Page 24 of What Whispers in the Dark (Promises of the Marked)

I t was all too much. His birthday.

Everyone wanted to celebrate the day. Garrik simply yearned for solitude.

They never allowed him to be alone. Not there in his camp. Not in Galdheir.

That was why he left the party in that meadow. While bursts of prismed magic erupted in the sky, it was supposed to just be him, his powers, and that bottle. Ready to drown him somewhere in the darkness, outside the shield, until dawn.

But Alora found him—chased after him. Made him want to remain on that hillside all night and count the stars with her. Safe. Distracted. Outside the grasp of the nightmares reigning in his mind and ingrained deep in his soul.

Why didn’t he stay…?

He should have stayed…

This deleted scene is settled between Alora being gifted a tent of her own and Thalon bringing Garrik back to camp drunk after the celebrations for his birthday in Chapter Forty-six. Part one is told from Garrik’s POV, the second is from Thalon’s.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

This is an extension of Garrik’s despair, the same as Chapter Thirty.

This deleted scene has triggering and extremely dark and despairing situations where we see even deeper into Garrik’s suffering.

I want to remind you that this is before his healing journey in Book Two.

Go into the deleted scene remembering Garrik finds hope and begins to heal his heart and mind later on.

There are trigger warnings for this chapter.