NEVE
Heburned.
It was as if liquid fire raced through his veins.
And yet, Neve could do nothing to express or dispel the pain.
Help me.
He glared at Dahlia, who wept near the door, and his heart twinged despite the agony, the bond he’d formed snapping tightly. She looked broken, tears tracking down her red face as she dry-heaved.
She tried to kill you. She doesn’t deserve your sympathy.
The edges of his vision began to dim, and his body convulsed, his teeth slicing into his tongue as his traitorous human wife pressed a cool kiss to his cheek. Blood filled his mouth as the fire raged on, incinerating him piece by piece.
Don’t leave me.
He was a weak foolish male to want the woman who had betrayed him. If his lips had been able to move, Neve wasn’t sure if he would have cursed or begged her not to go.
“Goodbye,Reillov,” she whispered brokenly. His traitorous human wife stepped away from the bed, and his fingers twitched at his side, wanting to reach for her.
He raged inside as she wiped her face and pinched her cheeks, a phony smile curling her lips. His warriors didn’t know her like Neve did. They wouldn’t see the distress written on her face nor the guilt and betrayal.
Look at me.
“I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I’m sorry for everything all the same. Please forgive me.”
Forgive her? Never.
She moved to the door, her small fingers resting on the doorknob. Hesitation? He fought against the darkness trying to pull him under. He needed to see this, needed to watch her leave him. See his mate abandon him.
Look at me.
As if Dahlia had heard his thoughts, she looked over her shoulder, her blue eyes locking on his dark ones.
“I’m so sorry,” she mouthed before slipping out the door.
Not as sorry as she would be.
Neve screamed in his mind, the pain surging just before oblivion took him.
Chapter Three
Dahlia
Her skin crawledat the openness of the frozen lake.
Loshika led them toward the western bank, her cloak whipping in the wind. The healer looked to the north, and Lia followed suit. Her stomach bottomed out. It seemed as if a wall of snow was moving toward them.
“Faster, my lady!” the giantess shouted. She veered her horse directly across the lake to the far southern bank. Lia nudged her heels into the side of the mount, and the horse picked up speed, its hooves thundering against the ice like her own frantic heartbeat.
Dahlia gritted her teeth and held on with all her strength, terrified that she’d fall off.
Or worse... that they’d crash through the ice.
Another glimmer caught her attention, and she glanced to the right. Long streaks of color raced toward them beneath the ice. Her brow furrowed. These were not the iridescent fish—thegermals—they were larger and covered in scales.
Fear crawled up her spine when the healer cursed, and the beast spun on its side beneath the clear ice and watched them. It had tall arched fins along its back and two long flat tails. Its elongated snout was lined with large jagged teeth.
