Brogan lifted his face, a dazed look in his eyes, as though he was surprised to see me standing there. He said nothing, staring at me without wonder or interest, lost to his own sorrow.
Forgiveness was a small mercy that I did not want to grant him, but Lucia Ragnall had been kind to me. Helped me. Bitterly, I crouched beside her. “Why am I not dead, Lucia?”
Her watery gaze met mine. “The blood of the vuk.” She wet her mouth, but only blood stained her lips. “Vuks are immortal creatures …”
The Seidr’s cryptic words rang in my head.
“… he is no ordinary mortal. A beast lives inside him, forged in the blood of the oath.”
Lucia reached for my hand, tracing her thumb against my palm as she searched it. “It is one of the gifts the bond has given you. I saw your lifeline was unbroken.”
Immortal?
My head swam with her words. What in the hell did that mean?
I swallowed hard. “And Seren? Is she immortal too?”
“No.” She shook her head, softly. “And she’s dying. The bond’s killing her. You must take the oath. Use … this. Search the memory I showed you. Y-you’ll find you’ll … remember.” She pulled out her amulet, streaked with blood, then pressed it into my palm. “You must.”
The Seidr had said something about that, too. That I had to take the oath for Seren to survive. Her words crept back with eerie precision. “He will release a great evil inside her. The threads of fate are fixed.”
“Am I a beast?”
Lucia’s face was solemn. “A-an immortal man. Immortals can be killed … b-but you won’t die on your own.”
My head had stopped processing her words.
Immortal man.
The depth and breadth of forever was incomprehensible.
Every single person I would ever know, every love, ever hate, would die … while I continued living.
Including Seren.
No wonder the bond between us was diminishing her but not me.
I had to get to her. Had to save her.
Releasing Lucia’s hand, I stood to give Brogan and his wife a moment alone. “Rest, Lucia. I’ll pray to the gods for you.”
“No, I-I have to—” Lucia reached for me once again, but more blood came from her mouth, her words drowning with a gargled gasp.
“No!” Brogan’s shoulders shook with broken sobs. “My darling. Lucia, my love. Lucia!”
Lucia held his gaze for a moment longer, then the life faded from her, her body going limp.
Thunder cracked through the sky, as my hands clenched into fists. Already, the pain in my body had started to fade, though I was certain I’d need the gifted hands of a healer to remove the ironstones.
What in the hell have I become?
Lucia had died too quickly. I needed more answers from her. Answers that I might never have.
Would Seren ever forgive me for this? No matter how little part I’d had in the death of her mother—my presence here had cost the Ragnalls everything.
And I still had this murderous traitor in front of me.
I would never forgive him. Ever.
