Page 57 of Immortal Sins
I tie my long blond hair into a ponytail at the back of my neck. “I want to come with you tonight and help Jeremy if I can.”
No one should be alone when they die.
Dan shakes his head. “He’s incoherent by now. You don’t have to see that. Let me deal with it.”
“I want to be involved. I told you before—I’m not cut out to be an ornamental wife. If we’re in this together, then I want to help.”
“This is different. It’s official High Council business. You can’t tag along. One day, we’ll be free to share everything, but until then, we’ve got to be careful. Promise me you’ll go to bed and try to sleep. You have exams coming, and we can’t afford to let down our defenses, not even for a minute. The trial will go on.”
The trial…
After Jules’ disappearance, we asked for a continuance. The respite was brief.
I press my hand to my brow, a migraine threatening to burst between my eyes. “I can’t believe Cole double-crossed you and refused to give her back. I hope she’s okay.”
Dan rubs my upper arms. “Hey. I’ll do everything in my power to get her back. You have my word.”
A tingle of lightning between my shoulder blades distracts me. I can’t help but feel he’s holding back information, and my powers rarely mislead me. I watch his retreating back and head to our bedroom.
Despite my promise, I change into my black hoodie, wrangle a pair of dark leggings over my nylons, and slip into the night.
The infirmary is perfectly visible from the forest. I climb up a tree until I’m at eye-level with the second-story windows. From this angle, I can almost see into Jeremy’s room. Shudders quake my arms and chest, but to my surprise, Dan and his agents walk in and out of the building in minutes.
When they step on the gravel in front of the dining hall, Theodore Darkwood is with them.
A blue aura gleams around the President of the three realms. A powerful magic armor, no doubt.
A levitating stretcher glides in front of them, controlled by Daniel’s magic. The agents fan on each side until the procession reaches the line of trees. Darkwood motions my boyfriend along, and they enter the woods—where I’m currently hiding. Fuck.
There’s really only one place they could be going, so I hurry ahead of them and choose my vantage point carefully.
I perch on the high branch of a thick, powerful oak. The serrated leaves encumber my line of sight, but there’s no way they’ll be able to spot me. The wind blows square in my face, so my scent shouldn’t reach Darkwood’s vampire nose.
The underworld tear has grown since I last saw it. It used to be inches long, but it’s at least six feet wide now. The shadowy margins snake along the rocks before they disappear inside the flat stone slab, where the portal leaks deeper and deeper into Dark Falls’ roots.
The stretcher comes into view first.
Then Dan.
Darkwood closes the funeral march.
The blue armor around him glitches when he steps past the stony ridge where the unnatural rock slab begins.
I drag my parched tongue against the roof of my mouth.
When the stretcher is but a few feet away from the tear between worlds, Dan raises one hand to Jeremy’s head. An acrid yellow glow flashes in the night. The pine needles around the clearing squirm at the burst of power.
My dragon dumps the body inside the portal the way I dispose of the dead hair on my comb.
My heart pounds in my throat. Jeremy is dead. Just like that. And neither man will lose a night’s sleep over it. I bite down on my tongue, hard enough to draw blood.
I can’t cry. Not here. Not now. Not ever.
If I want to play in the big leagues, I have to toughen up—only, this mercy kill feels everything but tough. Jeremy didn’t deserve to die alone, toted through the shadows like nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
Both men stroll away from the gateway and closer to my hiding spot. I hold my breath.
A perfect shimmer envelops Darkwood again. For whatever reason, his armor didn’t function properly close to the tear.
