I threw myself in front of Louis, taking the full force of the killing blow. It hit me in the chest, burning through me. The pain was so intense that I was screaming before I fully registered what had happened. The force knocked me back into Louis, and as his arms wrapped around me, my dying soul reached out for anything to save it, to keep it here in this world.
It sounded like thunder in my ears as our souls smashed together, his dark and mine light, but in that moment they bonded in a way that only true mates could.
Louis is my true mate?I had that moment of knowledge before the pain became too much and my heartbeat stuttered a few more times, then everything went dark.
10
Louis
The moment Elizabeth locked our powers together, giving her the ability to control my spells, the darkness started pushing me to destroy her, to destroy the person who thought they could control us.
I couldn’t bring myself to do it, though. She was just too perfect and powerful, and I might need her at some point. That was the only reason. Nothing else.
When the sorcerers arrived, I expected her to release her control. These mages did not mess around, and she knew she could be killed in the crossfire. But the stubborn sorceress just locked her power down, and mine, and refused to budge.
They started to count, and I watched Elizabeth. Her bravery intrigued me; why the hell had I always been so fascinated by this woman? No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake her from my life. From my mind.
She kept looking between the elders and me, her brow so furrowed that it was almost comical. I braced myself when they reached their final countdown, knowing I would have to try and counter their spell somehow. One last time I urged Elizabeth to release us, but she refused. Going down with the ship apparently. Always so noble.
The spell blasted at me with force. I wondered if I would be strong enough to take it. I had time to move, because I was anticipating it, but before I could make the decision about which way to go, Elizabeth shocked the hell out of me. A roar left me as she jumped and intercepted the spell that was meant for me.
In slow motion, I reached for her, but it was too late. The blast hit her in the chest, knocking her back into me. She felt so small as I cradled her, keeping us both from hitting the ground. Her screams filled my ears, and my heart beat at a frantic pace. That had been a blow designed to take down a powerful sorcerer, and while Elizabeth was strong, she was not quite at my level.
As I was pulling her tighter, trying to spin her around so I could assess the damage, I felt a thud in my chest that was followed by the sort of warmth I had never experienced before. Warmth and light split through the darkness that had been part of me since the demon world.
A true mate bond?
Tee was my true mate.
My oldest friend in the world, someone I had cut out of my life in grief and fear and pain… She was my mate, and her light had chased the darkness from my soul. Hers was the only light that could, because it shone so brightly.
I mentally reached for her, feeling her life slipping away through our newly formed bond.
Her screams died off; her head lolled to the side, and her heartbeat, under my hand, started to slow, each beat getting more erratic as life left her body.
“No!” I roared, power shooting from me in long waves. That’s when I knew this was bad, because only death, or near death, could have broken the spell she’d placed on us.
“Tee,” I said hoarsely, my hands sliding up from where they rested against the ragged laceration in her chest. An urge to smash those magic users into dust came over me, and if the darkness had still held me in its grip, I would not have hesitated. But Tee had given me the strength to come back to the light.
And I knew the truth. This was not the magic users’ fault.
It was mine.
Again, I was about to be the cause of my mate’s death.
“Tee, please, I need you to hold on for me while I heal you,” I whispered as I lowered her to the ground, all of her glorious hair spilling across us.
My hands went to her chest and I tried desperately to calm my frazzled nerves as I filled her with healing energy. If she hadn’t been so powerful—and the newly formed bond with me was helping as well—she’d already be dead.
I poured everything I had into the healing, because despite all of the history between us, Elizabeth had always been important to me. And she had sacrificed herself to save me.
True mate.
If I lost a second mate, I would not be in this world any longer. I could not do it. My emotions already ran so deeply, and my need to bring her back to me was stronger than anything I’d ever felt before. A sliver of darkness tried to rise from the depths I’d locked it in, teasing me with its power, power that might be able to save my mate, but I did not consider it for a second. She’d brought me back to the light, had fought for me and saved my life. I would not let her down by embracing the darkness again.
I would not touch darkness ever again.
But what if she dies?
