Despite her tone, I recoiled at the sharp shiver that ran up my spine. The Well hummed at my back, demanding, insistent, forceful. It tugged harshly, not asking but taking. "Nothing in this life is free," I murmured.
Her eyes glittered dangerously back at my words, she need not speak for me to see I had guessed right.
Emon's gaze turned on me."You owe her nothing,"he growled in my mind."I thought we fucking agreed no more giving up yourself. You’re mine and I say no."
I warmed at his possessive tone but dared not take my eyes off Talgira. "I agreed to nothing, shifter. You keep forgetting that I have already given you everything of me that matters the most in this world. Life can keep chipping away at what’s left but my heart and soul are not in my possession, they are in yours. It is impossible for me to give away and even if I end up broken at your feet I know I can trust you to pick up the pieces."This time I did look away, meeting the turmoil in his eyes."You're just going to have to trust me, shifter."
His eyes flashed and I knew he was there—under the three moons, death surrounding us in the Balsam plains, dirt under our fingernails from digging a shallow grave where vows were made…they had become so much more than we ever realized.
"Using my own words against me again, little umbra?"
I smiled sadly at him."If need be, shifter."
He grunted, his hand reaching out and softly cupping my face."Te amo."
I nodded, inhaling deeply, wishing I could still soak in his spiced chocolate scent to strengthen me, but feeling the searing touch of his consuming love against my skin would have to be fortifying enough."Te amo, shifter."
Emon nodded grimly and I exhaled slowly, looking up to meet the eyes of my daughter, her presence like a bright star, guidingme home. My hair blew across my face when I faced Talgira again. "Name it."
She shook her head, silver hair reaching out as if to coax me to agree with its glossy touch. "It cannot be named…but only experienced." Waving her hand at the step we stood upon, she spoke. "From here onward, each step has a name, a binding of an avenging soul. It is how we can exist outside the eternal peace of the Eithne but stay with The Well until we are summoned. You must break the binding to each step so that we can exist outside the Sheol but most importantly…so we can remember what our vengeance is for. It is a fine line between being a vigilante and villain, without our memories we are no more than evil souls threatening all that is good in this universe."
"Like how I bound my soul to you, little umbra…"Emon added, his purr soft in my mind.
"It's a miracle, you are the first male lilin then, shifter?"I teased back, ignoring my worries of the risk it had put Emon's soul in by binding it to me. My shadows also had taken that risk and the Sanguine consumed them.
Shaking my head, I swiped my hair back from my face, baring my teeth. "How does the binding work?"
Her aquamarine eyes darkened. "You must die."
Emon's claws were at her neck and Riella's spear was lowered dangerously at the center of her chest. "I don't know how well you are educated on soul wraiths but evidently I can kill anything I will myself to." His head tilted towards the spear in my daughter’s hands. "And if I fail…well there is always my daughter’s bás fang. You might also recognize its properties to completely destroy a soul. There will be no Well for you to return to."
Talgira laughed. A cold sound. "You are your father's son alright but with your mother’s spirit." Shaking her head, she held up her hands, her silver hair flowing up around them. "There will be no need for such violence." Looking at me she continued. "You will die through the memories of my own death. You will relive every excruciating moment of it." Looking up at the thousands of steps that led into the skies her eyes gleamed. "All our deaths."
Then without warning she launched herself toward me, her spirit boring straight into my chest, the light of it searing as my mind flooded with darkness.
Emon roared out my name as I staggered, feeling Talgira's soul clawing inside my brain…then I heard her voice whisper."Ligare."
Chapter 48
Iwasnolongerme.My consciousness melded with Talgira's past, a past that was replaying in vivid reality—the last horrific moments of her life.
Her heart raced with such an intensity that I felt it would punch straight out of her chest, her strong legs carried us swiftly across a steep stoney terrain, and clutched protectively in her arms was a warm soft bundle, held with sweet reverence.
And with it, a desperate fear that I knew too well held us both in a chokehold. It was a mixture of panic and resolve, the knowing that one wrong move would result in the end of a cherished life.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way." I heard Talgira's voice inside my head.
She cried out at the brush of a hungry tainted power against her skin and I cried out with her. The sound echoing off the stoney cliffs she raced along.
A muffledwhimper escaped the warm bundle and through her eyes, I gazed down at the perfectly round face turning upward. Thick black lashes fluttered before bright turquoise eyes blinked open with innocent trust through long curly black hair. Tiny pink rosebud lips quivered when tears splattered on the babes flushed cheeks—Talgira’s tears, my tears.
"No," I said in horror and fought back against the mental binding. I knew this story from Jar, it was one I could not relive. "I cannot do this!"
My scream fell on deaf ears while her body spurred even faster, scraping against sharp jagged rocks, and sliding on loose gravel, instinctively shielding the babe from the harsh environment.
"We must," Talgira hissed inside my mind. "Or your life will truly be forfeit! Would you leave your daughter motherless all because you cannot face the truth of my own death, one that had already passed?"
Staring down at the child I felt a humming lullaby radiate from Talgira’s memory, lulling the watchful turquoise eyes of the babe slowly back to sleep under the constant sway of her running body.
