“Oh fuck,” Fenella moaned.
“I see,” was all Gaven said.
Nellie looked up and saw me there. The pain in her eyes reflected the horrible ache sawing at my chest. Something was ripping me apart. Something was cutting through my skin and bones and flesh until I was nothing but bloody remains. Nothing but a pile of guts and broken bones left scattered on the ground.
“This is my fault,” she whispered. “All of this was my idea.”
I stumbled toward Tessa. A low rumbling sound escaped my throat when I saw the full depths of what they’d done to her. A deep crimson gash cut across her throat.
Nellie stared up at me. Her hands were painted with her sister’s blood, as if she’d tried to stop the bleeding. “Why isn’t she healing? She has powers. She’s part god. She’s healed before. Someone tell her to heal herself.”
I tried to answer, but I couldn’t find my voice. I could only fall to my knees.
Gaven walked past me and put a comforting hand on Nellie’s shoulder. “She was gone too quickly. She wouldn’t have had time to heal. Even fae cannot heal from a wound like this.”
Fenella squeezed my hand. Her eyes, usually hard and edged like the steel of her daggers, were soft. She was crying. “Kal, you should look away. Gaven, Toryn, and I can take care of this.”
“No,” I managed to grind out. “She is my mate. She is my wife.”
“Kal,” Toryn tried.
“No!” My shout exploded out of me, and the ground beneath us shook again. The crack nearby yawned wider.
Fenella snapped her fingers in my face, though her eyes remained soft. “Kal, I know you’re hurting. We all are. But you need to get a grip on your power. Or you’re going to get us all killed.”
“Move out of my way.”
I climbed to my feet. Fenella sighed and shifted to the side. Pain lanced through me with every step I took toward my mate. Sobs shook Nellie’s body, and the sound of her cries nearly broke whatever was left of me. There was so much blood. A flash of rage cut through the pain. These monsters had done this to her.
“Help me remove her cloak. I’m going to wrap it around her neck,” I found myself saying, though it didn’t feel real or sound real. It was like I was trapped inside a tunnel, where no one could ever reach me.
“Kal,” Toryn said quietly. He had walked with me, though I hadn’t noticed until now. “Wrapping up her neck isn’t going to do anything. She’s gone.”
I whirled toward him, anger punching through me, making the veins in my neck throb. “Help me wrap her neck in my cloak.”
Mycloak. The chasm in the ground shook wider. She was wearing it now. It was hers, not mine. It always would be.
“All right, Kal. Come on.” Toryn knelt on the ground beside Nellie and gently gathered her in his arms. She sobbed into his chest. He murmured comforting words into her ear. I fought the urge to tell him to stop, that it was pointless, that nothing could comfort her at a time like this. The sisters were inseparable. Their bond was so strong it could be sung about in epics. Tessa had nearly killed me from the pain Nellie’s supposed death had caused her. Nellie would never be the same after this.
I would never be the same after this.
My mate. My wife.
They had taken her from me.
I roared and pounded my fists on the ground. The dirt sprayed into my face as another rumble shook beneath me. I shuddered, relishing the full force of my power and the small measure of relief I felt in loosing it upon this fucking world.
“Kalen Denare,” Fenella said from behind me.
“Don’t you start, Fenella.”
“No, Iwillstart, and youwilllisten to me. I’ve been where you are, remember? I lost my husband so long ago that one might wonder if he’s nothing more than a vague, hazy memory to me, right? But we were bonded, just like you were. I know the pain. I know the rage. I understand you feel like your entire body is breaking apart, and it will never be whole again.” She slumped to the ground beside me and took my hand in hers. “And you’re right. You won’t be. But you have to control your pain anyway. Tessa would never want you to break the world in your grief for her. She would want you to find these fucking gods and murder the shit out of them.”
I lifted my gaze to hers. She pressed her lips together and nodded vigorously. “That’s right. We’re going todestroythem, Kalen. For Tessa.”
“We can’t do it without her.” My voice cracked.
Nellie sagged. “The gods took the gemstones. I saw the Mortal Blade over there, but it’s useless against them now. I don’t see how we can fight them. Unless you…unless you useme.” Her voice hardened. “And you should. This is all my fault. I never should have suggested we do this. I’m the reason my sister is dead.”
