Page 32 of Darkness Rising
My spine stiffens as I look to Cameron. His gaze never meets mine. He holds his attention on my father.
He knew that book had the power to do this; to make someone immortal, and he didn't bother mentioning it?
My father’s hand grips my wrist tightly, stinging pain into my bones.
"Come with me, Violence. I know you and I are capable of great things." His tone creeps across my flesh.
I pull away from him but he jerks me back to his side.
He wants to use me. He wants to use me for whatever it is he's learned from the book of Severed Souls.
If I went with him, I could learn what it is he intends to do, I could infiltrate his plans. It could benefit me really.
If he doesn’t kill me first, that is.
"I'm going to ask Your Majesty very politely to release your fucking hold on her." Magic flares with lethal power within Nollix's gaze. Black eyes shine from his handsome features. His jaw tightens as he tips his chin up a little higher.
A smirk pulls at the King’s lips.
"When I came to you boys years ago, I specifically remember you saying you wouldn't risk your life to save an inexperienced Huntress. You said something like her life would never be worth risking yours. You made no promises to keep her safe." He tilts his head at Nollix. "A change of heart? Did you grow fond of her? Do you ... do you love her?" Once more my father jerks me closer to him and magic roars to life within my veins.
He wants to hear it. He wants confirmation that no one loves me just as I told him no one loved him.
But I won't give him the satisfaction.
The wind picks up, guided by the current of my magic. Just as the heavy bell overhead starts to sway, Link speaks.
"I love her." It's a quiet and sorrow-filled confession that halts my magic in its tracks. "I love her," he repeats. Link's words echo through the room.
His words slip straight into my heart, shoving uncertainty right into me.
He ... loves me?
How? How does he know he loves me? I don't even love me ...
The fight I've put into pulling my arm away from my father falls away. I stand in his grasp, staring at the regretful look in Link's lavender eyes.
Is that what love looks like?
His gaze is locked on to mine, sinking confusion into my chest.
He can’t love me. Love isn’t dependable. It can be ripped away too easily.
"Why would you say that?" It's a fearful question. A shaking question that holds too much emotion within me.
A line creases his brows.
"Because—because I love you, Vi." His voice is quiet but steady. Honest. Too honest.
It makes it hard for me to remember how to breathe.
It terrifies me because Link is the rational one. He’d never say something he wasn’t one hundred percent certain of.
Nollix shifts, his attention held intently on the dirty ground. He fists his weapon in his hand and it shakes from the magic swirling through him. I feel it. I feel his prickling magic as if it's my own.
"Ah, I should have known it'd be the broken one who loves you. It is always the weakest who love the easiest." My father nods his head and he studies Link as if he can see him perfectly.
His words make my magic flare with anger.
