Page 31 of Heir of Broken Souls (HOBF #3)

Chapter 31

Knox

A xel’s power slithers around our heels, urging us with blasts of air to move faster. Even that, and my Fae speed, can’t keep up with the Fae hellbent on returning to his mate’s side.

If Axel still had any lingering doubts about the authenticity of the mating bond between Elysia and himself, I believe those worries and thoughts are vanishing this very moment.

Delilah’s a step behind me as we pass Harlow stepping into the hallway rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looks ready to rip flesh from bone, but her attitude drops entirely once she sees us, and she rushes in the opposite direction. “I’ll go find Lenox!”

I make a note to question why Lenox wasn’t in his room in the middle of the night but for now, I have to cast my worries about that aside because as Delilah and I come to a skidding halt at Elysia and Axel’s room, I find Axel pacing like a wild man at the end of their bed. He pulls at the long shaggy black hair that brushes the back of his nape.

When I take a step toward him, I hear him.

“Not again, not again, not again.”

The words stop me, utterly freeze me to the spot, until I realize Delilah isn’t behind me. She gasps, and the sound draws my attention to the bed, where Delilah stands over a figure slumped within the sheets.

Bypassing Axel, I’m beside Delilah in an instant.

Elysia lies motionless in the bed, her long blonde strands fanned out across the pillow. I can’t hear a heartbeat, and her chest doesn’t rise. It takes an immense amount of strength to step into the role Axel needs from me now.

He needs his king. He needs someone to turn to. He needs someone to…check for him.

Stepping in front of a stunned Delilah, I tentatively reach out, placing two of my fingers against Elysia’s neck.

My own heart stops because I can’t find?—

My back straightens.

“There’s a pulse. It’s slow, extremely slow, but it’s there.”

“Then why isn’t she waking up?” Axel bursts out.

“What happened?” I ask.

My heart pinches as the usually stoic Fae stutters.

“I-I was in the kitchens searching—” His cheeks tint pink, and his guilty look confirms what I feared. I wasn’t even trying to eavesdrop on Delilah and their fight, but with Fae hearing it’s hard not to. It doesn’t shock me that he turned to liquor.

“And when I couldn’t find it, I came back up here to find her”—he waves his hand in her direction helplessly—“like this.”

Peering down at the still Fae, I tentatively reach out with my power, my shadows sliding through the gates of her mind to find?—

My magic comes to a screeching halt.

Axel, who was watching me like a hawk, pounces. “What is it? Is there something wrong with her?” He takes a menacing step toward me. “What did you see?”

Delilah moves in front of me, her hand brushing my own as she tips her chin toward Axel.

It’s not the time to laugh but I wish I could. Her show of protection is adorable.

Clearing my throat, I shake the distracting thoughts away and turn my gaze to Elysia once again, far more prepared to go within her mind this time. I saw it last time when I walked the halls of her memories, but this is…

Delilah meets me along the bridge between our minds. She can already tell something’s wrong.

What is it? What did you see?

I shake my head in astonishment. Nothing.

Delilah rears back. Nothing?

Nothing. I didn’t even feel her lock me out. It’s like she isn’t even there.

A growl pulls me from my mind.

Spinning, I find Axel pointing an incredulous finger between Delilah and me. “Stop talking in your minds and startsharing. I have a right to know why my mate isn’t waking up!”

I bite the inside of my cheek to contain the shock over his confession, mostly because of how distraught and out of control he is right now. It’s as if his entire being is alive and wired, pumped full of adrenaline. The mating bond he so vehemently rejected is undoubtedly taking full effect and screaming at him to do something .

Clearing my throat, I try to approach this gently. “I didn’t see?—”

Boots stomp down the hallway and then Harlow, still wearing pajamas, strides into the room with a look of pure death on her face as Lenox trails closely behind, soaked to the bone.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Axel barks.

Harlow spins, so consumed with rage that she doesn’t notice Elysia lying unconscious.

“Yes, Lenox, why don’t you go ahead and tell them why you’re wet, hmm ?”

“It’s nothing,” he spits through clenched teeth, his eyes as hard as stone until they land on Elysia. The sight chips away a piece of his armor, and he looks over at Axel. “What’s wrong with her? Is it dark magic?”

“ I don’t know. ” Axel bristles before turning to me. “Tell me what you saw,” he growls.

Harlow gasps, finally noticing why we’re here.

“Can you feel her?” I ask Axel tentatively—softly.

The words hold such a weight, such a memory that makes the air in the room fill with tension. It’s not fair to ask him, just like we did the night Ace was brutally murdered.

Axel clutches his chest as if he can yank the bond out of his body and show the evidence to us. “Yes, it just doesn’t feel right.”

“How so?”

“I-it’s—” He flushes. “It’s taut and pulling. Like she’s holding on.”

“Can you pull her back?” Delilah asks gently.

The divots in his skin deepen and he shakes his head, exhaling on a harsh breath, “No.”

My gaze slides to Lenox as he steps forward, leaving a puddle of water in his wake.

“Why are you wet?” Delilah suddenly asks.

“Not important.”

“He was trying to drown himself,” Harlow flings out.

My head whips to my now second, to the man I spent seven years searching for to save him. The best friend I will never give up on. “You were what ?” I bellow, the sound as sudden and sharp as my fear.

Lenox rolls his eyes. “This is not the time, and no, I was not trying to drown myself.”

“I saw you fling yourself off the top deck?—”

“It’s called a dive?—”

“It’s called suicide!”

“Guys—” Axel tries to speak.

Lenox grits his teeth. “Stop insinuating that!”

“I think she’s waking up?—”

A sharp inhale of breath fills the room, silencing everyone in their wake. Elysia jolts forward, her gaze darting around in a frenzy.

Delilah and Harlow rush toward the bed, speaking over one another.

“Elysia, are you okay?—”

“What happened? Do you remember anything?”

“Do you feel okay?”

“Was it a vision?”

Axel hovers beside the bed, his eyes wide and wild as he drinks in the sight of Elysia. Cataloging every minuscule detail to memory.

“There’s a storm coming,” Elysia declares.

Her eyes are unseeing. She’s still looking around the room, but she’s not taking anything in.

“A storm is coming,” she repeats, rushing from the bed.

Axel jumps to her side, his fingertips brushing her elbow but the touch doesn’t comfort her. Instead, she jumps away like she was burned. “A storm is coming!”

Axel’s face falls with pain as she flinches from his touch.

Delilah takes tentative steps forward, like how you would approach a spooked horse in the wild. She raises her hands in surrender and asks softly, “Was it a vision, Elysia?”

It’s a shot in the dark, but she is a seer , Delilah explains in my mind. I receive my visions while asleep, and perhaps hers are so intense she can’t wake until the message is shared.

Is that what Delilah’s mind looks like when she receives visions? Vacant?

A chill spreads down my spine at the thought.

“Yes, a mighty one, with gusts of pain and death—” She gasps suddenly, lurching forward to wrap her hands around Delilah’s forearm. She yanks on her arm until they’re eye to eye.

I’m next to her in a heartbeat, ready for…anything. Elysia might’ve proved she’s an ally, but she’s still new to this family, and I won’t allow anyone to hurt Delilah.

“You can see—you must see.”

And then suddenly, Delilah’s eyes glaze and my mate collapses.