Page 90 of Soul of Thorns
My life seeps away slowly. She’s savoring it—my death. I won’t ever know what she is, what she looks likes.
Is this what Caelynn endured before my brother’s death? She was only seventeen when that happened. This is what she killed my brother to avoid.
I’ll never see her golden eyes again,I think as the claws of death reach into my soul like a fluttering bird. Gentle, peaceful, dark.
Death is here to take me home.
Are you ready, child?The voice is smooth. Patient. Caring.
It’s not at all how I expected death to come.
Especially after my experience with the Black Gates. The anger I’d felt then is nowhere near me now. I have no regrets. No questions.If only I’d known.
And thank God I learned the truth before it was too late.
I know who my mate is, and I don’t hate her. I adore her.
I’d burn the world down for her. My lips curl into a small smile as my body convulses one final time, extremities growing cold.
“What the hell are you smiling about,” she growls, branches gripping tighter, but I don’t feel it anymore. My mind is elsewhere, my body entirely numb.
I am at peace with my end. I only pray Caelynn will join me in the afterlife.
“We had a deal!” someone yells. “You said you wouldn’t hurt him!”
Something slams into my back, my mind fuzzy. The warmth I’d felt rushes out, leaving bitter cold and muscles contorting in agony.
Glowing red power streaks from the ground in the form of a massive hand. It clenches over a wraith, struggling in its grip. I blink back the brightness, even though I know it’s dull.
“Please,” Reahgan begs.
Reahgan writhes in the translucent hand of magic. I cough, air rushing back into my lungs roughly. I blink and try to adjust my sight as quickly as possible. This may be my only chance to get a sense of my surroundings. I’d been in complete darkness before.
Where is she? Where is the Night Terror?
The red glow brightens the area. I can see the uneven tree trunk streaked with black scars, a few clawing branches, but no other forms. Where did she go?
“I promised not to kill him. And I didn’t.” The ground trembling along with her words, making it impossible to tell where the voice is coming from. How do I fight something I can’t see? “I never claimed how long that offer would last. He’s been alive for several hours. Surely you didn’t think the deal was indefinite—that I’dneverend him?” She chuckles, and I shiver.
“Run, Rev.” Reahgan’s voice barely escapes him. I blink, my mind still hazy, but I remember who he once was. Young and handsome with sharp jawlines, pale skin, and dark hair. He was poised and confident. Powerful.
I can’t picture that fae in this wraith now—laid powerless and pathetically writhing, his face distorted in pain and grief.
I shift, measuring what my muscles are capable of.
Roots shoot from the dirt and wrap themselves around my wrists before I even begin. “Not so fast, little fae.”
The red magic tosses Reahgan’s wraith form to the dirt at my feet.
“Please,” he begs again, face contorted in agony. “Please, spare him. I’ll do anything.”
He’d do anything to save me? I shake my head from my confusion because it doesn’t matter.
“You had the chance to do what I wanted, and you failed. And now, you will watch your brother die.”
I don’t know which one of us she’s talking to. I suppose it doesn’t matter.
“Emotions are worthless, child. You’d have done well to have learned that lesson long ago. They make you weak.”
