I can hear the hesitation in his voice."But?"
"But when we spoke of Lux, it was like she had no memory of her past life at all. I felt her emotions. There was no recognition whatsoever. Only jealousy."
I can't help my wry smile. "She was jealous of Lux?"
He frowns. "Put yourself in her tiny shoes. The men she loves pledged their hearts to this mythical being a thousand years ago. Wouldn't you be jealous?"
I sigh. "She knew how much we loved her. But it wasn't enough for her to trust us."
Myincubus pauses and then hops down from the counter, going to the closet for the broom. "There's more. I felt something from her last night but didn't know what to make of it. She felt... wrong. Different. Something upset her, but I have no idea what. It struck suddenly, without anything seeming to provoke it. She was a mess after that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"She knew," I realize, and it feels like I've been kicked in the chest by an ogre. "She knew she'd have to leave us."
The broom clatters to the ground. "She was saying goodbye? I can't say goodbye to her again, Rez. I won't survive it. I feel like... like my heart is being torn in two." He rubs at his chest, wincing.
My shard twinges in my chest. Before Lucy's return, the shard had lain inert within my chest for a thousand years. And for it to pain me now? No... it can't be. "She's in danger!”
Yaelyn thinks he failed her, but he believed what was right before his eyes. I didn’t. He never doubted Lucy, and I did. I failed not only the Light Bearer I vowed an oath to, but the woman I love as well. And if anything happens to her, I won’t be able to live with it. I won’t survive it. “How do we save her? We arenotsaying goodbye to her. We are not losing her.Fuck, where would she have gone?"
He paces, but as he does, he flicks his fingers toward the shadow, drawing out the armor he hasn't donned in centuries. It moves around him like smoke before it snaps in place. He taps his nose with his knuckle, thinking. And then he sees the shadow-metal gauntlets on his arms. "Iradil's tomb! The draugrs stood aside because they sensed she was the Light Bearer. What if she went back there so they could protect her? It's the most fortified place she knows of. Somewhere Khadyr couldn't find her."
Pain lances through me and I fall to my hands and knees, the floors shaking beneath me. It’s the same pain that tormented me when Lucy tried to escape our loft after falling back into our lives, shredding my insides like claws through paper. I pound the wooden boards with the side of my fist, waiting for the wave of agony to pass. "He found her," I grit out, summoning my own armor. "We have to go. Now!"
He pauses just as I'm about to slip into the shadows. "If I'm injured, and it comes down to me or her, save her, Reznik."
Likehell. I yank him to me and kiss him, pouring every ounce of love I can into it. "We're all coming home together or not at all." I hold him close while I let the shadows take me, let the shadow realm call us home.
* * *
We tearfrom our shadow walk into the Welsh countryside, untouched for miles around. We warded Iradil's tomb so no demonkin could shadow walk directly into it, but when I find the stone door untouched, I know that didn't stop Khadyr. Yaelyn jabs the switches around the nine-point star quickly and the rock grinds away from the opening, revealing the tunnel that leads into the labyrinth I haven't walked in far too long. Before Lux fell, we walked the labyrinths in prayer and meditation. When we laid our brothers-in-arms to rest, we murmured their final rites and reflected on their lives and sacrifices as we followed the curving tunnel around the tomb. Now we sprint through it, boots clattering on the stone floor.
I skid into the main room of Iradil’s tomb and my knees buckle, but I catch myself just before I fall. My heart stutters and my soul aches as my eyes settle on Khadyr Blackmore. He stands over Lucy, drawing her light from her small body and into his dark claws. Her back arches and her mouth opens in a silent scream. I can’t hear it, but I can feel it.
No, no dark gods damn it, I amnotlosing her again.
I dash toward her.
A wall of impenetrable darkness slams into me, holding me in place.
Yaelyn lets out a battle cry and his magic floods the tomb and the wall of darkness drops. I know he won't be able to hold back Khadyr for long, that his magic isn't meant for this, but I take the opportunity and rush to Lucy's side as she sucks in breath after desperate breath. I rip my chest plate aside and summon the shard from deep within me.
Lucy squints up to me, the sparkle gone from her blue eyes. "Fuck, you can do that? Next time your Light Bearer is reborn, two words: fucking instruction manual." She grimaces. "That was three words."
"Shush and conserve your strength, menace. Spark. Beloved."
The light of my shard illuminates her weak smile before the shard dips into her chest, vanishing like the setting sun.
"Yae!"
He grits his teeth, sweat beading on his gray brow. His hands are held out before him, binding Khadyr, but I know he won't be able to hold him much longer. "Take it, Luce! Call it and it will come to you."
I help her sit up, cradling her weakened body close to mine as she raises a shaky hand.
Darkness swirls around us once more and she yelps as the light is pulled from her, strand by strand. She resists. My brave, brilliant spark resists, clutching her chest, her face contorted in anguish, as she tries to hold the light inside her.
But I know she is losing the battle, and so does Yaelyn.
He draws his sword and charges Khadyr, and I'm caught between the kin who my two hearts beat for. And I can't save either of them.
