Page 207 of Wrath of the Fae

‘We’re not going anywhere,’ Cyrus adds, kissing my knuckles. ‘Trust us, remember? We know what you need.’ He smiles his devilish smile. ‘And everything inside us is ordering us to stay.’

I slump into their arms, held tightly and lovingly by them both.

They could not be calmer if they tried.

Such fucking love and peace as they hold me between them.

Blood spills freely across my chest.

I reach up and caress their cheeks. Both nuzzle into my palm.

My hand starts to fade. A mixture of light and smoke. Gold dust and embers. It drifts towards the arch and machines entangled with it.

The pain starts. Unrelenting and unforgiving. Every cell. Every atom of my being. It all burns.

Outside, every dark creature in my command screams in their own demonic way.

The guys look only at me, stroking my face. My arms. And smiling so softly.

‘Rhea. Run,’ Cyrus says. ‘Take the Dark Fae and run back to the Fae realm.’

She staggers back, openly sobbing.

‘Run!’ he repeats.

She turns on her heel and leaps from the window, calling the Dark Fae to the falling shield.

‘Just the three of us,’ Reid says softly. ‘How it’s supposed to be.’

I connect to the ancient powers that mark my skin. To the dark crown atop my head.

My blood pools around me, and as I rest my fingertips in the wetness, it moves with purpose, snaking towards the stones and circuitry. Weaving into the metal and body parts. Ancient symbols form in the ground surrounding us, twisted in the metal. Etched in the stone. Stained with my blood.

My markings. My power. Ancient and endless. Dark and restless.

My hand starts to fade first. Then my arms.

‘We fucking love you,’ Reid says.

‘More than anything in this world or any others,’ Cyrus vows

Reid’s body starts to glow. Cyrus’s becomes smoke.

Just as they did when I first faded.

‘Together,’ Reid smiles.

‘Or not at all,’ Cyrus adds.

Their smoke and light encase me. Fill me to capacity, and if I had a voice left, I would scream.

I expect pain. I expect a never-ending journey of torture as I’m pulled apart. As my cells burn and my soul implodes.

But that isn’t what happens.

It’s calm. It’s soft and filled with serenity.

It’s loving.

---