Blood, so much blood covered her hands, her clothes—
Nik! she screamed, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t get to where he lay bleeding from his mortal wound.
Something held her body down like thick, invisible ropes.
“I love you,i kardiá mou,” his voice seeped into her mind, and she tried to hold on to him.
A white light flashed, blinding her, and Nik vanished.
Nooo!“Don’t leave me behind…”
“Shh…” Warm fingers held hers. “Jaden’s gonna get you better, Shadow.”
No, not them!She didn’t want them. Only Nik.
With her burning eyes glued together like an envelope bearing a seal of wax, her mind remained adrift in grief.
“Will she come out of it?” the same voice as before asked quietly.
“The fight in her is gone,” another woman answered. “I’ll do what I can to aid her back to the living. Whether it will work, I don’t know. This was a soul-bond broken, one her mate severed. It is hard to ever come back from that…”
A soft, melodious chant started, sweeping through Shadow’s anguished mind. The pull of the strange words was strong enough to bring her back from the pain in her soul, and into the beckoning darkness promising eternal relief from her grief. The song in that beautiful voice slowly lulled her into a deep sleep…
* * *
An incessant rustling against the window finally dragged Shadow from the void that submerged her into nothingness. She opened her burning eyes to stare blankly at the dismal weather as rain continued to beat against the panes.
“Hey…” Kira said softly, getting up from the chair opposite the bed. She set the book she’d been reading on the seat and hurried over.
“Wh-what happened?” she rasped. Her throat hurt, and her voice felt as if she hadn’t used it in months. Vague memories of lapsing in and out of consciousness stirred.
“You don’t remember?” Kira lowered to the side of the bed, hazel eyes dark with worry.
Shadow frowned, trying to claw through the fog in her mind. Gingerly, she lifted her shoulders to shrug—
And it all came crashing back. The demon swinging the sword at her mate. Nik’s last moments as his eyes shut forever—
“Nik…” Her sob broke free, agony consuming her like the sharp edges of a blade slicing through her sternum. Tears fell.
Her stomach churned. Bile hurtled up her throat. Shadow shoved the bedcovers aside and stumbled across the floor, through the dressing room, and into the bathroom. She fell to her knees at the toilet and vomited. Despite her violent retching, nothing came out.
She moaned, shutting her swollen eyes. A damp towel wiped her clammy face. Then an arm slipped around her, a glass pressing to her mouth. “Drink this.”
Shadow sipped some of the cool water, then pushed the tumbler away.
“Liam visits you often, spends most of his time here actually,” Kira said as she helped her up and back to bed. “He’ll be relieved to know you’re up.”
Even hearing about her beloved brother didn’t stir her to speak again. Shadow curled into herself, anguished tears slipping free, soaking her pillow.
The mattress dipped. Kira lay down behind her and held her in a warm embrace. She didn’t say anything, just held her. For how long? Shadow had no idea as sleep finally claimed her…
* * *
The soft flame of a candle flickered in the corner of the gloomy room as Shadow stirred awake from eternal blackness to mind-numbing anguish once more. Even breathing hurt at the harsh reality of another day to endure without him. Her heart continued to beat in her hollow chest, each thud an agonizing reverberation of pain fragmenting her entire being over and over.
Shadow shut her swollen eyes and pressed her trembling lips together, yet her hand strayed to the other side of the bed, searching…
The emptiness there corroded her heart at the harsh reality of having to endure a life without him.
