“Do you want me to heal you?”
Did he really have to ask? That was exactly what she wanted.
“Yes…heal…” she moaned painfully, her voice barely a whisper.
Her eyes half-open, she watched Asher touch the bookcase, which instantly turned to ash and crumbled with a puff into nothing. She didn’t feel any weight lift. She didn’t feel anything except the muffled darkness poised over her head, ready to drop like a guillotine.
Kneeling beside her, he placed his hands on her back.
“You’re close to death,” he told her in his velvety soft voice.
With one swift tug, he pulled her out from the pile of—she couldn’t remember how many books—and into his lap, cradling her gently against his chest.
“It’s time, Hailey.”
Time for what? Was he going to pull her soul out? Or…Her breath came in labored hitches.Oh, no…he’s letting me die…no, no, no, not yet. I have to see him…
“Fin…?” That’s all she could manage. His was the only face she wanted to see.
Asher stroked Hailey’s cheek and pressed his thumb against her lips.
“Shhh. Hush Hailey,” he murmured. “Don’t be afraid. You know what’s happening. You’ll live again. I cannot stop this.” As he gazed lovingly at her, asingle, iridescent tear ran down his face. He drew a breath, and his expression hardened into one of focused determination.
He’s letting me die.
Comprehension hit her like the bookcase. This man—no, this monster—his was the last face she’d ever see. The last voice she’d ever hear. She didn’t want him touching her. He’d taken from her the one person she always wanted when she was scared—forced him away—forced him to hurt her. Asher was a monster. And she hated him—hated him for taking Fin, for watching her die when he had the power to save her…
Darkness crumbled around her.
Count to eight, she recalled Fin’s soothing voice, and she held her breath. Then she looked up at the Envoy, his face etched with some mix of torment and resolve. Despite her anger, she was grateful she wasn’t alone. As monstrous as he was, he comforted her, and she let him. She convulsed once and fought the permanent night that pushed through her mind. But she was so tired. So cold.
Still holding her breath, she turned her thoughts to Holly. Would she be waiting for her on the other side? Had she been this cold when she’d died? She fixed an image of her smiling sister into her mind’s eye and waited.
She shivered once more and stilled.
Asher rested his hand on her cheek, and kissed her gently.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered to her ear, his words echoing into a lifeless hush. And then, the light left her, the air left her—it was the long exhale.
Asher pushed his hand through her chest, poising it expectantly over her soul. Patiently he waited to catch it as she expired in his arms.She—his beautiful girl, lying motionless, helpless in his lap as his love for her mixed with rage.
She’d cried out for him—that wretched, defiant human. Even so, he would still rescue her, still heal her beautiful, broken body. And now that he’d removed his defiant challenger, he would court his love without Pádraig’s constant interference. And Hailey would finally be his—only his.
And Cobon…Cobon hadharmedhis girl, but he’d deal with him later. Right now, his focus was singular—protect Hailey.
He would shield her from death, rebind her soul.
She was looking up at him with the primal fear of impending death. He knew that look. It wouldn’t be long. Cobon’s attack had left her at death’s door. It might’ve been a blessing, really, sparing her the searing pain of a pulled soul. Now, he need only wait a few moments longer, and her soul would free itself—shed its Earthly body, and when it did, Asher need only grasp it and rebind it.
She’d been holding her last breath, clinging to life, and he could see the desperate fear in her eyes fade into death’s infinite stare.
Her soul loosened itself, and he clutched its luminescence, gently pulling it away from her limp body, which lay like a rag doll in his lap. With his free hand, he pulled the stone from his pocket and watched as it glowed and pulsated an ever more intense and bright purple. He launched it a safe distance through the broken window and quickly returned her soul to its home, gathering the binding energies from the universe to fix it in place. At the same time, he rebuilt her broken body, readied it for life, which lit her eyes in an Aethereal lilac. As life returned and colored her cheeks, she drew a hitching breath, her eyes finding their focus on his.
“Welcome back,” he murmured, and she blinked—his girl.
Hisgirl. Finally, he could have her, touch her, love her. The others would leave, and she would behis.
From outside grew a rumble, and Asher’s face hardened. The stone exploded, quaking the Earth and throwing bright rays of violet ripping through the window.
