Page 39 of Alpha Exile

It doesn't look very sturdy, but somehow it's still standing.

Maybe in part because of the thousands of spirits that float in the darkness beneath it, holding it up with resentful looks in their eyes, each of them mangled beyond belief.

Finn and Kieran are conferring with Delilah, while Lance examines our end of the bridge, bending down to test its supports and tug at the ropes. But I feel a strangled scream gather in my throat, and it's all I can do not to let it out.

"Delilah." She doesn't hear me; she's too busy looking for some sign of Roarke, a footprint or a stray mating thread or something. I raise my voice and shout, "Delilah!"

I must've been too loud, because everyone is looking at me now. I'm looking back, just as shocked, while pressure builds inside my chest, sends my pulse racing and sets my nerves on edge.

I'm about to say something when Jason's voice floats back to me, and I realize he turned around and followed us here after all.

You can't cross that bridge.I don't look at him; I don't need to, because I agree absolutely.If you do, you'll die. All of you. The only thing that waits on the other side of that bridge is death—and the only thing that can protect you from it is death itself, and unless you five have some death stones you're keeping from me, you don't have any protection. Actually, I wonder if—

"Bastian? Is something wrong?" Delilah's voice cuts through the spirit's speech, and he huffs to a stop, crossing his arms and floating somewhere just above the ground. "What's going on?"

"The spirits." My voice comes out hoarse, so I clear my throat, motioning to the endless crevasse in front of us. "There are thousands of the dead in there. Stretching as far as I can see in every direction. They're—they're not good, Delilah. They're not all there anymore, and they're not great at speaking."

Hey,Jason mutters,I've still got all my faculties, thank you very much.

"From what they've been able to tell me, though, this place is what killed them," I continue, grabbing Delilah's arms and trying to press some sense into her, desperate for her understanding. "We can't keep going. I'm sorry, Delilah, really I am. Maybe there's some other way of helping Roarke—this dead guy was a necromancer, and he told me that there's a chance—but if we cross that bridge, we're all going to die."

Delilah looks betrayed by this bit of information, and I don't blame her. I canfeelher sadness and desperation through the mating bond. She yearns for Roarke, aches for him, and to deny her their bond is to deny hereverything.But I can't pretend like it isn't the truth, so I have to say it.

"Okay. Okay, let's think about this and... plan." Looking towards Kieran, Delilah asks quietly, "Did they cross this way? Can you see?"

"Let me try again," he concedes.

Closing his eyes, Kieran murmurs something beneath his breath, as if he's centering himself. Then he turns towards the bridge and opens his eyes—eyes that don't see the dead just beneath our feet, something that makes me deeply jealous.

"I think—I think I can see them—ah!"

Kieran's cut short as blood starts to flow from his nose, dripping towards the ground. He tilts his head back, cupping his chin as blood begins to flow from his eyes, his ears, his mouth—everywhere.

Lance leaps forward and grabs him, dragging him back from the edge. Delilah sobs in fear, clapping her hands over her mouth, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Finn steps back from the edge of the crevasse, his motions careful and slow, as if he's afraid the darkness will bite him.

Jason the dead necromancer looks over at me, grimaces, and says,See ya, I'm out.

This time he really does leave, I'm pretty sure for good. I don't turn to watch him go. Instead I step forward, towards the very edge of the crevasse, and kneel down.

Reaching my hands out, I skim them across the air in front of me.

And a thousand spirits howl in hunger, flying towards me, pressing up against the edge of the crevasse, their eyes glowing red and their mouths open.

Shuddering, I pull back before they can attack me, turn around, and run back out of the tunnel.

As I pass Delilah, she takes one deep, gulping breath and murmurs, "I'll come back for you, Roarke. I promise." Her eyes shudder closed, tears spilling down her face. "Just wait for me a little while longer."

Then she turns and, without looking back, leaves the darkness behind her.

Eighteen

Delilah

I'm surrounded by my pack, close to my mates, and yet I feel alone. Forlorn, forgotten, and a failure—all because I'm still missinghim.

Roarke. My North star, my alpha, who is the pack's leader in all the ways I'm not.

I refuse to use the past tense to refer to him. I can't. There has to be hope—Ihaveto see him again, to be with him and know him.

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