A grip like nothing I’ve ever felt takes my cheeks as she tears my head back toward her. “You fucking whore! Are you kidding me?!” Her fingers pinch at my face, but I’m still far too stunned to speak or even react to her words.
I’d never slept that much in my life.
The twins? When I died, that’s when… No…
Zade… Oh my Gods… He…
He had grabbed right through my stomach, and I could have sworn it was like he was fisting my insides. The pain was like nothing I had ever felt before, and I couldn’t at the time believe that it hurt as much as it did.
The thought that he had grabbed onto… a fetus.
Kai’s and mine… No… No… That’s—that’s impossible.
I’m not one to feel fear often, but the look on Tali’s face sends a wave of it through me. Her eyes turn to black, and her skin begins to peel back, revealing the darkness that consumes us when our Amoro is set free.
“How?!” she screams.
Kairhyse is my Mark. It all makes sense, but is no less terrifying.
She tears her head away from me, still keeping my face gripped in her hand. “Tell me she can still?—”
“Yes, the rupture didn’t occur. It’s like her body healed it. The scratches against her uterus are nearly gone, if… any longer…” His voice fades and I lose focus on the world around me.
I don’t want kids. I’ve never even thought of them. It never occurred to me that I could even have them unless it was with my own kind.
When Tali looks back down at me, I don’t focus on her, just stare past her at the bright light that stings my eyes. “Well.” Her tone is less angry,but I can stilltastethe fury seeping through her pores. “Looks like we are getting started early, Daughter.”
Heat builds behind my eyes but I refuse to blink and give new tears life.
I’ll survive. I’ve got this.
I’m strong. Even if I can’t use my body to do so, I’ll fight. In every single way that I can.
Chapter 10
Kairhyse
“Kairhyse!” I’ve never heard Sydni say my full name, and if I weren’t already fully sprinting to her, I would’ve picked up speed.
Barely a minute has passed since her scream, when I round the hallway that leads straight to her. From the doorway, I see her stepping back, hands clasped over her mouth, shoulders hunched forward. Niyla is nowhere in sight, but the low growl echoing in the room tells me Brice is somewhere near.
I’m in front of her in seconds, shielding her from—I don’t even know what—until I see it.
I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at. Its eyes are gray, almost white. The color bleeding into the rest like there’s a film over them. Patches of black hair cling stubbornly to its head, though most of the scalp is bare. I can’t tell if the hair was burned away or torn out, but the skin looks raw and uneven. Fresh scars crisscross its body, and the tattered clothes hanging off it suggest it shouldn’t even be capable of standing, let alone walking toward us.
“What the fuck?” I spit out. “Where is Niy?—”
“I’m here…” she groans, and it’s now I can see she’s peeling herself out from under a pile of rubble.
What the Beyond is going on?
I shift my gaze to Brice, who is in a couching position, hackles raised, preparing to pounce.
“She said you’d come.” The voice that escapes this thing is raspy, parched, like its throat hasn’t known moisture in years.
Just as it lunges toward us, Brice is on it. His canines sink into its neck, and he thrashes it around like a rag doll. With a final snap of his jaws, hehurls it against the wall—right where Alaric is stepping out.
The Fallen doesn’t miss a beat. He rushes to Niyla’s side, helping her to her feet with steady hands.
