Chapter 119
CHAPTER 119
Ezryn
D ark clouds have rumbled over the horizon, shadowing all of Hadria in gloom. Rain pelts down, and I half-expect the familiar ting off my armor before remembering I’m not wearing any.
I can barely breathe through the pain. It’s as if someone has reached through my ribs and seized my heart. My mate bond is taut with grief.
And … and so is his.
Caspian lies on the ground, nails digging into the stone. His face is contorted into a mask of anguish. He feels it too.
Mate of my mate.
I could slay him right now. It would be so easy; he’s in no state to defend himself. But to kill him would be to kill a part of Rosalina’s soul.
I will never hurt her again.
Right now, there’s only one thing that matters.
I stalk over to Caspian and grab his forearm. He looks up at me, eyes shining. With a raspy growl, I say, “Can you take me to her?”
He nods, and his briars crack through the earth. Whatever has happened in our past, it will have to wait. The silent truce lays thick between us: Rosalina comes first.
My stomach churns as Caspian’s vines whip us through the earth. We surge up, exploding onto a flat-topped roof looking over the churning sea that’s swallowed Hadria.
I peer through the rain. “I don’t see her.”
“This is the last place I felt her magic,” Caspian says.
There’s no one here except … I spot it, a shadowed lump through the rain.
“Please, no.” I sprint over, falling to my knees beside it.
My brother by bond, by choice, by friendship, lies dead. Dayton’s body is stiff, eyes open and gazing into the void. A hole cuts through his stomach, so large and gaping it reveals the stone below.
A cry erupts from the darkest part of me. I grab his body and clutch him to my chest. My emotions meld with the ones pouring through the bond, our grief forming a tempest of its own.
I’ve brought him back from the brink of death before, but I’m too late now.
“How could you do this to me?” I ask him, tears merging with the rain, flooding down my face and into my mouth. “What am I to tell Delphie?”
Does she know already? Has Summer’s Blessing passed to her? Oh realms, Delphie, poor Delphie.
“Farron?” I cry. “What am I to tell Farron?”
Because I know by the depths of grief rocking through my body that Rosalina already knows.
Rosalina.
I turn around, still clutching Dayton to my chest. “Where is she?” I roar.
Caspian’s staring at us glassy-eyed. “Taken.”
“Did you know?” I yell.
“No. Not until we arrived here, and I saw these.” He kicks an iridescent briar lying limp upon the rooftop.
How could this happen? How could everything end like this? I lay my brother down and gently close his eyes. I press a kiss upon his brow. “I’ll take care of them, Day. Del and Rose. I’ll protect them in your name.”
The sound of wings beating whooshes through the air. I look up to see a Pegasus descending to the rooftop. I squeeze my eyes shut, not sure how much more anguish my heart can bear. It’s Farron. He’ll see Dayton’s body, know the love of his life is gone … I’ve already had to watch him lose his mother. If only I could take his pain.
Farron slips off the horse and walks over to us. He looks from Caspian to me. Then down at the body.
I stand on shaking legs and pull him into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Farron. I’m so, so sorry.”
Farron doesn’t say anything. He just starts to laugh.
I pull away and shake his shoulders. He barely reacts, still staring down at Dayton, damp auburn hair shadowing his face. “What’s wrong with you?” I cry. “He’s dead! Dayton is dead!”
“So he is.” Farron looks up and his eyes glow a brilliant green. “And I’m going to bring him back.”