Page 12 of Jagged Souls

“He’s going to torture her.” My voice breaks, a cracked and raw insight into the state of my soul.

“I know. But your anger isn’t going to save her.”

I crumble beneath that truth. I’m doing nothing to help my little monster.

Closing my eyes, I force myself to breathe.

Khalid squeezes my shoulder again, and I shudder.

“We’re going to find her, brother, and we’re going to bring her home.”

Latching onto his promise with trembling hands, I nod. I just hope she’s still alive by the time we do.

I’m numb by the time Mother is well gone and Ezriel releases me. Everyone has left me alone in the hall. Dayne has been moved to somewhere more comfortable for him to recover. He hasn’t regained consciousness, but Mother said he was stable and that he had been out by the time she had gotten here, so there’s no point questioning him.

I should’ve let him tattoo a tracking rune back on her. Fuck. I never should have had her burn the first one off out of paranoia that someone could use it to find me through her.

I should’ve –

Cutting that thought off, I force myself to focus rather than despair. I move from the spot where Dayne was to the biggest pool of blood that smells like her. I breathe it in, trying to feel her presence where it no longer is. Then I shift my focus to the other scents in the area, documenting the bastards I need to kill. There’s Antonio, there’s a male I do not know, and then there’s -

My heart stops as I smell a mixture of her and me.

Dropping my head, I frantically scan the floor.

For a moment I convince myself I’m imagining it, that Bambi isn’t here.

But then I realize I’m looking for something too big, and I drop to my knees to search again. My eyes latch onto a tiny, tiny body on the floor. Her head isn’t much bigger than a golf ball.

My stomach churns as I reach for her. My body shakes. She needs her mother, but all she has is me.

I cup her small body in both my hands, nearly losing it at the feel of her Sobbing without any dignity or care, I cradle her to my chest.

She’s so small. So fragile.

My heart squeezes as I stare at her face. Her head is so big compared to the rest of her. She hasn’t grown into it yet, and now she never will. She will never experience all the life she had ahead of her. Never fall in love. Never see her mother’s radiant smile. She’ll never even feel me holding her. Never know that I love her.

I love her so damn much even though I’ll never get the chance to know her.

Cradling her against me, I rock back and forth and sob.

My chest burns with pure agony. My eyes feel heavily swollen. “I’m sorry…” I sob as I stare down at my little girl. “I’m so sorry I failed you… I love you, Bambi. I love you even though you have a dumbass name. But you can blame your mother…” I break off on uncontrollable tears. My hands shake, making her whole body tremble. “I love you…” I rasp. “Daddy loves you.” I bring her little head up for a kiss. The cold brush of her skin breaks me, but I don’t pull away. She needs to know I love her. “Daddy –”

I cry out as a sudden pulse rips through my chest, like a defibrillator paddle being touched to a dead body. I gasp as I shift Bambi into one hand so I can place the other on the wall. The pulse comes again, and my heart jerks painfully. Like it’s dying from being targeted by some dark spell.

Fuck. Did Antonio leave a trap on my daughter to kill me?

Despite the fact that he clearly must have, I still refuse to let her go though. She is my baby. I can’t.

“Help!” I yell, but the word is more of a croak as another pulse slams into me. I lean against the wall and close my eyes, gasping through the pain. My chest is trapped in a closing vice. I slam my free hand on the wall, trying to breathe. I can’t die before I save Micha. I can’t die!

The pulse hits one more time, multiple times worse than all the others. Pain explodes through every nerve, lighting them up, scraping a hot poker against them.

Micha!

I scream in agony. Others shout around me. I can sense their presence, their heartbeats like grating nails on a chalkboard.

Micha!