Chapter 37
DARCIE
A scream tears from my throat. Bella’s legs buckle, and she crashes to the carpeted floor.
She doesn’t get back up.
“No!” I launch myself toward Bella. My knees slam the floor. Pain jolts down my shins, but I don’t feel it—not really. Not compared to the agony tearing my heart apart.
I grab her limp body and drag her onto my lap. “Wake up, Bella! Please wake up!”
Blood trails from her ears and nose in thin, horrible lines. Her eyes stare up at the ceiling, unseeing.
I choke on a sound that is a mix between a sob and a scream and press shaking fingers to her throat, then her wrist.
Nothing.
No pulse.
Her skin cools rapidly, taking away the warmth of life with every passing second.
Tears roll down my face.
No, no, no.
“Enough of this,” Adir growls. “We’re going to be late.”
A strong forearm bands across my stomach, crushing the air from my lungs as he yanks me back while his other arm locks over my chest and pins my arms tight.
I kick and thrash, fighting his hold like a rabid, cornered animal. “Let me go! Bella! Bella!”
Adir drags me back. I keep Bella’s unmoving form in my sights and continue flailing, desperate to get back to her side.
She can’t be dead.
She just can’t be.
A horrible, thunderous boom crashes through the air. The walls and windows shake. Portraits and knick-knacks crash to the floor.
“Fuck,” Adir curses. He hauls me up, lifting my feet from the floor, and rushes toward the door.
I catch one last glimpse of Bella before I’m yanked into the hall.
I jerk against Adir’s hold to no avail, but I freeze and bare my teeth when I find Faine standing just a few feet away.
“You let him kill her,” I scream. “You are both murderers!”
Faine’s eyes widen before they fly to Adir.
“Do not question me,” he snaps. “She changed her allegiance. We can’t let Thane keep her.”
“That’s not true!” I screech. My blurred vision catches Faine’s pale face.
Adir’s arm tightens, and his other hand slides up and grips my throat. “Silence!”
Then, to Faine, he says, “Get the Elder. Meet me at the altar. We need to get this done.”
Over my dead body.
I start screaming obscenities, threats, kicking and flailing, uncaring of the consequences. I am a woman with nothing left to lose.
There has to be someone in this house who will hear me—who will intervene. There has to be at least someone here with a conscience.
But no one appears.
It’s as if my screams have urged everyone to flee rather than fight.
Another forceful boom rattles the house.
A flash of green and blue light flares through the window, but Adir yanks me past before I can figure out what caused it.
I don’t stop yelling or fighting.
But it’s no use.
Through it all, Adir carries me down several flights of stairs like I weigh nothing. Like I’m not fighting him with every ounce of strength I have.
Frustration burns through me, and heat stokes beneath my palms. But no matter how hard I try, the budding magic will not release.
The air dampens and cools the farther we go, telling me we are underground.
Chills rack my body, and I writhe once more.
“Enough, Darcie!” Adir shouts. “Accept your fate.”
“NO!” I fight harder. Hair sticks to my wet cheeks, covering sections of my vision. “This is not my fate.”
A figure detaches from the nearest wall.
Henry.
The warlock faces Adir and bows. “The Elder is inside, my lord.”
“Excellent. Now, go examine the wards surrounding the property and make sure our guests do not breach the border.”
Guests?
Henry rises. “Of course.”
He strides away, climbing the stairs with near-silent steps.
Adir drags me to the left. We enter a dimly lit room with stone pillars and dirt walls.
Torches sit in ancient-looking sconces positioned around the room. An elevated concrete slab is centered at the far end of the space. A hooded figure stands behind it.
“You’re late.” The aged, rough voice comes from beneath the deep hood.
“Apologies, Elder. We are here now.” Adir’s voice lacks the haughty tone I’ve come to associate with the villainous Immortal of War.
He drops my feet to the ground and grabs my bicep, pulling me along as he approaches the concrete slab.
“No!” I dig my heels into the dirty ground. “Stop! Please, help me!”
The stranger, Elder, doesn’t move. I cannot see his face, but I swear I feel the intensity of his stare burning my face.
“She is not willing?” he asks.
“Not at all!” I yell.
Movement to my right draws my attention. Faine stands in the corner, lips pinched together, and her forehead furrowed.
“That is irrelevant, Elder.” Adir stops a foot from the slab. His grip is bruising. “This moment is Fate’s design. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
I rear back and scowl. What kind of bullshit is—
“Very well.” The Elder takes a step. His cloak brushes the opposite side of the slab from where I stand. “Let us begin.”
“No!” I try to drop my weight to dislodge Adir’s grip and run. But it remains firm.
“Thank you, Elder.” Adir shoves me forward. My palms hit the cold concrete, and my body is trapped between the slab and Adir’s thighs pressing me against the structure.
I freeze and stare into the dark hood, unable to thrash with Adir’s weight pressing into me.
Even this close, I can’t make out any of this stranger’s features, but I widen my eyes, silently pleading with this man not to go along with Adir’s plan. That he will take pity on me and help me.
Then…
He begins to chant.
The words are in a language I do not understand, yet one that feels familiar. Like they belong to a song I heard only once. The rhythm is soothing and brusque, deep yet hollow.
Power pulses around us. Tingles pepper my skin. I breathe and inhale smoke. My heart thumps at a dangerously slow rhythm. My body doesn’t feel like my own.
I fight through the heavy sensations. I jerk one hand off the concrete.
Adir grabs my wrist and forces it back down. His chest presses into mine, and he hisses in my ear, “Behave.”
Never.
Boom.
A distant crash echoes through the damp chamber.
Dust falls from the ceiling.
I blink to see through the debris.
The chanting doesn’t stop.
If anything, the cadence grows louder.
Pressure builds in the air, pushing in on me from all sides. My legs begin to shake.
“What…” I grit out between clenched teeth. Sweat rolls down the back of my neck. “...is…happening?”
“Elder?” Adir snaps. The hands holding mine clench tighter. A tremor ripples through his limbs. “Do it.”
The Elder doesn’t stop chanting.
Every syllable he utters sinks into my body. Strings are pulled. Knots are tied. My back arches. A scream claws at my throat, but I cannot release it.
My breath billows out in front of me. Cold air kisses the tip of my nose.
“P-please,” I stutter. “D-don’t.”
“Darcie!”
My heart seizes.
Des?
“Hold on.” His voice rings in my head, as clear as if he were speaking directly into my ear. “I’m coming.”
Through the haze of pain and confusion, the sound of another crash reaches my ears.
It’s the alliance.
They’ve come for me.
Des has come for me.
Hurry, I think back.
“I am. I swear it. Just…hold on. Don’t let—”
White-hot agony jolts down my spine.
“AH!!” I scream and fall to my knees.
Adir holds my hands to the slab, and dread drains my face of blood. The stone is glowing, and an eerie light is creeping up my arms.
And Adir’s, too.
No!
“I’m almost there!” Even in my head, the panic in Des’s words strikes me.
Fresh tears roll down my face.
My forehead rests on the edge of the slab. My neck is too weak to hold my head up.
“—taking so long,” Adir growls above me. “She should have succumbed by now.”
“Resist!” Des’s voice crashes in my mind, in perfect time with another crash that makes the floor under me tremble. “I’m close!”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I grab onto the hope like a lifeboat in a raging storm and hold tight.
I don’t know how to fight this. I don’t know what this even is.
It’s like someone is plucking at the chords that make up my soul, trying to reshape them, redirect them.
And it feels wrong.
The power I’ve yet to master recoils at the sensation. It tries to resist, pushing the plucking fingers away. But never for long.
I grit my teeth and focus.
I can give Des time. I will give him time.
Adir won’t win.
He can’t.
A burst of strength returns to my arms, and I pull.
My hands slip free.
“What are you doing?” Adir snarls and grabs me by my hair and yanks.
I yelp and stagger to my feet.
I reach for the hand holding me and dig my nails into his wrists.
He growls and jerks my head roughly. “Stop!”
No.
I will never stop fighting.
Not even if this bond takes place.
Not even if he gains access to my power.
I will never stop fighting him. I will never give in.
For Bella, I will be the end of him—
CRASH!
A force blasts behind me.
Adir and I fly forward.
I don’t have time to brace myself.
My head strikes the corner of the concrete slab, and stars explode across my vision.
My shoulder hits the ground. I face away from the altar, toward the entrance.
And my slow beating heart jolts.
White power flies across the room, originating from the broad, furious form filling the destroyed doorway.
Des.