Page 36 of Wicked Warlock
“What can I do for you, Pen?”
I sighed. How was I going to start this? I was resolved to do the right thing and now it was time. “It’s time for me to leave this Earth.”
His eyebrows shot up and he blew out a long breath. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You know.” And I met his eye. There were things. Unsaid things and a history that I had with the Fallen that warranted me being here. But the words were hard to say. How did one tell the people who knew you the longest in the world that it was time for you to die? “I’m telling you because you know he’ll try to stop me. You and I both know this is the right thing to do. I don’t belong in this age. It’s not my time to rule. It’s time for another.”
“I hardly think—”
I didn’t want Matteaus to talk me out of doing what was necessary. “You need to be here for him. Keep him away from me and afterward…” I cleared my throat. “Afterward can you just make sure he’s okay?”
“I did the first time,” he growled. “I’ll do it again.”
“Thank you. That’s all I needed.” I began to turn for the door when a loud crashing noise came from the other room. It sounded like a piano slammed through a wall. I froze, knowing he was coming.
“Looks like you’re not finished here.” Matteaus walked out of the office just as Aidenuli marched in.
“No!”
It was so hard to look at him like this. He was as deadly beautiful as ever with his violet eyes, dark hair, and pissed off attitude. I always was a sucker for the bad ones. But for Aidenuli, I was more than that. “This isn’t my time. My time has long passed. I need to leave for a new generation to start a fresh and right the sins that I could not fix during my time.”
He was so close that his pine scent filled my senses, and I wanted to step in closer to him. Yet I held fast. Things had gone beyond complicated way before I got trapped in that Ouija board and now they remained so.
He ran his hands through his hair and began to prowl back and forth in front of me. “That past doesn’t determine the future.”
“I’m tired. My life has been all about death. How can I continue? I’ve lost everything—my love, my child, my friends. And I can’t live like this, off a power that no longer belongs to me. Enough is enough. There is nothing left for me here.”
He flinched back as if I’d struck him. I reached out toward him, wanting to touch him the way I used to. But I couldn’t and my hand dropped between us. “I didn’t mean it like that. ”
“Will you do something for me?” He took a small step back. The muscle in his jaw ticked and he wouldn’t meet my eye. He just kept looking at the ground.
Look at me. I need to see those eyes one more time. “I did anything for you in the past. I’ll do anything for you now. That hasn’t changed.”
Aidenuli surged forward so closely, I could feel the body heat coming off him. His lips were only inches from mine, and I almost asked for a goodbye kiss. Yet he didn’t move closer didn’t take me in his arms. He held the distance between us that was only inches but felt like miles. I wanted to close the space between us, but I did not and neither did he. His breath fanned over my face, and I longed for his flavor on my lips, just one last time.
His eyes turned, pleading. “Before you do anything, find Professor Margarite Charles.”
I wanted to ask him why, to keep him with me for a just a moment more before I drew my last breaths in this world. But he turned and left me there without another word or touch from him. Aidenuli asked me for one last thing, and I would give it to him… because I would give him anything.
Chapter 15
Beckett
My portal opened just outside a cave high in the mountains somewhere. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but the night began to lighten with hues of purple and gray mixing across the sky. A heavy chill hung in the air. It was cold, colder than in the city or at Warwick. This high up, the wind whipped around my body, blowing snow into whirlwinds that spun across the rocky terrain. Below us, evergreens stood tall against the wind and snow. Their green needles held a layer of snow and frost.
Kylian stood next to me, looking out over the expansive forest. “You sure about this?”
“I am.” I glanced over my shoulder toward the cave where firelight flickered in the darkness. “Very sure.”
“Want me to come with?”
“Not on this one.” I turned toward the cave.
“I thought we were gonna hurt some people?” he called out to my back.
I chuckled. “Who said we weren’t?”
I stopped at the entrance to the cave, feeling the magical wards all around. They prickled at my skin, like having pins and needles. When I reached out my hand, the wards shimmered and tried to force me back. How cute. I forced my power outward. Blue smoke filled the entrance and the wards expanded making it so very easy for me to step right through. The other side of my portal opened up to a small craggy walkway where the walls were sharp and jutting out toward me. I had to turn to the side to get through without scraping against them. When I reached the end of the path, the cave opened up into a room of sorts that was box-like and confining, almost sad, even. Is this where he hid all those years ago? Nearly as good as a jail cell. But not good enough.
