“Aba, I killed him—I killed him!” He grasped his head, deafening pain shredding his skull, and encountered twin bony protrusions. “Aba!” he cried, stumbling about. “What’s happening to me?”
“Tighten your mind shields,now! You can never let that change occur,cnati. No one must know you can likely shapeshift.”
Let me out!
Nate froze, unadulterated terror compressing his chest at the other presence inside him. Thesameone that had spoken to him moments ago.
“Nate,now!”
At his sire’s hard command, Nate locked down his mind as Aba had taught him, and the voice within cut off. “Is it going to kill me, Aba?”
His sire had never answered, but Nate knew.
Soon after, Aba had packed up and took them back to the Dark Realm and Ys, where he’d learned the unassailable truth of exactly what symbiont he’d been given, and what he could become if he ever let that side free.
A fucking wyvern!
One of those raucous, lethal demonic beasts that roamed the Dark Realm, scavenging for flesh and gore.
As if sensing his disquiet and simmering rage, the beast snarled, sending shafts of pain through his head. Nate rubbed his skull and winced as the new wound on his abs pulled.
Exhaustion swamping him, he dropped his arm over his brow and shut his eyes, fingers clenching, but the burn in his palm from holding Aba’s soul had him hastily releasing his fist.
He might have finally gotten a part of Aba’s soul back, but at what cost? With so much blood on his hands, nothing could ever give him peace.
As for the beguilinglaika…
Despite his immense pain and discomfort, a smile tugged his mouth. He didn’t kid himself. If she knew the truth about him, she would have undoubtedly ended him tonight instead of stalking off in a huff.
Yeah, he must have lost his mind, but he liked the cold and lovely hellion angel.
There was something about her that called out to him. An attraction he couldn’t deny.
Hell, if he had to take his last breath, he might as well do so by her hands. Maybe then he’d finally find the peace he yearned for.
CHAPTER7
Urias!How could I have let my ire win?
Ely slammed her fists into the punching bag, again and again, guilt assaulting her at how she’d rushed off last night, chagrined and frustrated that he’d been so casual about her stabbing him.
Usually, she was a rational person, slow to anger, but he just rubbed her all wrong.
“I’m outta here,” Týr grunted, pulling her out of her remorse as he stepped off the treadmill. He grabbed the towel, wiped his sweaty face, then removed his AirPods, pushing them into the pocket of his sweats. Towel slung over one muscled shoulder, he passed her, reading something on his phone.
“Týr?”
“Yeah?” He looked up, those striking, toffee-hued eyes focusing on her. “What’s up, El? Wait, you’re reconsidering giving my car back?”
She huffed out a laugh. “No.” She grabbed the punching bag before it smacked her in the face. “I’ve been wondering…” And with no way else to do this but to ask outright, she blurted, “We use our Gaian weapons when fighting evil demons, right? But what if we, er, accidentally hurt an Other with it?”
His eyebrows hitched up. “Why, who did you injure?”
“No one,” she said quickly. “Just curious. I’ve been a Guardian for over a year and a half. And I’ve killed those malevolent beings from the Dark Realm. But if I hurt, say, an Otium with my weapon, will he die?”
“Eventually. It’s a slow and painful process. Our weapons are meant to kill, El. Even a scratch is lethal. It’s why we don’t play with it amongst ourselves.” He slipped his cell into his pocket and dragged the towel over his face again. “Besides, it’s pure torture to get them off us when there’s no evil around. Aethan did once, before he and Echo mated, and said it was like ripping his guts out through his mouth.” Týr grinned as if enjoying the memory, causing his slashing dimples to deepen. “Butwecan heal since it is intricately linked to us, though it takes time.”
Ely barely heard past the ‘slow and painful death.’Hewould die eventually?
