Page 181 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

But it was too late.

Rioner’s gaze widened.

“You,” he whispered.

Her eyes snapped to Loche’s rounded ones when he turned his head.

Then to Merrick’s consuming darkness, the never-ending fall that was the night swirling within them.

She barely heard Merrick’s violent curse as Loche spun around and crashed his lips against hers, the kiss so urgent he drew blood as their teeth slammed together.

“Take it,” he urged into her mouth as she felt him press something warm into her hand.

Then chaos erupted.

Her hand was ripped from Merrick’s, her lips from Loche’s.

A blistering pain shot up her arm, and whatever Loche had given her vanished.

Water invaded her lungs as she screamed.

Filling them, the icy gushes stole her breath away until darkness pressed all around her.

Until it swallowed her whole.

Until she slipped into unconsciousness, clinging to the only words she remembered.

You and me.

ChapterForty-Five

He was going to fucking kill him.

Which him?

The whispers constantly filling his ears echoed the question as Merrick fought against the wild waters around him, his eyes tracking the darkness to find light—to find the surface.

Both,he snarled back.

He wouldn’t discriminate.

He’d kill the kingandLoche.

Rip their stupid heads off their bodies.

Make them scream as loudly as the souls in his mind.

Make them beg for mercy.

But as he imagined all the ways he’d kill those bastards, the softest, the most beautiful cry drowned the raging whispers.

Muted them like she always did when she spoke, when she touched him, when she looked at him.

You and me.

He heard Elessia’s scream as if she were right beside him as he swam toward the slight glow above him.

Merrick screamed it back.

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