Page 55 of The Dark War

“This… this will be enough.” I gently closed the palm of her hand.

My body silently swayed. My mind reeled with new information. Could it be possible that all of this was tied together? The duke was powerful, especially since he was the major source of Vermillion’s money right now. Was he supplying blood to the rogues, having them work for him right under Taliyah’s nose?

It was the perfect cover, but how did it all connect?

Glinda gently swayed into the room. Her gentle voice had me calmed, seeing her motherly demeanor. She kept her voice soft as she spoke. She was worried for Creed and felt that Creed had black magic embedded into his body. I gripped my hand to Kane as I listened.

Glinda was to test Creed later this evening to see if this magic befell upon him. The way Creed’s eyes widened, his emotion as he heard of the possible curse, had him pulling on Odessa. Their hands were woven together, his soft pats on her head, her arms had her melting into him.

How could they not be mates with the way they held each other? Craved each other? Did they fully know what a bond was? The duke must have lied because I saw everything that Kane and I held dear in those two.

“Please send word once you know if he has been cursed,” I spoke a little louder. “I would like to know what caused him to be cursed as well as what spell is haunting him.” Kane pulled my chin to meet his eyes. “I want to be fully informed. Please send a falcon for communication. We will be leaving back to the Crimson Shadows pack. My poor daughter Evelyn doesn’t get much time with her mother.” Kane pulled me to his chest.

“You are doing so good,” Kane rumbled inside my mind. Sighing heavily, I shut my eyes tight. “Can we just go home?” I wanted to cry. There was no escaping this torture to all these people.

“Thank you,” Odessa said. “Thank you for not making me go back.”

“Odessa, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I’m still new at all these formalities. I really hope you can forgive us.”

Please forgive me for being a terrible queen.

“Nothing to forgive. As long as I can stay with Creed, right?” Odessa asked longingly.

“O-of course! You honestly look like a mated pair, anyway. I would ask you to take good care of her, Creed, but I think you already do that.” I smiled at them both.

“Congratulations on your union.” Kane stepped aside, crossing his arm over his chest. “I believe you are of excellent character. Not once have you tried to show your power to any of us, even though I know you could wipe us all out of the room in an instant.”

Wait, what?!

“He’s pretty damn powerful, love.”

Kane bowed low to Creed with his arms crossed. “I hope to work with you soon, maybe get some revenge on a bloodsucker.” Kane chuckled. Creed’s smile, or at least that lip curl had me giggling.

I poked Kane in the stomach. “Baby, that’s racist.”

Chapter Thirty

Clara

Thecracklingoffirehad me wincing. Heat traveled across my skin while I shook my head into the fluffy pillow. Rubbing my eyes, a large bang hit the floor next to the window, the curtains immediately flaming to life as soon as my lids peered open.

I groaned, coming to my senses. My heart raced in my chest. Feeling the bed beside me for Kane, I was met with cold skin. Kane laid beside me, his body lifeless with claw marks on his chest. My fingers drenched in his blood, my heart felt the jab of loneliness, Giana crying out in pain.

“NO!” I screamed, my body flung to him, trying to use whatever power I could push into my mate, to heal him to bring him back to me. There was no life left in his body; there was nothing to heal. The soul had already departed. “You can’t leave me!” Shaking him, my mind cleared even more. The only reason I could be alive was because of my daughter.

Taking what was left of my tattered soul, I turned to the cot beside the bed that held her. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen; the fire that engulfed the room had already had the cot turned over. Jumping from the sheets, I looked to the floor, under the bed and blankets. Giana retreated further back into my mind. A wall was erected, casing me to scream in frustration.

Where was she? Standing up in a familiar white night gown that Kane loved so much, it was now tattered, torn, and discolored. One side of the room was entirely engulfed in flames, both my daughter and Kane gone.

“What’s going on!?” I screamed out into the darkness. The bedroom doors were wide open, and the burning of the fire stilled. The flames slowed, the heat still forcing its way into my lungs, the smoke trailing upward.

My mate was gone. He still lay in the bed. My reason for living was gone, but here I stayed to look in the empty room. I couldn’t even cry as I ran to the window. The panic grew inside me, seeing nothing but ash and the Bergarian soil. Bodies lay broken, blood dripping from the front steps of the pack house.

There was no life left.

Deep chuckles came from the entry to our room. My back didn’t turn, too torn by the scene of the land I had called my own. Whoever stood behind me in that far corner was the one who did this, the cause of it all. It was the only reason why he was the only one left in this hell.

Thunder rolled into the distance, lightning scorching the sky with red light. I winced, each crack that lit up the now barren land, the embers glowing further into the distance. “Who are you?” I tightened my fists, hitting the door frame. The curtains fell around me, reducing nothing but ash.

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