Elara stopped breathing.
“My soul for hers. The oath my Hunter swore the night his traitor brother tried to kill you. A noble sentiment.”
Osin’s smile widened, though his eyes remained glacial. “What the poor fool didn’t realize was that I control the Void and, in turn, death. So, when he pledged his soul, he was pledging it tome.”
Elara’s throat closed, air sticking painfully in her lungs. She glanced at Ivan and saw the devastation etched into his features—the resignation.
“I knew the Binding Sigil wouldn’t hold,” Osin continued, his voice almost delighted. “Knew theDraothCarawouldn’t allow it to stick.”
A low chuckle escaped him as Elara’s wide eyes snapped to his. “Oh yes, I know all about that. It was my plan, you see—a little tool to keep theTuatha Dé Danannobedient.” His gaze flicked to Reynnar. “I took hisDraothand tied my Hunter to you, his ‘mate,’ as insurance. Just a whisper of death at my command.”
Mate?
The word rang hollow and unfamiliar in Elara’s mind. She glanced at Reynnar, but his brow was furrowed, his gaze darting between her and Osin. He didn’t understand the language, couldn’t follow the exchange.
“ThatDraothwas a gift,” Osin sneered, “bestowed upon my shadow, my ward. An extension of death—of my will. And yet,” he paused, his gaze settling on Ivan with a flicker of disappointment, “the moment he lied to me, I knew where his loyalties lay. He didn’t betray his brother for me that night, Hallowed.”
He scoffed. “No, he did it foryou.”
Elara’s heart stalled as Osin stepped closer to Ivan, each movement slow, deliberate. He tilted Ivan’s chin up with a mocking tut. “All these years, pretending. Imagine my surprise.” His gaze settled back on her with a twisted smile. “How amusing and dark the game’s destiny plays.”
Ivan didn’t move, his chest still, as though he weren’t even breathing.
Osin chuckled, shaking his head. “I kept an eye on you both. Watched you from the beginning, just as I watched you with his older brother, Hallowed. And what a wealth of knowledge that gave me.”
His eyes flicked to Elara.“I learned so much—how to manipulate the Void, how to navigate the currents, even how to retrieve memories from those who’ve crossed over… or tear them away from the living.”
She staggered back, her stomach twisting violently.
Osin rolled his eyes, his voice flat, bored. “But I tire of this. Now, I want my dagger back. And you,” he smirked, “you’re going to give it to me.”
Elara’s heart plummeted as Reynnar dropped, his body convulsing. His face twisted, veins standing out starkly as his lips turned blue.
“Stop! All right,stop!”
Osin’s smirk deepened, satisfaction glinting in his eyes as the shadows loosened. Reynnar jerked once, then fell still, his chest heaving with a ragged breath.
She forced herself to steady, drawing a slow breath, even as fury churned beneath her skin. “I’ll give you the blade,” she said, her tone as cold as steel. “But only after I put it through the Hunter myself.”
Ivan’s head snapped toward her.
“Oh?” Osin’s brow twitched, a trace of intrigue breaking through.
Elara turned to face Ivan fully, her eyes blazing. “You lied to me.”
His expression didn't move an inch. “I did.”
“Youusedme.”
Something flickered—an almost imperceptible crack in his composure, quickly masked.
She tore her gaze from him and looked back at Osin, her jaw set. “Let me kill him,” she demanded. “And it’s yours.”
Osin’s eyes narrowed, his lips curving into something just shy of a smile. He held her in that calculated silence, a beastsavoring the moment, before finally giving the slightest nod. “Do it.”
Her fingers twitched. She stepped toward Ivan, blade in hand, lifting her chin to meet his gaze. He didn’t flinch, didn’t move an inch, just gazed down at her, amber flaring at the edges of his dark eyes.
Reynnar’s stolenDraothsimmering beneath the surface.
