Page 53 of Immortal Sins
“He had his reasons.”
I steal a glance at Erron. “Everyone wants the horn. What does it do?”
“It’s not about what it does. It’s about what it contains,” he clips.
His grumpy answer justifies my fears that the horn isn’t just a horn.
“Beth’s soul is still in it,” I say.
Deep lines crease his forehead.
My heart gives a hard thump. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
He inclines his head. “Unless we free it properly, Elle will waste away in her bony prison.”
Cole leads us to the magic vault in his room and retrieves a square-shaped black box. After he pricks his thumb on a small, needle-like fixture by the crease between the box’s top and bottom, the lock clicks open. Cole unveils the horn with great care and respect. The velvet shroud wrinkles in his tight grip.
The shredded part where the bone was cut flips my stomach.
Erron’s jaw clenches, the tremble of his lip visible for a second before his ineffable mask returns. “What a mess.”
He turns to Cole. “Elle was a pro, and she had few weaknesses. Tell me every detail you remember, no matter how small it seems.”
Cole rests a hand on the closest bed poster. “When I arrived in the garden, she was unconscious, but still in her human form. In my altered mind state, I could barely feel a thing, let alone decide anything. I just had this…urge to kill her at any cost. I was nothing but a mindless puppet.” He spits out the last part, eyes glued to the floor.
Horrified by the toll such memories must have on him, I close the distance between us.
He skirts away from me. Not so suddenly that it’s obvious, but the inches of deliberate space clue me in that he wants to avoid PDA in front of his uncle. “I suspect Osbourne managed to neutralize her and left her ripe for the kill, though I’m not sure how.”
“Who is this Osbourne?”
We recount every detail of Oz’s life we can recall, but silently agree not to mention that Oz and Beth were dating. While we argue about tiny bits of the timeline, my nerves whip into a frenzy.
Cole dumps a fresh log in the fire. “I stole Oz’s file from the office. He arrived in Dark Falls around the time Jules’ father graduated. He was a good student, but not the best, and he almost got expelled for the illegal trade of dragon scales on campus.”
Erron rubs his stubble. “His surname rings a bell, but dragons are pretty recluse. I never heard of a dragon teaching at Dark Falls before. Is he an air dragon?”
“Definitely,” I answer.
Erron growls. “That must be it, then. Beth’s blood was an excellent conduit, and while that allowed her to use or sometimes shape other people’s magic, lighting, thunderstorms, and high-voltage electricity could overcharge her.”
I play with my fingers, adding to the discussion whenever Cole misses an important detail, but my mind is somewhere else. I brush the tiny scar on my elbow, left there by Allie’s magic during puberty. Dad used to call her his little thunderbolt. I was the fireball, of course. We destroyed quite a few crown moldings and windows.
Erron slides closer to me and gives Cole a pointed look. “Give us a minute.”
Fuck, I hope I didn’t let the worry shine on my face. He can’t know about Allie, not the Fae vigilante with a skewer the size of my arm.
Cole grits his teeth. “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of me.”
“Elisheba was the love of my life, and if she discussed my existence with Julia here, I wish to hear the details. Give an old man some space. I promise to return your scandalouslymortalprincess in good health.”
Our gazes cross, and I give him a small nod. Cole grumbles but walks away.
After he’s gone, I cross my arms around my chest. “You don’t really want to discuss Beth, do you?” Why would an immortal Fae royal want to gossip with a witch who knew his ex for five minutes? It doesn’t make sense.
“No. I want to discuss Colden, but I couldn’t tell him that, could I?” He offers me his arm.
We walk a few paces toward the center of the house.
