Page 296 of Cursed Evermore
“Zyrra is …dead.”
Blood rushed from my head, leaving me dizzy and sick. “But?—”
The word was strangled in my throat. Across the clearing, Zyrra stood whole and watching. My stomach plummeted, and chills raced across my skin. She looked exactly as she had not an hour ago. Perfect and vibrant, like the air itself was holding her in place.
“Look, Wolfe.” I pointed with a shaking hand.
He turned, and his body went rigid.
“Zyrra,” Wolfe muttered, hope rising in his voice.
He moved away from me, rushing toward her fast and desperate.
She stood there watching him with an emotionless expression on her face. Then she smiled that devious, devilish smile.
“Zyrra!” Wolfe called out to her.
She didn’t answer. She only smiled wider, then vanished before he could reach her.
“Zyrra!” Wolfe shouted, running to where she’d stood. “Zyrra, come back. Come back to me.”
The anguish in his voice broke me.
I went to him, my legs trembling, my mind swirling with confusion and sadness.
Wolfe called for Zyrra again, searching the air.
I wasn’t that far from him when he turned to face me. A tear rolled down his cheek, then the skeletal features from earlier returned, covering his entire face and body until all I could see was a mass of shadow and bones. He looked like death’s harbinger. Ordeathitself.
“Wolfe!” Instead of being afraid, I ran toward him, trying to close the distance between us.
I never reached him. With a wave of his hand, the world ripped apart. The forest vanished, and I was in a barren garden with leafless trees.
Before me stood a battered-looking Bastian, blood streaking his cheeks, his eyes brimming with sorrow.
“Bastian, where’s Wolfe?” I choked.
He caught me as I staggered. “He said I should take care of you now.”
Chapter 59
Elariya
“Shadows of Uncertainty”
Ileaned my head against the wall, my gaze drifting past the window to the endless stretch of white sand.
The world outside looked like the remains of a realm long forgotten. Dunes rolled like waves beneath a sky that hadn’t seen daylight since yesterday, and thick clouds clung to the heavens, swirling around a pale, unmoving moon that cast everything in a sickly twilight.
A single tree stood in the distance, skeletal and bare, its twisted branches clawing at the frozen sky.
The view never changed. No sunrise. No warmth. No life. Only this barren wasteland that seemed as hollow as the ache in my chest.
This place was Wolfe’s safe house, hidden away in some forsaken corner of the realm. A sanctuary only he could reach. One it seemed none of us could leave.
He had transported us here with a mere wave of his hand—Bastian, Alaric, Garrick, Arielle, Sirril, and even the household staff.
Like Vyrenth Hollow, the house thrummed with protective wards and unbreakable enchantments. We had food, shelter, everything we needed to survive.
