Page 58 of Eternal Night

My bottom lip wobbled. On heavy legs, I approached Harvey. I ignored the cells and ominous doors around me, not wanting to know what lay behind them, focusing only on the cutting pain in my chest that dragged me to the end of the hall where Harvey lay, hurting. That was what his whine was—misery and sadness and hurt.

The stench thickened, repulsive and so pungent it made the tears in my eyes fall. I faltered two steps away from the room Harvey guarded, my eyes trailing over the door he'd knocked. Emlyn rushed forward to support me when my legs buckled, settling his strong arm across my back. I wasn't brave enough to take those last steps, so Em took them for me.

I struggled to lift my head, too scared to look into the room myself. My throat closed off, blocking out the worst of the smell, but I couldn’t breathe.

Pain and fear whipped through my soul, and I clenched my jaw against a wave of emotion, screaming at myself to lift my head, to look inside the dark room.

It took all my courage to lift my head those four inches, to swallow down all the fear slicing through my chest and brave a glance into the room.

My knees weakened.

With Wynvail's brutal light illuminating the space, there was no hiding that it was a cesspit, the grey walls splattered with blood and so many stains in so many places that the floor was five shades darker than the corridor. I was going to be sick.

In the corner, pressed into the juncture of two walls, my mate sat with his knees pressed to his chest and his eyes fixed warily on Harvey. No wings wrapped around his too-thin body to shield him. Only a few swaths of shadow concealed his middle, nothing like the writhing mass he used to possess. My bottom lip wobbled, a cry building in my chest.

I couldn't forget the memory of a blade hacking through his shadows, severing them from him. They were part of him, every bit as essential as his heartbeat. And his wings … where were his beautiful wings? Where were his horns?

I stumbled forward a step, tears scalding my eyes and my lips quivering uncontrollably. Now I’d been brave enough to look into the room, I didn’t dare look away. If I did, would he vanish? Would Cronus steal him from me again?

His body was covered in cuts, so many slices that new scars covered old scars, others bleeding and fresh. What did Cronusdoto him?

I made a small sound, pain clawing up my chest as I staggered forward another step, and his eyes drifted to mine—silver and molten and haunted. Exactly as I remembered them. But a fire lit in those eyes when he saw me, and he sucked in a sudden breath. My chest cracked under the force of his emotions. Only Emlyn’s grip held me upright.

"Wane," I rasped, pressing my hand to my breastbone as shock, weakness, relief and—safety knocked against the inside. Safe? Even in this vile, filthy room, he feltsafewith a single look at me? My bottom lip wobbled, out of control as tears overflowed my burning eyes. I blinked fast until my mate came back into focus, terrified to lose him.

With Emlyn’s help, I took a slow, careful step into the room hovering on the threshold so I didn't box Wane in. I tried not to look at the single bucket in the room, tried not to notice it was full. Bile burned the back of my throat. This was where he'd lived for a hundred years. This was what had been done to him.

I sniffled, my face hot as I cried.

I jumped with a gasp when Wane rushed to his feet in a sudden explosion of movement, too fast for his malnourished, bleeding body; he swayed into the dirty wall, bracing himself there as he stared at me, something fragile and brittle in his expression. Like he was waiting for the trap to spring shut.

"I'm here," I whispered, not brave enough to speak louder. "We're all here. You're going to be okay now."

I gave Emlyn a soft look and stiffened my spine, taking a step on my own. Wane didn’t look away, dread and hope and relief mangling his soul. I lifted my arms to reach for him on instinct before I remembered myself, and remembered the horrors he'd been through. My heart twisting, I dropped them to my sides—and jumped hard when Wane threw himself across the room.

His movements were unsteady but purposeful, his eyes bright and ferocious. My stomach knotted.

I braced for claws and knives. I didn't care if he cut me; he was safe, he was here, and we were taking him home. Wherever the fuck home even was these days.

"You're okay now," I whispered as Wane rushed at me.

"Hales," Emlyn warned. I ignored him.

Wane met my eyes, silver irises sparkling with emotion, tears gathering to match my own. I sucked in a breath, prepared for the sharp prick of pain and—he threw his arms around me.

A broken sound choked me. Wane hugged me so tightly I forgot how to breathe, his body quivering against mine, his jagged breathing loud in my ears. He washuggingme, clinging to me with a desperation I’d never felt before, and tears flooded my eyes, washing away the Labyrinth’s grime.

Slowly, so afraid to startle him, I lifted my arms, first settling one and then the other around his back. He felt so frail in my arms, so breakable, and I couldn’t bear it.

He caved in, falling against me. A violent sob burst from him, followed by more and more until he hiccupped gasping cries, his face buried against my neck.

Harvey whined behind us, his heart breaking, and I reached for him even though I knew the bond was frayed and I'd never be able to—touch him. My soul brushed his in a long stroke of reassurance. I—he was—we were—

My breathing fractured. We were whole.

I felt them all then—Kai's all-consuming worry, Em's blazing protectiveness, Harvey's pain and longing, and Wynvail's bone-deep panic. And threaded through them all was Wane's cocktail of relief and fear.

"I've got you," I whispered, my voice too raspy to speak any louder. I didn't dare grip Wane any tighter with the wounds oozing all over his body, but I curved my hand around the back of his head and tilted my face until I could kiss his temple. "I've got you now. No one will hurt you again; if they even try, the only thing left of them will be a smear of blood."

---