Page 20 of Darkness Rising
Pain sears through my heart at the sight of it.
The energy in me slips away. I fall, my body returning solid once again as I spiral through the air toward the cracked tile floor below.
My thoughts can’t focus on anything but the hollow look in her shining emerald eyes. The way the puddle of blood beneath her makes her eyes seem darker. Ominous even.
A sobbing sound shakes from my lips just as my skull slams hard against the glossy tile.
Chapter Thirteen
A Distraction
“Where do the souls go once you guys collect them?” Cameron looks to the guys and for the most part, they ignore him.
Except Link.
“We’re just a filter. They go to an in-between place to be sorted into the afterlife.” He’s always so knowing. So well thought out.
His rational behavior is almost an odd fit for the Wild Hunt.
“And this in-between place, someone could get there?”
“If they knew wheretherewas, sure.” Link seems to be trying hard to be kind to the warlock.
“The King knows where thisthereis.” Cameron’s attention drifts across my vacant expression.
They brought me to the meadow while I was out. These men, the only family I have apparently, brought me to the one place that I find comfort in. They laid me in the thick grass and waited for me to wake.
Fireflies flash in the night sky, warming the darkness and calming me just slightly.
My fingers fist the soft grass and my gaze holds Cameron’s for a long while. There’s pity in the depths of his eyes. I’ve been awake for about an hour, but I haven’t found the strength to move. And Cameron hasn’t mentioned it. He’s let me pretend to be asleep.
Nollix follows Cameron’s heavy attention.
“Is she awake?” Nollix storms over to me quickly. White flowers crumple beneath his boots as he strides toward me. The other three keep their distance. Link watches me with big eyes. Jeriko stares a hole through the side of my head.
I wonder if he knows how badly I want to kill him for taking her soul? Someone had to do it, I know. But seeing it, seeing her dissolve into the unknown, it was more painful than I could ever imagine.
Nollix lowers himself until he’s kneeling in front of me. The dark sky is above him, shadowing his features to me. The looming heavens lie behind him like a painting of a god of war. The scar lining his jaw glitters darkly. It captures my attention for several seconds.
I don’t move. I keep my body locked in the fetal position like it’s the only thing holding me together.
Gentle fingers push back my hair and I wince as his touch skims over the wound against my temple.
“I’m sorry, Vi.” It’s a whispered sound that holds more meaning than any of us realize. It’s the gentlest I’ve ever heard his voice sound.
But still I don’t move.
I’d give anything for sleep to pull me under once again. To forget the pain that’s consuming my heart right now for just a little while.
I just need time to sort out my mind. To calm the ache in my heart.
“What can I do?” He looks as if he might actually care about me.
Maybe he does.
But he can’t help me right now.
I look to Cameron. He holds my gaze for a long time, as if reading my thoughts perfectly.
