Chapter 79 Dae
Dae
My world darkened. Not because of the insidious smoky black mass writhing around me, not because Marvoe was about to strip my shifting magic, and not because I’d succumbed to the temptation of wielding the addictive, all-consuming dark magic that’d fused to my very essence.
It was the look in those far away hazel eyes in that moment before the darkness clouded her from sight. The look that spoke so many words.
But the most devastating thing they said was goodbye.
Without Ro, I’d be left to the darkness. She was the ray, the light that broke through the haze. The hand that reached out to tenderly cup my face, the warmth that reminded me there were still good things in the world. Smiles. Laughter.
Love.
Through utter agony, I screamed, stretching my arms out and recalling that obsidian destruction with every ounce of strength I had left. I ordered it, demanded it to recoil. My efforts resulted in barely a twitch of the black mist that swirled where Ro had just stood.
Marvoe’s malicious laughter mocked my attempt. Sheer sorrow fell from my eyes in droplets as I felt my abilities weaken. Still, I refused to give in, to stop fighting for her.
It felt like an eternity as the tug-o-war waged. My heart fractured into a thousand fragments, for even if I succeeded, there’d be nothing left of her. She would have withered by the time I’d even attempted to save her.
I felt the dark magic before I saw it. It slithered inside and found my veins, wrapping around the life giving highways and using them to carry itself further, deeper, into all the parts that kept me alive.
Those inky vines spread over my skin. The more I wielded this corrosive force, the more it corrupted.
But I would sacrifice every last shred of myself for the woman who restored my humanity, my life, and when I thought of the way her freckle-covered nose scrunched when she was happy or irritated, my joy.
Maybe I wasn’t as powerless as I felt. The dark magic continued swarming in the same spot. Stagnant. Dante remained unmoving where he stood, a man stripped of his magic and defenses, but the curse didn’t advance.
The moment it did, he’d succumb to it, too. I would be next—if Marvoe didn’t have other plans for me. Even if he did, I wouldn’t oblige. I would chase that fiery huntress into the afterlife, fight for her until my dying breath.
But without warning, I collapsed, my energy so entirely depleted that I couldn’t even catch myself before smacking into the ground. With tear stained eyes, I cried out for Ro, glimpsing up at the dark storm that still remained. Why hadn’t it moved on?
Marvoe spoke so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. “What in the—”