Page 32 of Darkness Colliding
Chapter Seventeen
The Core
Linkin
He can still see her. He broke their bond, and he can still see her. There’s an imbalance here. I can feel it. We haven’t been ripped away by the magic of the Wild Hunt since we got to the Underworld. It’s like our magic is fainter down here.
Is that why he can see her, or is it something else?
She looks happy right now. In the middle of the Underworld, with the weight of the world on her shoulders, she looks happy. If—whenwe make it out of all this, I’m going to force Nollix to accept that Warlock just make her happy.
He sounds like a puppy when I say it like that.He makes her happy so we have to keep him. What is wrong with me?
“Let’s go, Warlock.” Nollix sounds normal, but the way he’s looking at the two of them is different. It’s like he’s trying to process Cameron’s every move, trying to look through him to find a real motive.
But we both know there isn’t one. He loves her. Just like I do.
He holds her hand as she slides down the tattered fur of the beast, and I can’t help but grip her hips as she lowers. My fingers linger against her curves as I pull her down in front of me. Shining, beautiful eyes stare up at me.
She doesn’t need any of us. I fully believe she could do all of this on her own. But she doesn’t say it, and she lets us all keep pretending that we’re helping her. Because we’d never let her do this alone.
“Ready?” My attention drifts down to her lips as her palms settle against my forearms.
She nods hesitantly, and for a moment, I wonder if she isn’t ready. It’s one thing for her and me to know how strong she is, but it’s another thing entirely for her to believe that.
“You’re ready,” I say, trying to convince her of herself.
She nods with a little more assurance. My fingers skim against her jaw until I tilt her head up to look at me. “None of us would be here if we didn’t know that you could do this.” Happiness shines in her eyes at the simple sound of my reassurance. “Wecan do this, Vi.”
Shit, I hope we can do this.
***
We’re close. I’m a Fae, and even I can tell we’re getting entirely too close to the darkest part of the Underworld. The painful humidity in the air is like nothing I’ve ever felt and the intensity of the sky seems to burn brighter now.
It’s causing tension to line my spine, and I’ve started walking in step with Violence. I know she’s capable, but I just feel better being at her side. Cameron glances down at the protective pace I’m keeping.
The buildings are scarcer now. There are still shacks set up along our trail, but they’re miles apart, dotting the land in single structures. Dark, charred wood make up a small box-like building to our right, and I eye it carefully as if her sister and Jeriko might burst out of the thing at any moment.
But what I do see isn’t at all what I expect.
There, past the shack in burning embers, is a cylinder of souls. It spirals up into the crimson sky as if these gleaming golden souls are fueling the circling span of energy before me. The flashing colors swirl within the light until they’re sucked down into an emptiness within the ground that I can’t fully see. Swarming around the bright energy is familiar black particles of magic. That dark energy skitters along the beam of souls like a bat fluttering near light. The twirling, glittering dust is something I’ve seen surrounding departed souls for years now.
It’s Jeriko.
