Page 135 of Wrath of the Fae

The guys cover me with their bodies and hold me tight between them.

‘I command you!’ I yell. ‘GO BACK TO SLEEP!’

She falls silent. Everything does.

Except me.

I ready myself to be retaken. I feel myself fading.

Something forces its way up my nose. Down my throat. In my ears.

It’s Cyrus. His smoke. He pours into me. I was at the limit of pain before. This has me paralyzed. This is hell.

Reid rests his lips on my forehead, and he holds me close as I feel the heat of his light.

‘Where you go,’ he says in my ear. ‘We go. Together.’

‘I’m…going to… hell!’

‘We’ve always been destined for hell, baby. At least now we’ll be there together.’

Reid’s final words follow me as I explode.

It’s all a blur. The pain overcomes every sense. I see so much. Feel everything. Taste blood and sweat. I drown in pain and fear as I’m torn from my soul to my flesh and bones.

Again.

But this time is different. This time I’m not alone. I feel them in every torn cell and piece of me. They smother me, and I know they endure the same pain as I do. I hear them in my mind, screaming.

Screaming for me.

Raven. Hold on to us. Cling to us.

So I do. I meld to them. Fuse my gold to Reid’s light and Cyrus’s smoke. The more I do, the easier it becomes. The hell becomes tolerable. Then it becomes almost controllable.

I pull myself back together!

I do!

I reform. Solid and whole. My body is mine, and I am not trapped in that portal.

I land on my knees, panting and unable to hold my weight. I still can’t see. I have no strength to stand. Reid and Cyrus reach down and lift me, taking my weight.

I expect them to be relieved. To hold me. Maybe even yell at how stupid I was by doing that.

But they’re deathly quiet. Reid is to my left. Cyrus to my right.

Both grip me tightly and press in close.

They’re afraid.

Then I find out why.

‘Hello, daughter,’ Ivan says. ‘I’ve been waiting.’

twenty-five

‘Mydeardaughter.HowI have missed you.’ Ivan’s voice is a slow, deep drawl that shakes the room. ‘Looks like you are having a bad day.’

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