Page 49 of Twilight Echoes
She let her breathing fall in line with Darrell’s and pushed as much of her fairy dust as she could over him, knowing that it was his inner aura that was killing him, and there was nothing she could do about that.
Her mind wandered back to when she’d been five years old.
“Avery, are you ready?” Miss Tammy asked.
“Yes.” Avery jumped up from her seat and bounced to the center of the room.
Darrell took her hand and smiled.
The music began and he effortlessly led her through the routine. In his arms, it was as if she belonged there.
Glancing in the mirror, she gasped at the reflection of her and Darrell as adults, not children…
“I love you, Darrell,” she said.
“I love you, too.”
12
“Daddy, do something.” Avery held Darrell’s head in her lap. His breaths were still shallow, and his heart rate reached a dangerously slow pace.
“I need to unlock the book first,” he said from across the room.
Merlin and his two men lay on the floor, near death, not far from where she cradled her mate in her arms.
“He’s fading fast,” she whispered, pressing her lips on his cold, clammy forehead. “What went wrong?”
“Nothing,” her father said as he poured some liquid into a beaker.
“He didn’t break our bond?”
“No, but his resolve to protect what is his is so strong that he let you have all but the thinnest layer of your life aura.”
“How could he do that without being a witch?” She glanced in her father’s direction, who looked up from his potion for only a brief second. “Oh, Daddy, you didn’t?”
“I did what I thought was best for everyone,” her father said with a dark tone. “And he begged me to make sure you had what was needed to complete the task. That you and his children would be safe. Bigger picture, little girl.”
“I could have done it without you casting a?—”
“He was starting to tap into your inner aura, and it ended up taking you twelve minutes,” her father said as he poured some liquid into a tiny cup. “If I hadn’t made it so he could let go of some, you’d both be dead.”
“But now he’s dying in my arms,” she said, holding back the tears. Darrell didn’t need her crying. He needed her to be strong.
Her father handed her the cup. “Give this to him. It will help while I unlock the book, which will take a little while.”
“He doesn’t have much time.” She parted Darrell’s lips, letting the potion trickle into his mouth and throat. He didn’t move. Didn’t cough.
Nothing.
“They are dying too,” she said, pointing to Merlin and his fellow wizards.
“I gave them the same potion before you snapped back. Now hush, child, and let me work.”
She ran her fingers through Darrell’s thick, dark hair, feeling every strand glide across her skin. She’d never been in love and in less than a week, she’d fallen head over heels.
Soulmates.
Fated mates.
