Page 62 of Devil’s Snare

Pain radiated from my back. Even through the fog of the drugs Shane had forced into my arm with a syringe, I still felt the excruciating agony of it. My body was limp, but my mind was active. I could see what was happening around me without being able to say or do anything about it.

Cin was freaking out. I saw the hard line of his jaw as he rushed through the forest. At one point, I must have become delirious because I swore I saw one of the trees scoop us up with a limb and help carry us.

I didn’t have a clue where we were going.

When we finally stopped, I recognized the little hollow where Cin had taken me on numerous walks. He knelt and gently laid my body on the soft grass. One hand plunged into the dirt as he began to chant—words I didn’t understand. Or maybe I just couldn’t comprehend them from the drugs.

With his other hand, he pulled a knife from his cut. A big blade with a serrated edge. Why the hell would he need that?

The ground rumbled beneath me and began to quake. I expected to be jostled and my wound to become unbearable, but mossy grass grew beneath me and cradled my body.

A fissure opened in the ground, and then, with a burst of sunlight, a tree sprouted from the soil. Not just any tree. One that glowed with golden leaves.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

Behind it, I saw the most majestic creature. A brown stag whose eyes glowed with the same golden light. He moved toward Cin, suddenly shifting into a creature on two legs. Not quite a human and not quite an animal. His head had the skull and antlers of a deer, but his body was twisted together with tree limbs and bark, his feet made of roots.

The creature stared at Cin.

“I’ve come to you to help save my soulmate. My Gwen.”

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard it ask Cin what he was willing to give up.

“Anything. Whatever you ask of me. If you want me to bleed, I’ll bleed.” He gripped his knife and slid the blade across his forearm. Blood instantly began to drip from the deep cut. “Take my vitality if it brings life back into her body.”

Something was wrong. I felt weak. My vision blurred.

Cin hissed as he glanced in my direction. “Please!” He lifted the knife to cut his other arm when the creature halted him.

Words flowed into my head that weren’t spoken. They came from the powerful, yet gentle being that stood in front of us. He walked to the tree and plucked a single leaf from one of the branches. The tree trembled. Light shimmered.

Cin wobbled on his knees. The puddle below his arm grew at a rapid rate. He was losing too much blood!

The creature turned his attention to me, repeating the words as if I needed to understand them. “You are bound. One soul to another. From life to life, death to death. One can never exist without the other.” As he spoke, he placed the leaf on Cin’s arm. It instantly healed.

I might have been shocked if I didn’t feel so cold. So close to death.

Cin cried out, taking the leaf from his arm, which had slightly faded. He rushed to my side and rolled me, pressing it on my skin, directly onto the wound. “Don’t you fucking leave, Gwen. You’re not allowed. You hear me?”

My body jolted. A shrill ringing began in my ears.

Behind Cin, I saw the creature move toward the tree. His glow matched the tree and softened. They both began to fade.

Cin held my upper body against his chest. He kissed my lips. “I’ve followed you after death and beyond it. I’ve loved you in every lifetime. That’s never going to fucking change, Gwen.”

He loved me.

Cin. My soulmate.

He bled for me. Nearly died for me.

How could I love anyone else?

My eyes closed, but I could feel strength returning to my body. The pain began to disappear. Where only coldness had taken hold of me, now warmth spread throughout, even into my fingers and toes. The tension eased.

I only felt peace.

And love. So much love.