Page 37

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Dagny

I place my palms to Abaddon’s chest as I raise my head, my eyes glowing with desperation as I search the shadowed forest beyond, willing the animals to materialize. If I’m going to bring them back, I need a tether—six, to be exact. The bond marks are all but gone, and if I don’t act fast, their souls will be lost forever.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I close my eyes and focus on drawing energy from the earth, letting it flow through my veins and fill my body with wild, electrified tendrils of magic. When it feels like the power is about to burst through my skin, I carve a small opening, allowing it to seep out of me bit by bit, molding the thread of magic to the dimensions of my choosing, forcing the wild energy to bend to my will.

Fine tendrils of silver thread spread through the air, shooting across the land and opening up the skies as it searches for the six creatures I need to complete the bond.

Nya is the first to materialize, followed by Honey, Comet, Echo, Bo, and finally, Syn—slithering out from the shadows with distrust shining in her wide gold eyes.

Just like with the horde or arachnyx, I force several separate tendrils of magic into the air, directing the strands beneath their skin and into the corners of their souls, threading my magic between the pathways in their nervous system.

My power surges, ordering the animals closer without a single word spoken. The six of them comply, rushing over in varying degrees of speed and method, but each moving with the same level of urgency. They crowd around Abaddon’s corpse in a half circle, muscles taut and gazing upward with empty silver eyes, awaiting their next command.

“Wait there,” I murmur, turning my focus to the severed chest lying in front of me. Varys forgot to put Abaddon’s heart back in the chest the last time, which gave life to the six pieces. So I should…

Without thinking, I plunge my hand into the base of his sternum, squelching through muscle and tendon as I shove my hand up under his rib cage, searching for the pulsing golden organ.

I rip the heart out with a massive grunt, sitting back on my heels as I admire the shiny object. Just like earlier, the heart continues to beat—albeit weakly—but it gives me a single thread of hope to cling onto.

I place the heart gently on the ice next to my feet, watching it for a few moments to ensure it’s still pulsing before turning my attention back to the familiars. They’re sitting in the same spot, unblinking and utterly still—like six little statues.

Without thinking, knowing I don’t have much more time, I force my magic out of my veins, driving it through the air and into the six creatures surrounding Abaddon’s corpse.

My power threads through the spaces in their souls, weaving each jagged edge together and bonding their beings together for all eternity. With each careful stitch, a fraction of my own soul is woven into the creases, offering up a fraction of my power—my magic—to the demons I love so much.

When it’s all over, I sit back, chest heaving and eyes watering, too scared to look for fear it didn’t work. I keep my eyes on my trembling fingers, listening for a breath, a groan—anything to let me know I was successful, and my mates are back with me.

But when I finally raise my head, that’s not the case. Abbadon’s pieces are still spread out on the ice, just as cold and lifeless as before I completed the soul bond.

A frustrated scream claws its way up my throat, but before it can escape, an explosion of energy thunders from the severed body, sending me flying backward across the clearing and filling the air with a blinding golden light—one I don’t get to witness for long.

My body collides with a welwig trunk at the far edge of the space, sending wood splintering into the air as the back of my head smashes through the bark, the force of the impact carving a deep crater into the wood and causing my vision to fracture.

I slump to the ground in a limp heap, blinking slowly and attempting to breathe past the iron fist squeezing the air from my lungs. There’s a powerful ringing in my ears, deafening my surroundings and causing my head to pound as pain splinters from the base of my skull.

I reach back, prodding the wound with a wince, coming away with my fingers coated in a slick dark red substance. Fuck… not good…

Dagny !

I rub my fingertips together, staring hard and trying to drown out that voice calling my name. It sounds so much like Kaebl—too much like my mate. I know it’s not real, and that I’m hallucinating my mate's voice, but each time I hear it, it causes that dreaded hope to bloom in my chest, always followed by a bolt of pain to the heart when I remember he’s dead.

Dagny!

“Stop it,” I whisper, shutting my eyes tight. “ Please, I can’t bear it. It hurts too much.”

And here I thought you’d be happy to see us.

My lips part in a shuddering gasp as I raise my head, unable to believe the sight in front of me. “K-Kaebl… Malice… Cyprien… you’re?—”

“We are,” Lir whispers, stepping out from behind Kaebl’s spread wings. “All of us.”

My gaze flicks to the left, tears streaming hot and fast down my face as I see Fenryr and Roark approaching, their bodies bruised and scraped, but whole. Living.

Despite the world tilting around me, despite my shattered and broken bones, I find the strength to lunge across the distance, a joy-filled cry piercing the air as I jump headfirst into the waiting arms of my mates.

They wrap their arms around me, shielding me from the whipping wind and the horrors just beyond. It’s so warm and comfortable and right, I can’t help but sob.

“It’s okay, wildfire,” Malice whispers, brushing away my tears with the pad of his thumb as he tilts my face up to meet him. “We’re here. You’re safe. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

“I… know,” I choke, trying to breathe past my broken cries. “But I… you were gone. You were all gone and never coming back and?—”

“Shh,” Cyprien soothes, rubbing his palm gently up and down my spine. “I know it doesn’t seem real right now. I know you think you’ll blink, and everything will return to the way it was. But that’s not true, bunny. We’re here. Here to stay.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, wiping the back of my hand across my eyes. “This is so stupid… I don’t know why I’m crying.”

You’re crying because it matters. Kaebl reaches down, grabbing my wrist and placing it to the center of his chest. My heart. My Dagny. My beautiful, ineffable mate. It’s okay to break. It’s okay to cry. And when you’re through, we’ll all still be here, waiting to put the pieces back together.

“Always,” Fenryr promises, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck. “And we’ll love every jagged part of you. Protect them and keep them close, no matter how deep they cut. No matter how hard it is.”

“Because you belong to us,” Roark adds, his gravelly voice rolling over my skin and piercing the center of my heart. “ All of us. Just as you have saved us, nurtured us, cared for us… we will always do the same for you.”

“We love you,” Lir murmurs, taking my hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “From the very first moment we locked eyes, our souls were irrevocably, inexplicably linked. And we never, never, ever wish to be apart from you.”

Malice leans forward, pressing his forehead against mine with a rare, genuine smile. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

I nod, that seed of hope blooming into a magnificent flower, standing tall and proud against the harrowing storm. And for the very first time in my life, I believe everything will be okay. As long as I have my mates, as long as I have their love, I can get through anything. And it will always— always —be worth it.

“Nothing has ever sounded better.”