Page 33 of Darkness and Deceit (Obsidian Academy #2)

Thirty

SIMON

Something is wrong. Really wrong.

The feeling starts as a twinge in my chest, barely there.

Until it sharpens, slicing deep and sudden like wire pulled taut around my ribs. I stagger for half a step before catching myself. My breath goes shallow. My vision narrows. And the only thought I can form is her name.

Lilith.

No logic. No strategy. Just pure instinct.

I bolt.

The forest claws at me—branches, thorns, roots. Every breath burns. The terrain is hell, but I push harder. The ache in my legs is a distant echo compared to the pressure inside my chest.

It’s like I’m being pulled forward by a hook buried behind my sternum.

Behind me, two more sets of footsteps pound the ground. I don’t have to look to know it’s Kai and Vaughn. Kai runs silently, his breath steady but strained. Vaughn crashes through the underbrush like a storm, all brute force and zero finesse. I don’t care. Let the whole island hear us coming.

Let the world burn, as long as we find her.

I don’t slow. I can’t.

Images flash in my mind uninvited—Lilith hurt, Lilith bleeding, Lilith gone—and my body responds with a desperation I didn’t know I had. I’ve trained for war. Fought through nightmares. But I’ve never felt this before.

A bond .

I’ve heard stories about the way a mate bond is formed.

Sometimes, it hits you at once, and you know instantly that’s it—like for Kai.

Other times, it builds so slowly that you don’t even realize it at first. And I think that may be the case for me.

I know something is there, undeniable and growing stronger, pulling me forward as I tear through the forest.

“Simon!” Vaughn snarls behind me. “Would you slow the hell down and?—”

He cuts off as a burst of violet light ignites the sky. The blast tears upward from the direction we were already heading, straight through the trees and into the sky like a beacon.

We all stop short.

It rises like a flare, arcing through the canopy in a jagged spray of magic that paints the air in violet and gold. The ground beneath us trembles with aftershocks. Energy crackles across my skin.

Kai exhales a single word. “Lilith.”

We run harder.

The forest thins, the trees giving way to a clearing.

The ground here is fractured and scorched, still dusted with ash and the faint shimmer of fading magic.

Jagged rock walls jut upward in crooked angles, and nestled at their base is a narrow cave mouth—half hidden by ivy and shadow, like the earth itself tried to swallow it.

And then?—

Two silhouettes appear in the glow.

Lilith and… Augustus.

They’re leaning on each other as they step out of the cave’s mouth, limbs tangled in support.

Augustus’ arm is slung around her waist, steadying her as her knees falter.

Lilith’s free hand clutches her ribs, and even from here I can see her fingers are bloodied.

Her hair is caked in dirt and gods only know what else, but she’s standing.

She’s alive.

Relief crashes through me so hard I nearly fall to my knees.

A voice cracks through the air beside me—Kai’s, raw and frantic. “ Lilith! ”

She lifts her head like she’s surfacing from a dream. The second she sees him, her whole body sags forward.

“Kai?” Her voice is so soft it nearly vanishes in the wind.

She takes one broken step toward him before her legs give out—but Kai is already there. He catches her mid-fall, arms wrapping around her like armor. Augustus lets go without a word.

Kai holds her like she might slip through his fingers if he lets go.

“I didn’t know you were awake,” Lilith whispers, pressing her face into his chest. “I thought?—”

“I felt you,” Kai chokes out, one hand burying in her hair. “I felt everything.”

A sound escapes her—a breath that breaks apart halfway through, not quite a sob, but not far from it. She pulls back just enough to cup his face, eyes wide and wet with disbelief. “You felt me?”

He nods, forehead falling to hers. “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”

“I almost didn’t make it out,” she breathes.

“But you did.” His voice shakes. “You came back to me.”

I don’t look away.

I should . But I don’t.

Because something in me needs to see this—to see the way she melts into Kai’s arms like he’s the only thing tethering her to the world.

It cracks something open in my chest.

Because I feel it too.

Not like theirs—loud and claimed and burning bright. But quiet. Steady.

A bond.

Mine.

And I don’t think I’m alone.

Beside me, Vaughn stands rigid, jaw tight, fists clenched like he’s bracing for a blow. His eyes don’t leave her. Not for a second.

Seems I’m not the only one feeling echoes.

But that’s a problem for another day.

For now, Lilith is safe. She’s standing. She’s alive.

And we’re going to make damn sure she stays that way.

Lilith pulls back from Kai just enough to look up at both of us. She’s shaking, but her eyes are blazing. “You came for me.”

“Of course we did,” I say. My voice is hoarse. “We always will.”

She moves like she wants to reach for me—like there’s more to say—but her knees buckle again and Kai catches her with ease.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs. “I’ve got you.”

And he does.

But so do I.

So does Vaughn .

We all do.

And whatever comes next—we’re facing it together.