But it will be a moment too late.
Nothing will stop the bargain I made.
Nothing but Grawgeth.
Alaric’s fear wraps around my own, constricting me like a snake. Paralyzing. His head lands upon my stomach, his warmth a temporary comfort.
My heart wants to race but it’s already worked so hard, so it slows instead. Jarek’s other hand slides around the back of my head to cradle me.
All I see is darkness.
Until it shifts and there he is. His voice, like a soft melody in my ears. I forget where I am. Forget what has happened. Forget what comes next.
“Sorin,” I whisper, my body twitching. The inky, dark mist lifts as he strides forward, extending his hand to me. My momentary reprieve lapses as I glance beyond him. To the leafless birch trees and carved trunks that bleed black.
“It’s okay, love. Come with me.”
Fear forces itself up my throat, closing off my airways, but I focus on my Sorin and not the fate of my bargain. My body relaxes in Jarek’s arms. Alaric howls, long and slow.
Then, my demons go silent and it’s quiet. So, so quiet.
The line between my brows smooths. I’m no longer afraid. No longer in pain. I’m simply gone.
Forty-One
Sorin
“It’s okay,love. Come with me.” I hold my hand out to Elora, ignoring that I can’t feel anything around me.
Not the wind or the rain. Not the chill that should be deep in my bones.
My eyes settle on the blood around her mouth, the soaked tunic and fear lined in her eyes. “Take my hand.”
She reaches out as her eyes roll closed, our fingers brushing against each other. And despite the hollow vat in my chest, when our fingers touch, a spark ignites in me.
Like a fog slowly rising, her spirit lifts from her body, free of the blood and the pain. She glances over her shoulder before facing me again.
“You’re here?” Her fingers trace a line down my cheek, and I feel it in every part of my body. Deep in the marrow of my soul, I feelher.
“I’m here.” Wrapping her in my arms, that spark burns through me, heating me from my core to my fingertips and with it comes a slight movement in my chest.
A beat.
“Elora,” I whisper against her hair as the wind picks up, cages us in a tunnel of leaves.
“Elora,” I say again, but she doesn’t answer. I pull her back to see her face, but it’s no longer her.
Her face has changed, from the freckles across her nose to the usual pink on her cheeks. Black is inked into her veins, her cheeks sunken and hollow, and then she’s slipping from my grip. Her soul disappearing right before my eyes.
The wind and rain lashes around us, thunderous claps reverberate the trees and she’s fading away.
“Wait!” I scream after her soul, clawing my way across the forest floor, endlessly reaching to no avail. The beating in my chest grows stronger and as I take a lungful of air, she’s gone.
I snap my eyes open. Sam is cradling me in her arms.
“Sorin,” she says, shaking my shoulders. “Thank the Mother!” She’s crying, her tears painting lines down her face.
I take a large breath. And another and another but choke on the cold sting of air.
