Page 60 of Sophie's Ruin
My eyes flew open, and I lifted my head from Henry’s chest. Thick shadows still churned around us, but the wind had died down. The darkness had changed its tactic. It was being gentle now, licking my skin and caressing my hair. I ignored it, as all my attention zeroed in on Henry. His eyes were still glassy and unseeing, and I couldn’t bear the sight of his empty gaze. With a shaking hand, I reached up and lowered his eyelids. Doing so brought some relief, because now I could pretend he was simply asleep and not…dead. A whimpering sound escaped as another wave of tears swept me under.
Violent sobs racked me for a few minutes until I got ahold of myself, taking a few steadying breaths. Trembling slightly, I lowered my head to Henry’s chest again. His skin was cooler than usual when I placed my cheek on the spot above the wound. Closing my eyes, I stilled and listened as I prayed. I wasn’t sure I believed in any gods, but at that moment, I prayed to all of them. I begged them to bring him back to me. Silence stretched, and I’d never loathed quiet so much in my life. My own heart beat loud in my chest, and I hated the sound. Mine was not the heartbeat I wanted to hear. I wished I could rip my heart out of my chest and give it to Henry so he could live. He deserved to live more than I did.
Thump.
A strangled cry erupted from me.
Henry’s heart was strong and relentless like he was. Strong and relentless and…beating.
I lifted my head from his chest and opened my eyes.
“Stay away from me!” I hissed at the darkness, staring into the pitch-black shadows that surrounded us.
“Your soul is mine!” the darkness hissed back like a serpent.
“It’s not, nor will it ever be! My soul belongs to him! I belong to him,withhim, and he belongs with me!”
“You need me…”
“I don’t need you! I have everything I need right here in my arms.”
I gathered Henry closer to me and squeezed my eyes shut, as I imagined where I wanted to go—the cellar at the Duval Estate. My magic poured from my pores, enveloping Henry and me. The darkness hissed and screeched, sensing I was about to escape. It latched on to me as hundreds of tiny sharp hooks burrowed into my skin and pulled on my hair, preventing me from glimmering out. A shout tore from my throat as I fought against the darkness, thrashing in its hold.
There is a light inside you.My mother’s words invaded my mind.
I can see it,came Henry’s voice from another memory.
The light…it still burned inside me. It could help free me from the darkness’s hold. All I had to do was let it out. Gritting my teeth, I imagined feeding that light like a fire, blowing on the flames until they burned brighter and brighter. Warmth flared in my chest, radiating outward, and the darkness shrieked, recoiling from me as if burned by the light. Its blood-curdling screech was the last thing I heard before I glimmered to the Duval Estate.
When I appeared in the softly lit cellar, Isabelle was there, and her brown eyes widened as they locked on Henry’s limp form in my arms.
“Is he…” she gasped.
“No, but he needs blood,” I told her, lowering him to the stone floor.
My mind flashed back to the other night when I’d done the same after rescuing him from the clans. Then, he’d needed blood because of the torture he’d endured from Moreau. This time, I was the monster who’d caused his pain and suffering.
Isabelle rushed to the crates of blood and dragged one closer to Henry. She then lowered to her knees by his side and pulled a blood bag out of the crate.
“I can’t hear his heartbeat,” she said, her voice shaking.
Her eyes were filled with tears when her gaze shot to mine.
“His heart is beating, just barely,” I replied, my own voice strained.
Without another word, Isabelle ripped open the bag and brought it to Henry’s parted lips. When she tried to pour some ofthe blood into his mouth, it bubbled up and spilled out because he wasn’t swallowing it.
“Please,” Isabelle whispered. “Please, drink. Please,” she chanted the word like a prayer.
She looked so small and fragile, like a little girl on the verge of losing her big brother.
“What happened?” she asked, lifting her red-rimmed eyes back to mine.
“I…I…” I stuttered as tiny tremors shook my body. “He was trying to stop me from killing Yvonne, and I?—”
“You did this to him?!” Isabelle snarled.
Gone was the little girl I’d glimpsed a moment ago, as red-hot fury flashed in her eyes. She lunged at me, her clawed hands wrapping around my throat, but froze when a strangled noise left Henry. We both looked down just in time to see his chest heave on a sharp inhale as he swallowed the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
