Page 69 of Darkest Heart

Missing them hurt more than any physical torture. It was an unending sadness that no matter how much I tried to suffocate, those feelings, they never died.

Seeing that boy brought them all to the surface, and every part of me ached. The motivation to continue hunting, killing, dissipated for a moment.

“We can talk about it,” she said, but I noticed her wounds were healed.

I shook my head. “No. Olivia. We need to go.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I was already standing. “Please, Erianna,” I pleaded as I looked out over the dead bodies.

She unsheathed her dagger, and we raced out of the town. A beach came into view, and I prayed she was still alive.

She had to be.

Hope pierced through the soulmate bond, halting me. It was followed by a wave of relief, both mine and hers.

“Sebastian.” Her voice broke, and I turned slowly.

Goosebumps spread over my body, my blood running cold as I blinked twice, uncertain if she was really there. I’d seen her in every face, in the corner of my eye, far too many times to count.

A part of me thought this moment would never come, although I never fully let the fear in. She was different. I could feel it. The connection between us was dimmed, even with us just feet apart.

Words failed me as I stared at her, a vision of beauty and terror in her crimson-splattered white gown, dripping wet, holding a heart in her hand.

I’d never seen anything more beautiful yet terrifying in the same breath.

I sped to her, not listening to whatever it was Erianna said. Olivia dropped the heart on the ground, and I pulled her in tight, holding on as if she might disappear at any moment. I cradled her head into my chest, kissing the top of her head a hundred times. “I’m never letting you go again,” I promised, tears seeping through the cracks in my eyelids as I clamped my eyes shut. “Never.”

I pulled her tighter, and she collapsed in my arms. I could feel her magic dying through our bond, my eyes widening. “Olivia!” I held her in my arms, her head drifting back.

“She needs magic,” Erianna’s voice broke through my panic. “I…”

“What do I do?” I asked, feeling helpless. I just got her back. She was still a sorceress, immortal or not. I looked at the heart, the blood and the slow-healing tears on her thighs from some attack.

“I don’t know.” Erianna admitted.

I listened to my wife’s shallow breaths, then stretched out my wings. There was only one place I could think of that could give her some power. The same place I’d taken her before to enhance her magic. The Lake of Laveniuess.

TWENTY-FOUR

Niall

Something unusual swirled in my stomach as I watched Elizabeth hold her sister in a death grip. Tears slipped from her wide, brown eyes. I waited as they talked, and Elizabeth checked Carla for any bruises or bite marks. I’d done my next to clean her up before bringing her into the room, even giving her some of my blood to hide the truth.

A heaviness settled in my chest. I’d not experienced shame much, but it roared inside of me like a beast as Elizabeth’s accusing eyes found mine over her sister’s shoulder. I hadn’t touched Carla, but I’d allowed the Blood Brother’s to. It was a fate better than the one she had originally. I’d watched the slaughter of the tournament firsthand. Her sister would have never survived, but that didn’t matter. Light arrowed through the arched window onto the bed and open, leather-bound books.

Finally, they stepped apart, and Elizabeth turned to me. “She can stay in here with me until we leave.”

I glanced at the door, panic amping up my heart rate. “Lower your voice,” I warned, uncertain of who could be listening. Especially with Gwen around, although she seemed preoccupied with Felix and other members of Malum Dominor. Power always had lured her. “If anyone finds out I’m showing you mercy, they will show you none.”

Carla arched a brow, finding her voice. “Mercy?”

“Yes.”

“It’s called basic decency.”

“This is not your world,” I snapped back, feeling heat rise in my cheeks. “There’s no such thing here.”

“No, there isn’t.” Her breath caught as she pulled her hair over her shoulder. I recognized that far off stare. She’d never forget what happened here, or to her in those rooms.

I sighed. “I’ll place you in another room for now. You can’t both be in here.” Elizabeth tensed, but I waved her down before she lost her temper. “We have business to attend before you go, in private. Remember our deal.”

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