Page 146 of His Darkest Desire

Kinsley frantically shook her head. “Vex, no. No, no, no.”

“For the first time in eternity, I understand. Each moment is precious. A thing to be treasured. All those moments you should’ve had…” Tears trickled from the corners of his eyes, catching the wild light as they trailed down his cheeks. “Your family seeks you. They need you, just as you need them.”

“I need you! I want you!”

“Wherever you are, my moonlight, wherever you go, so shall I be there. For you are my heart.” Sliding his hand into her hair, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Kinsley threw her arm around his neck and embraced him as tightly as she could, refusing to end that kiss, refusing to let him release her. She felt his heat, tasted the saltiness of their mingling tears, smelled his oakmoss and amber scent. She clung to his solidness. She clung to him.

And she tried to tell herself that he wasn’t kissing her goodbye. She tried so, so hard to convince herself of it.

Vex’s fingers twitched, and his claws pricked her scalp. He let out a shuddering exhalation as he clenched her closer. But his words were clear, steady, and deliberate when he whispered against her lips, “Kinsley Wynter Delaney, I release you from your vow. Our pact is fulfilled.”

The stinging pain in her wrist vanished. The swirling colors grew to blinding intensity, so bright that they swallowed up Vex completely. A sound like roaring wind and quaking earth filled her ears. She felt herself pulled in a million directions at once, felt the universe shattering around her, felt reality vanishing from under her feet. Felt herself coming untethered.

But she still felt Vex. He released her wrist and embraced her, and for another instant, she felt him holding her, tighter than ever. For another instant, he was real.

All that sound and light crashed over Kinsley and devoured her. A wave of dizziness swept through her, and she was falling, falling, falling…

And then it was silent. So silent, and so, so still.

Kinsley squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a deep breath as she willed everything to stop spinning. She was bent over, arms on the ground and head bowed. The cold air smelled of moist vegetation and earth, and her dress offered no protection from the chill, especially the skirt, which was wet where she was kneeling upon it.

Eyes snapping open, she shoved herself up on her knees and looked around.

“No,” she rasped, her breath coming out in a tiny white cloud. “No!”

There was no stone circle, no tangled roots, no rough-hewn stone walls with glowing crystals. There was no cottage.

And there was no Vex.

Gnarled trees stood around her, their bark covered in moss, their branches bare of leaves. All remained still and quiet, as though the land were sleeping.

She looked down to find herself in the middle of a small depression that was ringed by a wide circle of mushrooms, their large, orange-brown caps stark against the dull, dreary surroundings.

A fairy ring. A final bit of magic that felt like a mockery of what had just happened.

“No.” Kinsley shook her head. “No, no, no, no. This isn’t real. He…he didn’t…”

Lifting her hand, she turned her palm up. The wound had already stopped bleeding; only a line of pink, healing skin remained as evidence that she’d been cut at all. Heart pounding and breaths coming quick and shallow, she scratched at her palm. The pain was distant as her nails bit into her flesh until she drew blood.

“Send me back. Send me back!”

She held her hand over the ground and clenched her fist. Time crawled, and her arm quivered with exertion, until finally several drops of blood fell to the earth.

But nothing happened.

Eyes filling with tears, she slammed her hand on the ground. “Send me back! Please!”

A sob wrenched from her throat, followed by another, and another. She crumpled forward, head against her arm, and cried, body shaking as she begged whoever would listen to send her back. She begged her blood to work, her magic to awaken, begged fate to correct itself and return her to her mate.

The world around her remained unchanged; reality didn’t so much as ripple.

She thought she heard someone call her name from afar, but she offered them no attention; it hadn’t been Vex’s voice.

She clutched at the ground. Her heart had been split in two, with half of it trapped in another world, so far out of reach.

Why? Why had he done this?

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