Page 54 of The Stolen Throne

I’m drowning in the darkness when a searing pain drags me from the recesses of my mind. I can’t stop the grunt I release when I feel hands apply pressure to my wound. I can vaguely hear yelling in the background, but my brain is filled with too much fog to make out the voices. My eyes flutter open to find Kas standing above me, his face streaked with blood. I look briefly at his hands covering my wound, then groan. “That’s a lot of blood.”

Kas’s dark hazel eyes snap up to mine, and for the first time since meeting him, I see devastation and fear in his gaze. His eyes flick back to my abdomen, and he stutters as he says, “I-I can’t stop it. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Princess.”

The nickname sounds like a prayer on his lips. I smile as I try to console him, “It’s okay, shh, it’s okay. Just breathe. You don’t have to be sorry for anything, Grumpy Man. I’ve got you, and you’ve got me.”

“I can’t make it stop,” he chokes out.

I can feel the talons of darkness taking hold. Wanting to drag me away from my men. I try to fight it, to hold on. I need to make sure everyone is okay. My voice is weak as I try to reassure him. “Shh… it’s okay.”

He must hear the exhaustion in my voice because his turns panicked, “Don’t close your eyes!”

I force my eyes open again and find him staring at me. “I was just resting them,” I say with a sigh.

I hear another voice yell, “The healers are on their way!”

Kas’s eyes never leave mine as he nods. “Keep your eyes on me, Princess.”

Breathing is getting difficult, and I can feel each stuttered beat of my heart. My voice is weak as I ask, “Where’s Dax?”

His eyes flick out to the distance before landing back on me. “He’s… busy.”

I laugh weakly, then groan. “He’s killing everyone in sight, isn’t he?”

“Don’t worry about him. Worry about yourself.”

My hand lazily lifts to rest against his cheek. I’m leaving streaks of blood behind as I caress his cheek, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “I’m not worried… you’re with me…”

My eyes fall closed; it’s getting too hard to hold them open. I feel a shift in my midsection and then a hand holding mine. I fight to open my eyes again and see Kas has shuffled closer, so he can hold my hand tightly against his cheek.

“Stay with me, Princess. Please… please stay with me. The healers are almost here. Just hang on a little longer,” he pleads.

His eyes are consumed by black but almost appear to shimmer like black diamonds. “I’m trying,” I whisper. When his eyes squeeze shut, I notice streaks running through the blood on his face. As if being wiped away. My heart stutters, and I know… I know I have to say something in case this is my end. He will never accept an ‘I love you’ from me because that’s not how he shows he loves me. I lick my dry lips and whisper, “I h-hate you, K-kasim. W-with every b-beat of my h-heart.”

He lets out a mournful cry as his eyes open again. He knows. He knows our ‘I hate yous’ have turned to ‘I love yous’. We can never give up the ‘hate yous’ because it’s our thing. But the tone of them changed over time. Changed from hostility as we said it with venom, to affection with smiles. He will always be my grumpy man, and I will forever be his princess.

I watch the blood smear across his face as he sucks in a breath. “I-I hate you, too, Princess. So much. It hurts how much I hate you. So don’t leave me. Don’t leave me, Princess.”

I know even if I were to leave, Dax would come find me. He promised he would rip the very fabric between life and death if anything were to happen to me. He will come for me. My vision blurs, and my breathing grows labored. When it clears again, I look up at several figures standing around me; one who stands out from the others.

Swirls of darkness weave around him as he kneels next to my head. He cocks his head as his inky eyes take me in. “Are you trying to fly away from me, Little Raven?” he asks, his voice hoarse.

It takes a bit of effort, but I manage a weak smile. “You better capture me before I get too far.”

He shifts, and I feel a hand rest against my chest. “Your soul is mine for reaping. You will forever be tied to me… to us. A raven forever trapped.”

I take in the blurry faces surrounding me, and I find it hard to understand now that I fought this connection. My eyes land on Dax, and I say, “I l-love you.” Then my eyes shift to take in all of my men, till finally they land on Kas again. I suck in a breath as I force out the words, “I love you all.”

My eyes drift closed, and I sigh. I know Dax will catch me before I fly too far. His hand warms before it turns into a burning pain. I scream when my flesh starts to feel as if it’s being seared away, but I’m too weak to escape it. All I can feel is pain. PAIN. PAIN. Then… nothing.

The cold embrace of darkness is all that greets me. I feel the sensation of fingers caressing me before they grasp me. It feels as if they are holding on so tight. Too afraid to let me go. My men. My men are holding onto my soul. Onto me.

I smile as I finally let the darkness take hold. To consume my every cell because I know I’ll be safe. I’ll always be safe with my villains. A villain's love is obsessive, and they are too selfish to let me go.

The souls that tether you in life shall hold you captive in death until your return.

Forever bound until death himself severs the tether.

29

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