Page 69

Hollen

There were feathers everywhere, filling his vision and tickling the bits of his exposed skin. His shirt had ridden up at his lower back, another wrist exposed and caressed by the thick feathers. There was a downy softness to them the same way there was that strength that had kept Munro aloft, even when they’d been entwined.

There was sunlight above and the strangest green ivy. To the side, he caught sight of a woman who was deeply familiar, but his mind was so sluggish that he couldn’t recall her name.

Munro’s face was clearer, his fangs glistening with beauty in an unexpected sunlight. There was a steady noise buffeting against his eardrums that sounded more like a growl than anything else.

The sun, the lady, and the green stretch of leaves made no sense. There was no place that they should have existed like this—maybe in another world or across the ocean, but not here.

Someone squeezed his hand, and Hollen turned his head. It was Adair, looking so lost and confused, something heartbreaking in his voice as he whispered to him.

“I love you.”

He heard the words, not only from Adair, but from deep inside as well. George was stirring, his voice soft. “Let me take you away. You’ll be somewhere warm forever where no one can hurt you. I’ll never let a vampire or anyone else touch you again. You’ll bemine.”

Hollen tried to shake his head, the movement almost too much. Tears dripped along his cheeks, drying so cold that even a shiver failed to escape him. “Stop, George. Just stop.”

“He’s going to kill you.” George strengthened, a solid iron bar within silk walls. “I’ll protect you.”

He was so,sostrong, darkness crawling over Hollen’s flesh as his strength withered. Hollen forced his eyes open, staring at the man who clutched him to his chest. Munro was so beautiful, even in his rage, his wings wrapped around them as a desolate sky. They pushed Adair back, his grip failing.

“Let me out, Hollen,” said George, writhing molten lava. Cursive writing scrawled over his skin, stamping permanently.

“No.” Hollen sucked in a deep breath, trying to fill his aching lungs. He could feel himself fading, his vision wavering as Munro wavered before his eyes. Memories that weren’t his flitted to the surface, sand and warmth beckoning him.

He couldfeelGeorge—taste him, the metallic sweetness of his breath mingling with his own. It had never felt so wrong, the darkness more than any light George had ever brought to his life.

“Let me out, Hollen, or face the consequences,” said George. “It’s almost too late.”

Even as he said it, shadows bloomed over the rest of Hollen’s skin, taking over the pale landscape. His nails sharpened into claws, cutting into the skin of Munro’s shoulder where he clutched him. He flinched, blood trickling over his fingertips.

“He’s good,” said Hollen, looking up at Munro. “Please don’t hurt him. I swear, he’s not the demon you say he is.Please.”Hollen grabbed at his chest where it ached beneath his sternum, blood gathering beneath his fingertips.

Instantly, George stopped struggling, Hollen’s chest empty as the demon went lax. The warmth faded, icy starkness seeping in.

“Have it your way, Hollen.” George’s voice was so close, wrapped around the very stem of his brain and whispering into his gray matter.

“Munro?” asked Hollen, putting a hand on Munro’s chest. Blood soaked into the white fabric, seeping into the strands and staining them beyond repair.

“Yes.” The world shifted as Munro went to his knees, sunlight filtering between his feathers. He could hear sobbing, Adair calling to him softly.

“George told me about the last time he almost died… How did it end?” Even passive, George was so strong. He didn’t have much time left before he split at his very seams.

“That was another time,” said George, his voice emerging from Hollen’s lips. There was barely any power left, Hollen’s eyelids dragging downward. He forced them open, squeezing his fist tight.

“Tell me. Tell me the truth,” said Hollen. There were tears in his eyes, a few spilling over. He never would have believed George capable of the things that were flitting through his mind, their memories mingling and tying together. “I remember a fire…and screams.” Hollen tilted his head back, trying to see the rest of the memory that was trapped in George’s thoughts.

“He burned a city to the ground,” said Munro, his voice hard. Those blue eyes… Hollen had never seen them look so much like ice. “Every living person of every kind was murdered in that town in one night.”

“Theykilledmy love.”George hissed, the brutal sounds cutting through the softness of down. “I told the king I would killthem all if he didn’t hand over the murderer. He left me with no choice.”

“A thousand deaths are not just payment for one.” Munro shook his head. His hair had long since broken free of the tie, wisping around his face.

“I would have killed a thousand more,” said George, raising his voice until Hollen’s ears ached.

“You killed most of my family,” said Munro, his jaw tight. “Do you know what it’s like to watch a child die? A hundred of them? They should have lived forever, but you took that away from them.” Munro let out a growl, grasping Hollen’s hand hard. “And now you’re stealing the one I love the most. Let Hollen go, and you can still make this right.”

Hollen slipped further, hardly able to keep his eyes open. George was so strong, taking over his limbs with shaky movements.