop, just tell me. I can’t lose you, Aelia.”

Tears formed behind my eyes.

“You won’t. I promise.” A lie. I didn’t know how this would end. Would the fire in my chest consume me completely?

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, King Killer.”

I smiled through the pain.

Lucius and his Shadow Hunters went ahead to scout for any adversaries while the rest stayed behind and waited for theall-clearsignal. A fresh layer of frost coated everything in silver crystals, reminding us winter wasn’t fully gone yet.

“What are we going to do, once we get in there?” Caiden asked.

“We’ll need to look closely at the runes. They’re ancient, and I don’t know if I can read them,” Tharan said.

“Roderick can read ancient sylph. Hopefully he can interpret.”

Roderick nodded; his pale green eyes glowed in the darkness.

The cawing of a starling signaled theall clear.

We snuck around the opening of the ruins where heartless naked bodies still hung. Their lifeless heads tilted downward.

I gasped at the gruesome sight, some of their eyes were missing and their bodies were covered in whip lashings. Not dissimilar to my own.

“Oh Trinity, protect these souls.”

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