Page 34 of Darkness Colliding
Two men are fighting just a few feet away and their quick, deadly strikes makes more panic rise up within me. Link slices his blade down on Jeriko, and Jeriko bursts into a flurry of black energy, twirling in the air before touching down right in front of his friend once again. A smile tears at his features in a disturbing way. In a flash, his fist connects hard with Link’s jaw, but Link lashes out once more with his blade, and it slashes into Jeriko’s bicep, spilling dark blood down the length of his arm.
And it only makes him smile more.
Amandria stares down at me with wide eyes.
Wide and innocent eyes.
“Amandria, you can walk away.” I stand slowly and attempt a single step closer to her. She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t react at all as I take another slow step toward her. What did she feel when she was teetering there at the edge of death? “Let me take you home.”
Her gaze snaps to me, and still that fearful look is in her gaze. It’s like she’s had a run-in with death and is just now realizing that it’s real.
“Let’s go back to your kingdom.” I choose my words so carefully.
Her kingdom.Hers.
“You really think I could go back?”
Yes. She could go back. But for the love of everything good, do not let anyone else from my family on that damn throne. Please.
“Of course, you can, Am.” My tone is this quiet and reassuring sound even though my attention keeps drifting toward Link who’s fighting off a man twice his size.
I can fix this. I can fix all of this. Right now.
Just extend the olive branch a little further.
“Come home with me.” I offer my hand to her. I call a truce right here in the middle of the Underworld.
Because she’s my sister.
Her thin fingers rise just slightly, and so hesitantly, she lifts her hand out to me.
It’s over.
It’s all over.
Big hands snatch around her delicate throat and he shoves her away from me. One hand lingers lightly against her neck while the other holds tightly to her wrist at her side. “We’re here for a reason, love.” Jeriko’s hard voice is low and his words are spoken quickly. “Let’s not lose sight of the souls. You know how powerful we’d both feel with those souls.”
“I’m going home.” Her voice is nothing more than a shriek as she looks back at me from over his massive shoulder.
“Get the fucking souls, Amandria.”
My power crackles through my veins as his words bark down on her. Magic whips through the air, and it pulls at the ends of her pretty hair as I take a single step closer to Jeriko.
“Let her go.” The words bite out through my clenched teeth, and he turns slowly to me.
That dangerous smile slashes across his face, and he looks from me to her. His lips slam against hers and the forced affection confuses me for just a moment.
Until he tightens his grip on her throat and thrusts her hard right into the golden center of the souls. Her feet stumble beneath her, but I know the moment the earth slips away from her. A scream that sounds like fear come to life rips through the air, but then …
Silence follows.
And she’s gone.
I’m still staring after her when his hand grips my shirt and he tosses me away from him just like he did her. My feet teeter against the ledge, my body engulfed in the gleaming colors, threatening to bring me down to whatever awaits below as I hang on as tight as I can to his hand.
Pain rips through my chest once more. It hurts as the glittering souls pull at something within me. On a shrieking gasp, the souls and dark energy my father injected into me start to swirl out of me in ominous inky waves. They trickle out and into the unknown. A weight lifts from my chest the moment they’re gone, and I blink hard at the tingling feel of it.
I feel lighter. More alive.
One way or another, Jeriko will get these souls. As long as he’s alive, he’ll try to find a way to steal away the darkest souls of the Underworld.
And I can’t let that happen. With all my strength, I pull him in. His boots stumble, and a little, manic part of me relishes in the fear on his face as he falls inside. His big body falls quickly past me, and my feet slip off of the ledge finally. My heart freefalls with too much fear of what awaits me in the next few seconds.
Until a warm hand grips mine at the last moment. As I stand here on the edge of living, he pulls me back to him.
Lavender eyes shine down into mine, and he hugs me hard against his body like he’ll never let me go. Because he’s always been there for me.
Right from the start.
