Chapter 17 #2
Dalkhan stood like a towering monument of devastation, the air around him shimmering with heat. Power crackled off his skin in visible waves, and shadows pooled at his feet like spilled ink.
His eyes were voids—not empty but consuming everything they touched.
My heart stopped beating. The stone in my hand burned, its pulse erratic and wild.
The raw, unchecked power rolling off Dalkhan should’ve had me scrambling through the Veil without a backward glance.
But I couldn’t move.
Because for all his wrath—for all the devastation that radiated from his skin, his eyes went soft the moment they found me.
He lifted a hand, reaching out for me across the distance.
I couldn’t breathe.
Theo and Tavrik were screaming—their mouths moving, gesturing frantically toward the Veil—but I couldn’t hear them over the roaring in my ears.
Dalkhan took a step forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet. Shadows twisted around his legs like dark serpents, and fire pulsed from his skin in rhythmic waves. Embers drifted into the night like dying stars.
When he spoke, his voice was neither a roar nor a demand, but a broken whisper.
“Don’t leave me, Elira.” He took another step. “I need you.”
I had thought his rage would be the worst of it. That the firestorm and fury would be what shattered me.
But it wasn’t. It was this—the way he reached for me with shaking fingers, like I was already slipping away.
My hand hovered above the Veil, brushing against the barrier. The magic was cold like ice, and beyond it the pull of the mortal world was calling me home.
But I couldn’t look away from him. Couldn’t do anything but stand as my heart tore itself apart.
His voice deepened. “Nothing will take you from me. You have always been mine.”
The wind rose to a howl, tearing past the trees and ripping leaves from their branches. The ground split, fissures glowing with molten heat. The very fabric of the realm straining and buckling under the pressure of his power.
His advance was relentless. “Neither the Heavens nor the earth will stand in my way.”
A violent tremor rumbled in the air.
“I will shatter the Veil itself before I let you go. I will break everything, destroy everything, until there is nothing left but you and me.”
Flames roared to life around him, casting his features in a flickering, golden glow. The heat reached me even from this distance.
Then his rage began to fade.
The grief in his eyes gutted me, so deep it could’ve hollowed out mountains and dried up oceans.
“Stay.” His voice broke, becoming unrecognisable. “Stay with me.”
I wanted to step forward, to let his arms wrap around me and pull me back into the storm. My heart reached for him, straining against my ribs.
But it was too late.
His expression crumbled, giving way to naked panic. He lunged forward, hand outstretched, an anguished scream tearing from his chest. His power lashed out, shadows stretching toward me like grasping fingers.
But I had already stepped back.
The Veil swallowed me whole.
I spun around, searching wildly for him beyond the barrier. I needed to see him one last time. I needed—
There was nothing. Only the mortal realm stretching before me like a cruel, empty reflection of the world I had just abandoned.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to the empty air.
Gripping the stone tighter, I forced myself to move. It would take days to return to the village, days I might not have.
I had to reach my mother before Zaheera did.
Even as the morning bled across the sky, streaking it in shades of soft gold and pale pink, we pushed forward. The feeling of exhaustion clung to us, each step heavier than the last. My muscles burned and my legs felt like lead, but I refused to slow down. We had to keep going.
The sun rose higher, chasing away the chill and bathing the land in an unforgiving heat. The dried leaves crunched and cracked beneath my sandals. We did not speak, each one of us trapped within our own thoughts—our own regrets and pain.
Tavrik had his head bowed, his jaw locked tight and his shoulders hunched over beneath an invisible weight.
I knew he was thinking about Jasila.
He turned his head, sensing my obvious stare, but said nothing.
Even Theo looked distant, like everything that happened had finally crashed into him. He stared only toward the infinite trees that stretched before us, his usual confident stride reduced to an unemotional shuffle.
The Jinn realm offered him what no other place could—freedom. He had always been too big, too bright for this world and yet the second I needed him to return with me, he’d followed.
The guilt was burying me alive. It was all my doing, my stupid decisions that led to this. I had dragged them in only to drag them back out.
I clenched my fists in a weak attempt to keep myself from crumbling, the stone now cold against my palm, its soft hum flowing into my flesh.
It was a strange sensation, like the stone recognised me. Like it enjoyed being with me. I traced my thumb over the smooth surface before holding it up against the harsh sunlight. The black swirls moved calmy beneath the surface.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m sorry.” I croaked, only now realising how dry my throat was. I massaged my neck, trying to soothe the harshness.
They just kept walking. I released a shaky breath, my eyes watering from the strain. I rubbed the back of my palm over them, no doubt smearing the kohl into dark streaks across my cheek.
“This is all my fault,” I said, louder this time.
Theo stopped abruptly. I almost crashed into him, my feet skidding in the dirt.
“Don’t say that.” He spun around, fixing me with an intense stare that rooted me in place.
“None of this is your fault, El. You didn’t choose this.
It was forced on you.” He placed his hands on my arms. “Until you put that stone in my hand and told me to bear its weight, I didn’t understand.
I got so lost in the freedom of their world, I never stopped to think about what it must’ve felt like for you. ”
My lips trembled. His words should’ve eased at least some of the guilt, but they didn’t. The threat of tears stung behind my eyes, but before they could fall free, Theo pulled me into a fierce embrace, his chin pressing into the crown of my head.
I didn’t deserve his kindness, but I had no battle left in me. I accepted his words—his embrace and let myself lean into him.
We stood locked together, his heart beating against my ear. His chest expanded with a deep breath that ruffled my hair. “Heavens, you stink.”
I shoved him, and he staggered back.
“Asshole.” I smiled, wiping the stray tears from my eyes. He grinned back, reaching out to mess up my sweat-dampened hair with rough affection.
Tavrik stepped closer, chuckling. His solid and reassuring hand landed heavy on my shoulder.
“Everything will be alright.”
His expression softened, the light returning to his hazel eyes.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
The tension vanished but was quickly replaced by exhaustion. It was inhuman to walk for as long as we did.
We needed to stop, even if only for a few minutes. Our legs were giving out, and every intake of air was drier than the last.
Theo and Tavrik’s steps had slowed significantly. They clutched the rough bark of every tree they passed in an attempt to keep their bodies upright.
It seemed fate had mercy on us, because we stumbled upon a small lake. The water shimmered brightly beneath the sun, rippling gently in the breeze.
I would’ve cried at the sight, but I was so dried up it was more likely that dust would’ve fallen from my eyes than actual tears.
Theo’s mouth parted, but before he could speak, Tavrik and I both cut him off.
“No.”
Theo clutched his chest, staggering back in mock pain. “You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
Tavrik arched a brow. “You were going to say something obnoxious.”
Theo sighed dramatically. “I am a gentleman.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure thing, Theo.”
I gave him two quick taps on the back then stepped around him toward the water, determined to be the first to sink into its depths.
The cold was a welcome shock against my overheated skin. I waded in until the water kissed my collarbone, my grip on the stone never loosening. I couldn’t risk parting with it for even a second.
What would happen if I were to let go?
Zaheera would likely sense me immediately and know I had betrayed her.
I couldn’t let my mind travel that path. I plunged beneath the surface, letting the water wash away the grime, the sweat, and the weight of everything pressing down on my soul.
The peace was short lived.
My heart thumped a steady rhythm beneath the surface. The memory of Dalkhan wrapped around me, tighter than the water itself. The way his flames had moved across his skin. The way his voice curled around my name like an embrace.
The way his eyes had softened when they found mine at the Veil.
My pulse quickened, faster and faster until I broke through the water’s surface with a gasp. I dragged a hand over my hair, trying to wash away the images of him burning behind my eyes.
When I spun in the water, Theo was watching me, because of course he was.
I narrowed my eyes. “Really?”
He grinned, unapologetic. “Can you blame me?”
Before I could launch a wave at his smug face, Tavrik smacked the back of Theo’s head.
I laughed—genuinely, deeply laughed.
Some things just never change.
Unable to ignore our exhaustion any longer, we decided to rest for the night.
We found a small clearing where the forest floor seemed smoother, and deemed it worthy enough. Gone was the luxury of a soft bed, and back was the unforgiving ground.
I groaned, settling on the dirt floor and throwing a pile of gathered dry twigs over the small fire Theo had built.
The night sky stretched above us, the distant stars twinkling gently. All the heat from the day vanished to make way for the night’s sharp chill.