Page 163 of Wings of Lies
The heaviness of my eyes eased as my Glory built.
Aspen ignored me and swung quicker.
Comfortable warmth turned hot, then hot turned to blistering heat. Toward its peak, needles shoved against my skin, begging to pop out. But release wasn’t an option, so my insides battled against the searing pressure. Whimpers tore from my clenched lips as my thoughts prayed for the end. Then piles of snow dumped on the heat, shocking my system, and bringing me down to frigid temperatures. The cycle repeated again and again. I could almost handle the cold, the slowing of my thoughts, and the numbing of my pain. But it lasted for seconds before climbing back to a raging inferno. I didn’t even feel Aspen’s pain anymore.
There would be a point when my body would give up.
“Leave me and take her!” I sobbed, slamming against the rest of my chains. Blood oozed out of my gashes, sliding down my limbs to collect in the growing puddle.“Please.”
He increased the force of his slamming sword.
“Aspen,” I begged.
“No!” he snapped. His jaw throbbed as he attacked my ankle restraints with a force that sliced through the table.
Only one chain left, and it came. Billions of molten needles shoved their way into every cell of my body. An agonized scream spilled from my bloody lips. My Glory hit its first significant peak.
“Lucille!”
My hoarse cries died as the cold hit the warmth. A moment of reprieve before I descended into the beginnings of hypothermia.
“Leave.”
He met my gaze. Unwavering determination seeped through our bond and flickered in his miserable eyes.
“I can’t. I won’t.”
I nodded at his lightless rune. “It looks like you can.”
He swung, melting my last chain, and released me.
“What happens when it lights back up, Aspen? Will you take me to your queen like this?” I rasped, struggling to string together sentences. “Will I die in your arms, or will I die in hers?”
He brushed my sweat-soaked hair back from my face, shaking his head vehemently. “You’re not going to die. Do you hear me? I won’t let you.”
I wanted to laugh since I was all cried out, but I didn’t want to move. “You’re not a good liar. I can feel your emotions. Remember?” My finger twitched, yearning to trace his tense jaw and smooth away the worry etched between his brows, though I knew it wouldn’talleviate his inner turmoil. “Get my mom out.” If he did this one thing for me, I’d be okay with my outcome. “For me,” I begged.
He didn’t respond, staring at me like I tore out his heart. I could feel the fissure cracking inside his soul. But there was nothing I could do about it. Elora stole all my reassuring words, and kind smiles the moment I stepped through the Earth portal. He didn’t have a way to remove my Reversal Rune, even if he was a Seraphim. Michael took the feather with him.
“Aspen?”
“Only if you fight it. You have to survive.”
“I am fighting it.”
He shook his head, eyes glassy. “It doesn’t fucking feel like it. You do not get to give up.”
“I’m not.” But I was. “Take her someplace safe, and I’ll fight.”
Lips pressed in a thin line, he nodded, but I felt his fear. He didn’t believe me. It made sense. My words probably didn’t match the tether he could feel between us. I wouldn’t believe me either.
The sweat on my skin crystallized, a layer of frost coating my body. My eyelashes blanketed in my tears, froze together in the corner of my eyes. The beads of ice made it difficult to blink. Each drastic change in my power neared a new extreme. I didn’t have much time left. The frost was a new development, but I knew it wouldn’t be the power to take me out. One, maybe two hits of my Glory at peak, and it’d be enough to eradicate me like Michael wanted.
Aspen scanned my body with lowered brows, taking in the frost. When he lingered on my torn flesh, the muscle in his jaw throbbed, and fire leaped in his eyes.
“I’m going to take out the knife and pick you up. Ready?”
Sleep weighed on my lids, and my limbs became numb. Unable to feel Michael’s presents, I almost sighed.
