Page 221 of Gift from the Source
It vibrates in my blood.
A blessing bestowed.
A sob rips through my chest as my gaze finally lands on the spot I was trying to avoid. My family kneels around him, mourning.
This isn’t an awful illusion, fever dream, or the worst intrusive thought I’ve ever conjured up.
It’s real.
Tillman, Caspian, and Draken stand in front of him. They leave a space for him as their bodies tremble violently. Their tear-drenched, red-rimmed eyes bore into me. They’re seeking comfort I can’t give them right now. I have none to spare as my hollow soul prepares to mend itself.
A piece of my soul given to save the many.
I did not agree to that.
It was a choice made for me that I did not want to make.
“Elementra, you made a vow to me that none of my bonds would ever be broken. You’ve honored that with the loophole that they’d mend together so I’d still feel them. That’s not enough. There is no limit when it comes to them.”
My eyes lock onto my broken men as my knees crash into the ground.
For them—the four of them—there is no limit.
I’ll search beyond the ends of the realm for them.
I scream bloody murder as the foundation beneath me cracks open with the weight of my grief. It sends a split down the earth that throws my family away from Corentin’s body.
My hands sink into the cold, unforgiving ground, and I command my blood to find their source. I call forth the seven gifts, my six fully intact bonds, and four elements within me. With every ounce of force I can muster up, I shove them through the fabric of our realm.
Tears flood down my face as I scream his name into the abyss. Everything that makes me who I am searches for him.
“Give him back to me! Please!”
Three hands lie on my body, and I sob even harder.
It’s not right.
It’s not balanced.
It’s not complete.
The five of us…
There was so much left to do. So much love to give.
No tilt of my chin will ever feel the same.
The taste of coffee will never be right.
The wind that blows the trees will suffocate me each day.
We were supposed to experience peace together. A happily ever after, after all the heartache and battles we faced.
My men’s grief piles onto my own and I crumble into the earth between them.
All the things we won’t experience together.
Our bonding ceremony.
