Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
I flip the heavy wooden table, sending it crashing into the wall. But it's not enough. The roar of sound as it collides with the wall does nothing to quell the inferno burning me alive.
I strike the wall with my fist, wood splintering beneath the force of my blow. Pain lances up my arm, but I relish it. I strike again and again, visions of Abigail, bound and helpless, assaulting me.
We should have protected her. Instead, we let them get their foul, evil hands on her. The weight of failure crushes me, driving me to my knees.
Damrion is beside me in an instant, grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling me into his arms, trying to contain my wrath and grief.
I bury my face in his chest, unable to hold back a sob. "She's alone and afraid, Damrion."
That’s the part that’s killing me. She’s alone and afraid. I know what that’s like. For seven fucking years, I was alone and afraid.
“Ah, Gods,” Damrion chokes, fighting back tears.
Tori and Rissa cry quietly.
"We'll bring her home, Adriel," Dax promises, his voice somber. “We won’t leave her there a moment longer than we must.”
“Please,” I plead. I never ask my brothers for anything. I’ve never wanted to put them in the middle so I’ve always held everyone at arm’s length. But I’m asking now. Nei. I’m begging now.
“Did you see anything that might help us find her, solsken?” Reaper asks Tori. “Anything at all?”
Tori is silent for a long moment before she answers. "A large cave with stalactites."
“I smelled sulfur,” Rissa adds, her voice soft. “And it was cold.”
“Anything else?”
The Valkyrie are quiet, trying to remember. I glance up to find Rissa’s eyes closed, her brows furrowed as she concentrates, trying to recall everything she saw.
“There was a sign,” Tori says suddenly. “I couldn’t read it. It was old and broken. But I think it was about dynamite or explosives?”
“A mine?” Malachi asks. “They have her in a mine?”
Damrion and I exchange a glance.
“The abandoned mining town down the mountain.” I glance at our brothers. It fits the description—though the description leaves much to be desired. The mine was shut down decades ago. The town died quickly after it closed.
“Faen,” Reaper growls as if he’d forgotten about it.
“If they’re using it, it’d explain why the forest around here is suddenly full of their varulv.” Dax’s brows furrow as he contemplates the possibility.
“Ja,” I agree. “It’d also explain how they were able to get so many of them here undetected even before their portal was operational. They’ve been in our backyard for months.”
We never could figure out how they managed to slip past us the night they attacked Eitr. We have every road leading up the mountain under watch. We have for years. But they came pouring out of the woods right up to the walls without anyone noticing.
"Malachi.” Damrion’s voice cuts through the silence like the crack of a whip. "Rouse every warrior in Eitr. We're going to bring her back."
Malachi hauls himself to his feet, but Rissa calls out before he even takes a step.
"Wait." She shifts in Dax’s arms. "There's something else. The Forsaken are after something specific—something they think Abigail has seen or knows. Something she's willing to die to protect."
My heart clenches, my stomach twisting as everyone falls silent, processing this. What could be so important that she’d risk her life to defend it?
“It doesn’t matter,” I growl to myself and everyone else. “Whatever they want, they aren’t getting it from her. Not while Damrion and I still draw breath. And she isn’t dying for it, either.”
Damrion nods in agreement, his gold eyes burning with steely resolve. "Agreed,” he snarls. “If it’s important enough that she’s willing to let them torture her rather than give it up, I’ll let this world burn before I let them take it from her.”
Chapter Nine
Abigail
Ilie on the cold, hard slab, my gaze fixed on the ceiling of the cavern. Water drips onto my cheeks, mixing with the tears that stain my face. Or perhaps all of the dampness is tears. I don’t know.
My entire body aches, each breath bringing more pain. It seems as if I've been here for years, stuck in a hell of their making, though I know it hasn’t even been a full day.
The Forsaken have stopped tormenting me for the moment, but it’s only temporary. They're afraid if they push too hard, they'll kill me, and then they'll never get what they want. I almost wish they’d get it over with already.
I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Every new vision is a fresh hell. Every whip of dark magic pure agony. If Adriel and Damrion feel even a tenth of what they’re doing to me through the bond, it’s going to destroy them. And I’m too exhausted to keep the barriers in place for long.