Page 156
Story: A Strange Hymn
Beyond my control.
Callie’s eyes widen, like she felt the balances tip as well.
I gather her body closer to me, rocking her in my arms, my head bowed over hers.
I’ve never fallen apart in front of Callie. Not even when she was at the mercy of Karnon. But now I do.
Because this is the real thing.
“Till darkness dies, love,” she says, her voice faint.
“No.” I’m shaking my head. “Even then,no.” The night could end, and she’d still be mine.
Always mine.
Her eyes slip shut.
“No,” I say more emphatically.
Where is Temper?
I glance up, frantically looking around. The sorceress could heal her. But finding her and flying her back here would take minutes at best.
Minutes I do not have.
I look back down at Callie. My mate is fading so fast. Too fast.
This is the moment I’ve dreaded since I met Callie. The moment I lose her.
I’d rather do something unforgivable to keep her alive than let her slip quietly into death.
Something unforgivable…
“Mara, where is the wine? The—the lilac wine.”
The Flora queen looks up from her own dead mate, her eyes dull. “The royal cellar,” she mumbles, as if in a trance. And then her attention returns to the Green Man.
The royal cellar. I’ve been there several times over the centuries. The wine wouldn’t take minutes to locate and bring back—it could be done in mere seconds. But the cost of such a solution—it’s a steep one.
Fuck the ramifications.
It takes an instant to leave Callie’s side and materialize there, then several precious moments to locate the telltale purple glass bottles.
Grabbing one, I disappear before returning to my mate’s side.
With a swift jerk, I snap the narrow neck of the bottle clean off. Already I catch faint whiffs of the wine.
I promised my mate that I’d protect her from this side of myself, the selfish, immoral side.
I lied.
The thing is, I’m both a fairy and the son of a tyrant king; I’ve descended, undoubtedly, from demons. Wickedness is in my blood.
For once I will give in to the depraved thoughts that revolve around my mate.
Callie’s face is ashen, her skin already cold. Her pulse is a weak, fluttery thing.
I’ll take my mate’s mortality from her just as I have always imagined.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156 (Reading here)
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160