“NO!” I heard the Earth Mage roar, stumbling toward his fallen mate, clutching at the middle of his chest.
Ben. Asha.My chest pulsed with pain at the slow recognition.My friends.
I whimpered, trying to drag my shaking body through the muddied grass.
If I can reach them, I can save them. Put a rune on them . . . do something.
“Asha,” the man cried, slumping next to the woman, cradling her dying bodyin his arms. Her pale arm hung limply to the side, the other weakly pressing against his cheek. His tears mixed with hers, splashing onto her face as they tinged red with blood. Ben pressed his lips to hers, even as he slowly sank to the ground, their life forces draining in tandem.
His arms loosened, Asha’s body tumbling to the ground where she lay still. Ben’s large form slumped shortly after, coming to rest inches from his Bonded, their hands twined together even in death.
“No,” I rasped. “No, no, no, no.”
This wasn’t supposed to happen. They had a baby, a life together.
It was supposed to beme, notthem.
I cried a soundless keen, pulling myself ever closer.
A foot on my hand stopped my progress, crushing the bones in one grind of their heel. A breathy whimper escaped, singeing my throat as I looked at my attacker.
Solace.
“Youdid this,” Solace whispered, bending low into my ear. “Youcaused their deaths. You will cause the deaths of everyone you love and hold dear.” Her long fingers wrapped around my jaw, turning my head so I could see Ellowyn and Torin fighting together a few hundred yards away. Solace wrenched my face once more, and I winced in pain before opening my eyes to see Rohak.
He was closer than Ellowyn and Torin, his face white and aghast. Blood marred his clothes and stuck to his face and in his hair, but he’d never looked more beautiful to me.
Or more lost.
“You will die, granddaughter of Fate. But not before I take all that you love.”
A scream tore from my throat as Solace set her sights on Rohak. It felt like I’d ripped my throat open with a hot piece of glass, but I needed someone to see, someone to notice him before it was too late.
Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
Rohak
“FAYLINN!” A guttural, anguished scream rent from my chest, roaring above the noises of the battle around us. Her eyes snapped to mine, a plea in them that I didn’t take the time to decipher. I simply sprinted in her direction.
No. No, not her.Anyonebut her.
It was a selfish thought, but not one I would ever rescind.
Faylinn wasmine,and I’d just gotten her fully. But I was a greedy man, and I wanted more. I wanted every sunrise and every sunset with her. I wanted years upon years, babies and grandbabies, hopes and fears, tears and dreams.
I wanted itall,and I was watching it slip through my fingers like smoke, unable to do anything more than run.
My breath came in labored pants that burned my lungs. My legs pumped hard, my footing slipping occasionally on the wet ground beneath. Still, I pressed on.
Solace’s gaze met mine next, and the malice within had my blood running cold and gait faltering.
There was nothing compassionate left in her, truly embodying her name: Goddess of Lies. She flashed her teeth at me in a smile that was more a challenge than anything, as she pulled Faylinn up by the hair.
The motion churned my gut.
But what plummeted my heart further was Faylinn’s expression.
My love didn’t even struggle. Didn’t move to try and dislodge Solace’s grip onher curls, didn’t attempt to fight back in any way. It was as if she’d resigned herself to her fate.
