Page 10 of What Whispers in the Dark (Promises of the Marked)

H e could never banish the image from his head; Aiden’s blood staining the ground. And for the first time in years, Garrik felt true terror. Panic. Dread… It coiled in his veins, deep into the marrow of his bones, watching Thalon portal him away.

A step inside a quiet home nestled inside the High City of Galdheir, Garrik faced the real possibility of losing one of the few people who had never looked at him with fear.

With one look at Aiden, he thought the worst had passed.

Only to find out after …

He was wrong.

This is a POV shift from Chapter Thirty when Garrik dawned to Galdheir after seeing Alora back to the Shadow Order’s firesite at the conclusion of the competition. What was he doing in Galdheir? Why did it take him an entire day to return, only for Alora to follow him into that first annulus?

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

This is a very tough chapter to read. Garrik’s POV was not shown much in Book One, so we did not truly know his unimaginable suffering until Book Two.

With that being said, please be warned that this is a dark and trauma-filled chapter.

We are seeing into his fractured and broken soul before light and life and warmth began cradling him in the form of a family who refused to give up on him and one head-strong female.

I hope you leave this chapter remembering his journey through to the end of Book Two and can see how his heart, soul, and mind were healing.

There are trigger warnings for both parts of this chapter.