Page 35 of Divine Fate (Cursed Legacies #4)

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BAELFIRE

It always hurts, breathing fire in human form. I used to avoid it when I could, because it burns my insides, and my shifter healing has to work triple time to undo the damage.

But this time? So fucking worth it.

Watching the scumbag who tortured my mate turn into ash as I hold him is satisfying. My feral inner dragon enjoys it, too, so for one long, blissful minute, he isn’t vying for control of my brain and body.

Once Dagon’s screaming cuts off and he’s nothing more than a smoldering lump of good-for-nothing charcoal, I drop him to the cabin floor and brush off my hands.

Good fucking riddance.

When I turn back to the others, expecting them to be on top of the ball and already looking for Maven’s heart, I instead realize they’re all watching me. Silas’s brows are raised, and Crypt is outright grinning. Even the previously uptight Frost looks pleasantly surprised.

“Not bad, Decimus,” Crypt laughs despite his glowing markings and slowly-healing cuts.

“Go fuck yourself,” I huff, not interested in praise if it doesn’t come from the sexiest woman in the world, who I can’t fucking wait to get back to. Ignoring the furious blue flames still licking under my skin, I turn toward the basement door. “Come on. I’m done keeping Maven waiting.”

Searching the basement takes too damn long. I’m fighting tooth and claw here to stay inside my own head as we rummage through dusty storage bins, spiderweb-covered wooden chests, and a bunch of other creepy shit that looks like it belongs in an old black-and-white movie about treasurehunters.

Finally, I lose the battle as I’m shoved back into the little corner I can barely even call home.

It’s frustrating as hell, knowing my dragon is either going to hurt someone or fuck around and enjoy his dominance over me, all while my mate is probably upset that we left her side.

You’re an asshole , I grumble at my dragon.

Tasty spiders.

Excuse me? He had better not be shoving spiders in my mouth while I have no control over my body. Fucking nasty.

I can’t tell how much time has passed when pain cuts through the blurry haze of my half-existence. I find myself standing in thick snow, not far from the place Felix said he’d wait for us. Blinking in confusion, I realize Silas just shocked me with magic.

“Thanks for snapping me out of it,” I mutter, relieved to be mostly in my head again as I tug at the collar around my throat.

“It wasn’t a favor. I had to frighten your ear leeches away,” he says like that sentence makes perfect sense.

Crypt and Everett are standing beside us, having stopped the trek back to Felix to see what’s going on. Everett looks impatient as frost clings to his trench coat, but my attention immediately drops to the glass apothecary jar in Crypt’s hands.

Inside the jar is a softly beating heart surrounded by dark, swirling magic.

Oh, my gods.

That belongs inside my keeper.

I’m both disturbed and relieved. My own heart pounds as I stare at the mesmerizing, morbid display. “Fuck. Just…fuck.”

“Articulate as ever, Decimus,” Crypt drawls, but there’s an undertone of pain as his markings light up over and over.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be the one holding that,” I frown. “If you collapse again?—”

“I’d sooner rip out my own heart than let anything happen to this, and you know it.”

He turns to continue down the faint path left behind from our journey to the cabin, though so much snow has fallen that our tracks have practically been buried already. The rest of us follow, with a few ravens fluttering alone, cawing at us like spooky little reminders of my adorably spooky mate. A few minutes later, we find Felix sitting on a fallen log as he communicates with someone through the scrying brand on his arm.

As soon as he glimpses us, he stands and adjusts his thick coat, shivering in the cold. “Oh, good. I won’t have to tell Maven you’re all dead. You were gone long enough that I—” His gaze slips to the heart Crypt is carrying, and the breath whooshes out of him. He swallows audibly, eyes comically wide with something between fear and fascination. “So that’s what you really came here for. I mean, I heard he ripped it out of her, but I had no idea it was still?—”

“Is there even the tiniest possibility that a transportation spell would harm it?” Everett demands. He’s clearly done with the small talk and as desperate to get back to her as I am.

Felix seems unable to take his eyes off Maven’s heart as he frowns. “No, I highly doubt it. That looks like an extremely powerful preservation spell, so it should be fine. Plus, if Dagon brought it here, he probably transported with it multiple times. Rumor has it that a lot of necromancers fled Amadeus’s kingdom after the Upheaval because he began permanently killing off a lot of his court as he began his conquest of the mortal realm. Dagon must have?—”

“Dagon, Shmagon,” I cut in, gesturing at the glass jar. “We have a heart to return to the sexiest, deadliest demigoddess in the world, so chop chop, Grayscale.”

He glowers at me. “Kenzie once described you as a giant, friendly golden retriever with a bit of a temper. Personally, I understand why they keep a hulking beast like you in a collar.”

Jackass.

As the caster begins laying the transportation spell, I notice Silas take a hand out of his coat pocket. A fucking hand. Based on the blackened fingertips, it’s probably Dagon’s, but still. What a creep.

“Si,” I begin like I’m talking to a toddler, holding out my hand. “Whatever the voices in your head are telling you, you don’t need to hoard a creepy-ass dismembered hand. Give it.”

He surprises me by giving me a very non-insane-Silas look, like he thinks I’m a moron. “We do need it, because the jar is sealed with the same spell as is laid on that nifty collar around your neck. Without Dagon’s hand, it would be impossible our naught we cridhe dhi. ”

It’s the weirdest thing. One second he sounds sharp as a tack, and the next I have no fucking idea what he’s trying to communicate as he smacks away creatures that don’t exist.

At long last, Felix is ready and we all move close until we’re in a huddle touching each other’s arms. A bright flash of green light turns my world inside out before suddenly, we’re standing just outside the ancient servants’ entrance into Everbound Castle.

The trouble is, this entrance is no longer being ignored. I realize we just transported into the middle of dozens of humans, legacies, and Nether humans who are literally camping outside the stronghold. Our unexpected entrance makes them gasp and shout in excitement.

Before we have time to react, camera flashes begin blinding all five of us.

“Is it true that the telum is divine?” someone shouts. “How did she come back from the dead?”

“Where is the demigoddess now?”

Someone else shoves forward, almost jostling Crypt, who quickly shields the jar with his ripped leather jacket to keep it out of the camera’s view as more flashes blind us.

“I need a miracle! Please, can I meet the daughter of the reaper? I’m begging you!”

“We’re building a temple for Maven Oakley! We need to measure her for a statue in her honor, so please?—”

The overwhelming barrage of insanity cuts off when dozens of ravens shriek and caw, descending from above like a swarm of bees out of an angry hive. Obviously, the demigoddess-obsessed people gathered here saw the Frosts’ broadcast, including the ravens pecking out eyeballs, because their overwhelming excitement quickly turns into terror. They turn and run, trying to take cover from the hostile birds.

The door of the servants’ entrance creaks open?—

And there Maven stands, arms folded as she stares at the five of us with no expression.

I’m pretty sure that means she’s pissed.

But holy fuck, she’s so gorgeous and perfect and mine . I break into a big smile, because damn, I was blessed with the best keeper in the entire fucking universe.

“Hi, Boo.”

One of the people trying to hide from the ravens spots her and lifts his phone to take a picture. He’s immediately frozen solid as Everett shakes off the shock of the ambush of frenzied fans. He steps inside, gently moving Maven away from the doorway so she’ll be out of sight. The rest of us follow them inside quickly, including Felix.

Once we’re all in the narrow hallway and the door is closed, I can’t help remembering the first time I cornered my keeper in this very spot. She had just punched me in the face after combat training while soaking wet and wearing my shirt. Gods, I’ll never forget scenting Maven’s arousal for the first time.

So much has changed since then, including me. But one thing that hasn’t changed? My heart still goes fucking berserk every time I’m around my strong, incredible mate.

Maven’s dark gaze moves to the jar in Crypt’s hands. Her jaw clenches before she looks at Felix. “That was on Amadeus’s mantle. Did you take my quintet into the citadel?”

“No, Snowdrop. We only went—” Everett begins, trying to soothe her.

“Were they behind enemy lines?” she demands, still looking at Felix.

“Yes,” the atypical caster admits.

“In danger?”

“Yes.”

“And you agreed to take them into danger without me knowing?” she seethes, the full force of her livid glare making Felix shuffle and swallow uncomfortably.

Damn, I forgot how fucking scary she can be. I almost feel bad that he’s getting the full force of her wrath right now.

“Hellion—” I try, but she cuts me off, too.

“Thank Kenzie when you see her, because you being in her quintet is the one and only reason your heart is still beating inside your motherfucking chest,” Maven says smoothly, still not looking at the rest of us. “That will change if you ever go behind my back again. Understand?”

Felix is unreadable as he nods. Then the corner of his lips lifts ever so slightly, and the smile is almost... brotherly .

“Look at you, caring so much. If someone told me a year ago that the terrifying girl who made a blood oath to free us would someday become hopelessly infatuated with four legacies, I never would have believed them.”

The rest of my quintet and I exchange looks, all clearly expecting his amusement to irritate Maven enough for her to actually rip out his heart.

But the second he mentions the blood oath she made, she looks away, and some of her anger visibly leaves her. “Get out of the castle before I kill you.”

Felix doesn’t take his chances any longer. The moment he’s gone, Silas moves forward to pull Maven close, kissing her neck. I’m ready to enjoy watching her flip him like a pancake, but she just embraces him back.

“Thank the gods,” Silas breathes.

“Again, it’s more effective to thank me,” she mutters, pulling back enough to study him. She touches the blood amulet hanging around his neck. “How are you?”

“Deeply disturbed, but more yours than ever, thanafluir . The abysmal state of my mind is nothing compared to being apart from you.”

So fucking sappy.

I mean, I get it a hundred percent, but still.

As Maven brushes dark curls out of his face, I tip my head. “Huh. So you were just mad at Felix, and not us? That’s a relief, because I thought?—”

Her glare cuts me off. “I’m fucking furious at all of you.”

“Way to remind her,” Everett sighs.

Crypt’s markings light up, and he carefully hands me the jar holding Maven’s heart. He pulls her close next, kissing her deeply before whispering something in her ear too quiet even for me to hear. Whatever it is, it makes her grin and kiss him again.

“You’re smiling,” I point out, hopeful. “So you can’t be that mad at us, right?”

She pulls back from Crypt and huffs, sliding out of his arms to look between the four of us. Crypt mouths, I’ll fucking kill you, at me for ending his sweet welcome home.

“I’m mad,” Maven mutters, “but I also want to fuck all of you seven ways to the Beyond. Juggling emotions is such a pain in the ass.” She arches a brow, looking at each of us with an unexpected, adorable smirk. “But speaking of my ass...”

I groan, immediately hot and bothered at the reminder. Maven’s ass is phenomenal. Knowing she’s eager to try more things in bed—godsdamn. How did I get so lucky?

Crypt grins wickedly at her. “Go on and ask us, darling. Frost can’t possibly resist a second time.”

“Maven.” Everett pinches the bridge of his nose even though his cheeks are definitely pinker in the faint glow of the mage lights in this hallway. “That’s not?—”

“Kenzie dropped off lubricant and a couple of unopened toys that she thought would be helpful while you four ditched me here,” she adds innocently.

Fuck. Using toys on Maven sounds like heaven.

But Everett is three times as flushed now as he sputters, looking for the right words before blurting, “Fucking gods, now is not the time to talk about that when we just brought this back.” He gestures at the jar I’m holding as carefully as fucking possible.

Silas glances at our keeper, surprisingly gentle as he murmurs, “She knows. Ima sangfluir is trying to distract herself and the rest of us from it because she’s nervous.”

I look at her, too, surprised. “Is that true, Raincloud?”

Maven’s lips press together as she looks at the jar in my hands. Whatever she’s thinking about, she’s careful not to show it on her face, but one of her hands absentmindedly goes to her chest.

“Having my own heartbeat again will be…strange,” she admits quietly.

There’s the tiniest bit of wariness in her voice that immediately has me turning to offer Everett her magically preserved heart. He takes a step back, holding up his frost-covered hands as a clear warning that he’s not sure it’s safe for him to handle it. Giving it to Silas instead, I scoop our keeper up and bury my face in her neck, kissing her there.

“Having your own heartbeat will just mean there’s no chance your holy magic will dip out and take you away from me again,” I remind her quietly, still not able to linger on that moment, even in my head. I pull back to study her face, realizing her guard is finally down and she looks…well, more than nervous. “Hey. Pretty little Angel of Death. What else is bothering you?”

She shakes her head, looking back at the jar. “One thing at a time. Silas, do you think you could…?”

His red gaze turns deeply regretful. “I barely trust myself to be near you, sangfluir, let alone reaching into your chest with the spell this will require. I know I’m useless to you right now, but I swear?—”

“For such an intelligent fae, you believe some really stupid things,” she says gently before taking a deep breath. “I was only asking out of cowardice. I’m pretty damn sure I can do it myself, I just…”

Aww. She’s more anxious about it than she’s letting on.

Deciding to get my mate somewhere she’ll be more comfortable to face this, I carry her out of the narrow passageway and up a flight of stairs. The others follow. When my dragon hisses inside my head, slowly deciding he wants to take over again, I stub my toes several times on purpose to remind him I’ll take as much pain as needed to keep him out of my head for a few minutes.

As soon as we reach our quintet apartment and slip into her room, I set Maven on the massive bed. I sit beside her to kiss her nose, cheeks, and those soft lips before smiling at her.

“Hey. We have a surprise you’ll like. Silas, show her.”

He frowns. “Show her what?”

“You know. The thing in your pocket.”

He continues to look mystified.

Maven tips her head. “Is that an innuendo? Is the thing in his pocket his cock?”

“No,” I sigh, standing to approach Silas. “Your fae is just fucking delusional right now. Silas. Give it.”

I reach for his jacket pocket, but he grabs my hand to stop me, scowling. “What the hell are you?—”

“Just take it out,” I snap.

He clearly thinks I’m the one who’s lost my mind. Crypt is openly laughing as he enjoys watching all of this, while Everett looks like he’s questioning how his life brought him to this exact moment.

Using my shifter speed to move quicker than Silas, I snatch the necromancer’s hand out of his pocket before he can stop me again. I hold it up triumphantly. Maven’s eyes widen.

And then, just like I was aching for, a dark grin slips over her pretty face.

“That’s…” she begins.

“Dagon’s hand,” Silas remembers abruptly examining the morbid souvenir as he gently sets the glass jar holding Maven’s heart on the bed beside her to take the hand from me.

Oh, sure, now he remembers. Fucking insane blood fae.

“I wanted to bring you his charred bones, but not as much as I wanted to get back to you fast,” I admit.

“How violent of you. I love it anyway.”

We all watch, holding our breaths as Silas cautiously places the necromancer’s hand on top of the jar resting on the bed. He clamps the lifeless, blackened fingers around the lid, whispers words I don’t understand, and squeezes, twisting.

The jar opens.

We all remain quiet, so the only sound in this room is the quiet beating of her preserved heart that I’m not even sure the others can hear. No one seems to know what to say until Maven takes an unsteady breath, lifting her chin as she reaches into the jar.

“This is probably going to hurt like a motherfucker, so it’s better to get it over with.”

My mate is trying to put on a brave front, but I’ve never seen her look so shaken as her fingers close around the shadow-cloaked heart, pulling it from its glass cage. For a moment, she stares at it in her hand, her face unreadable. Meanwhile, we all stare at her, gathered around the bed. The tension in the room is thick enough to almost taste.

Our keeper looks at Everett. “Mind holding it for a second?”

“N—no, I can’t. You shouldn’t let me. I might hurt it if I?—”

“You won’t. Here,” she says, placing it in the elemental’s hand.

He gets even paler as he gawks at the beating heart in his frosted, bare hands—but I’m immediately distracted when Maven strips off her dark jacket, oversized black T-shirt, and black bra. When she pulls her etherium knife out of nowhere and places the tip against her chest with a determined expression on her face, my vision almost blacks out.

“No!” I snap, wrapping my hand over hers on the handle to stop her. “Fuck, no.”

“Baelfire. I have to put it inside my chest,” she says, trying to reason with me.

I knew she’d have to do something with the heart, but I didn’t think about the logistics of it. When I glance at the others for help with this impossible situation, they look as torn and frustrated by the idea of her having to hurt herself as I am.

Finally, Silas moves to Maven’s side on the bed. He carefully takes the etherium blade from her hands, looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders as he does what’s necessary.

“I already have your blood on my hands. At least this time, it will help you.”

“You can’t tell what’s real from your own shadow right now,” Everett points out, still holding Maven’s heart like it’s the most precious thing in the world—because it is. “Are you seriously about to perform godsdamned surgery on her?”

Silas takes a deep breath, looking into her eyes. “I know this is real. Tha galeath.”

“Tha galeath,” she whispers back, bracing herself.

The scent of my mate’s blood slams into me as he carefully makes an incision with the knife her mother gifted her. I don’t realize I’m snarling until Crypt grips my shoulder to stop me from rushing forward. Blood drips steadily from Maven’s chest until Silas finally drops the knife, his hands shaking, but our keeper is already taking her heart back from Everett.

“Maven,” he chokes as snowflakes begin to fall inside this room.

She’s in pain, but begins chanting anyway. I don’t understand any of it—or maybe I do and it’s all just a blur because I can’t fucking breathe as I watch glowing light gradually replace the shadows swirling around Maven’s heart.

Just as she sways from the tax of the spell, Maven plunges the heart back into her chest. Her cry of agony cuts through my very soul before she collapses on the bed.

“Maven!” I shout, panic taking over.

I can hear the others’ alarm, too, but darkness claws savagely at my vision as my dragon seizes control once again. He pushes me toward that stupid fucking corner. I push back. I fight with everything in me, but I still lose as I’m suffocated in the beast once again.

Maven.

The spell has to work. She has to wake up. If I just lost her again?—

No. I barely survived losing her the first time. She came back from fucking Paradise to reunite our quintet and have a future together. My mate is a damn demigoddess and the strongest person I’ve ever met. She has to survive.

I cling to that hope for all I’m worth until something pierces through the overwhelming control my inner dragon has over me. Shaking out of the beast’s grasp, I find that I’m tied by my leash to a desk in the corner of Everett’s room.

Crypt sits beside me on the floor. I’ve never seen the incubus look so downcast before, but he’s holding Maven’s etherium knife and clearly just cut my arm with it.

I rub my quickly-healing arm, disoriented as I look around the ice-covered room. Everett is pacing, leaving more ice with every footstep. Silas is rocking himself in the chair by the bed, clutching at his hair as he mutters to voices in his head.

My stomach drops and churns so quickly that I don’t know if I’m about to throw up or break into a thousand pieces as I look at Crypt.

“How long have I…how long has she ? — ”

“Two hours,” he rasps.

I look over at Silas, my heart struggling to beat. “Si. With the spell she did, how long is it supposed to take?”

He doesn’t respond as he continues to rock.

“Everett—” I try next, scrambling to get my stupid fucking leash untied.

“I don’t know,” he snaps, stopping his pacing to cover his face. He looks a breath away from shattering. “I just…I don’t fucking know.”

I’m immediately on the bed beside Maven, panicked as I look her over. The puddle of blood from Silas cutting her open has stained the foot of the bed, but they clearly repositioned her. Her head is on the pillow, hair carefully brushed aside, a blanket pulled up to her waist. The fresh injury on her chest has closed, and someone must have wiped up the blood, but my mate is lying so still.

So. Fucking. Still.

She’s not breathing.

As gently as possible, I press my ear against Maven’s twice-scarred chest, squeezing my eyes shut as I wait and pray to all six gods that they won’t do this to me again. Even they can’t be that cruel.

“You promised you wouldn’t leave me again,” I remind her quietly.

Seconds pass. Minutes. Almost another half an hour.

And then finally— fucking finally —I hear it.

The faint flutter of a renewed heartbeat.