Page 145 of Till Death

“Sleep.”

No.

“Sleep.”

The chains bit into my flesh, my struggles in vain as they held. My nails clawed at the cold stone, leaving trails of desperation behind. I could feel the magic’s tendrils probing, seeking the chinks in my weakening resolve. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I wrestled with the darkness within.

“I won’t let you,” I hissed through gritted teeth, my eyes wide and wild, reflecting the torment of my fractured soul. “I won’t break.” The words were a promise to myself more than anything. To him. The man I believed was struggling just as much as I was, however far away he might be.

The temple seemed to respond to my internal turmoil, its timeworn walls creaking and groaning as if they, too, felt the weight of my inner battle. Shadows danced in grotesque patterns around me, mocking my helplessness. And I needed them. Every one. My only company as time dragged on.

There were moments when I wondered if Death would come and break Thea’s chains. If he would capture Orin and deliver him just to watch the severing blow. But I continued to fight against every second. Until I wished away his face in my mind, until I refused to look at the name on my palm. Until I forgot what it felt like when he’d caressed my skin and tasted me.

“Deyanira.”

Orin’s voice ripped through the temple like an axe. Reality from my heart’s greatest desire was becoming so hard to discern. But the deep growl in that voice woke the dormant magic, stirring it to life with vigor.

He comes.

“No. He can’t.”

The visions began again. Orin stood before me, so much pain and anguish on his face. Hands free from chains and trembling, I ripped the blade across his throat, feeling only satisfaction as he fell to the ground.

My heart stumbled over itself as I forced measured breaths.

“No.”

Yes.

I couldn’t squeeze my eyes shut and not see his face. I couldn’t look upon reality and see nothing but eternity without him. The walls moved in. Everything shifted. Turning threatening as my nails began to dig into flesh on my palms. Until my blood dripped to the floor and Thea’s magic pulsed. A warning in the chains. Should I continue, they would hold me to the ground rather than let me stand.

But I needed to stand. I needed to fight.

Yes.

“No. Stop.”

Each breath became labored as his phantom voice snapped through the room again. “Deyanira Sariah Faber.”

It was beautifully timbral and held so much emotion. I couldn’t escape the way it crept over my skin like a balm, taking me to a place that was only ours. In darkness and in madness. In all the safe havens we’d built together, the way his voice carried me to peace was a power not of this world. Not of Death or abandoned gods. Of love. And desperation.

The madness conquered my own horrors, though. As the great door swung open and Orin stood within the frame, eyes pinned to me, I lurched for him, desperate for my blades.

You don’t need them. You need only his blood. His pain. His body. His life.

The snap of my bones as I dislocated both shoulders fighting the chains did nothing to stop the way I lunged for him. Iron digging into skin, drawing my blood did not deter me. Thea’s magic failed as I ripped the chains from the floor and ran for him. For a moment, there was relief on his beautiful face. Until he realized I had become the thing of nightmares. I was his enemy.

No matter the way I fought the power, still, I ran. Still, I watched those chains as they swung through the air, ensnaring him. Still, I watched them rip him to pieces until everything in my world shattered as what was left of Orin Faber turned to shadow.

Trembling, I pushed away the magic, searching beyond the darkness inside of me until I could see past it. Until the door was shut once more, and Orin was nowhere to be seen. Until my heart ached for him as much as it found relief that those images were not real. Only the madness rotting my mind.

But again, I heard my name.

“Deyanira.”

“No,” I cried.

That word didn’t dance on phantom power. It was real. And so was he, banging on the door of the temple. He repeatedly beat on the door. I’d always known he would find me, just as he had the day he broke the world. And though I loved him more for his devotion, I hated how cruel fate could be to a man who could love so passionately.