“No,” he growled. “I won’t lose you again.”
I struggled to move my hand up to cup his face. “You’ll lose me either way if I don’t go. At least there’s a chance for us to find our way back to each other this way.”
Tears leaked from his eyes as his head hung low. I was convinced that if the gods allowed us to find each other once, we would do it again. And it was possible that I could gain information from the inside. If I could keep my head down, then it just might work.
“I’m fucking terrified, Eva.”
“I am too, but I need to do this, Matthew. For us, for Helia,” I whispered. My voice rattled, not just from emotion, but because it took everything I had to keep my eyes open.
Matthew looked up, the promise of death and destruction in his eyes. “Save her,” he told them. Their shield dropped and Damien moved forward to grab me. Matthew took my head in his hands and kissed me, gently but passionately. Damien couldn’t even hide his disgust as he walked up.
Matthew squeezed my hand. “I’ll find you no matter what, darling. I don’t care what I have to do. I’ll battle the demons themselves for you. I love you so much, Eva.”
I nodded my head. “I… Love…” But before I could finish, Damien ripped me from his arms. I screamed, both from the sheer agony of his touch against my skin and because I didn’t get to finish saying what I needed to say to Matthew.
I could hear Matthew’s roars as Damien walked me away from him. His hand was on my side, sucking out the dark magic and easing the pain slightly. Luka didn’t know what to do, but he whispered something to Matthew before putting his hand on his shoulder and walking toward us. He held out his arms to me and I reached out willingly to go to him. Damien growled and brought my body closer to him, but I groaned in agony as the pressure squeezed against my side. Fucking shit.
Hatred flowed through my veins for Orion and Damien. The fact that he was being controlled by the darkness didn’t make any difference at all. They had both made their choices to play with dark magic, and they were both dead to me as far as I was concerned. If I actually made it out of this ordeal alive, I’d make sure that they would both pay for their crimes against Helia.
“Let me see her, Damien,” Luka’s voice was low and full of gravel. Damien balked at his friend. Honestly, I did too. I had never heard him take such an offensive tone before. I reached out for Luka again and Damien grudgingly passed me over to him. My arms hooked around his neck, and I clung to Luka.
Looking back one last time, I saw Kalen restraining Matthew as Luka walked me away from them.
“EVA!” Matthew’s voice was part scream, part sob. My stomach was twisted into knots, and I was barely holding on with all the dark magic that still coursed its way through my veins. My heart shattered into a million pieces as I took in his expression. It was the last thing I remembered before Orion transported us away from the little cottage, away from my mate, and the love of my long-ass immortal life.
35
EVA
The sterile scent of healing medicines was all I could focus on as I tried to open my eyes slowly. Bright lights surrounded me, and I noticed the coldness of the walls that surrounded me. It wasn’t much different from a cell, except at least this seemed to have windows. I realized I recognized the room vaguely. I was back in Helia. The healing ward at the palace, to be exact.
I heard a worried voice calling my name, but it seemed so far away. I couldn’t make out who it was. The world wasn’t coming into focus as I tried to blink away the haziness in my vision. My hand searched out over the blankets that covered my body. Why? I guess I was searching for something familiar, something to hold on to.
Matthew. I was searching for Matthew. I couldn’t catch my breath as I remembered his face and the way it looked so devastatingly broken when I was carried away. The events of the previous day, or however long it had been, slammed into my mind. I cried out for him, even though I knew he wouldn’t be here.
A large hand clasped mine, and I tried to scream, but it wouldn’t come to my lips. My hand jerked away on instinct, but they just grabbed it again. “No… Let… Me… Go…” I managed to get out between quick breaths.Why couldn’t I talk or move?
“Eva, shh… It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”Damien. It was Damien who was grabbing my hand. I couldn’t fucking breathe. I didn’t want to be here, especially not with him.
I fought against his ironclad grip, my eyes finally coming into focus as I took him in. He was kneeling at my bedside, looking like a fallen angel. Dim circles swallowed his eyes, enhancing the darkness that lingered inside of them. I could tell that he’d lost weight by examining his face. Stubble lined his chiseled jawline and made himself seem so much older than he was. He looked utterly exhausted, and I was willing to bet that he even looked worse than I did, even after being stabbed with a blade that was imbued with dark magic.
“No,” I muttered. I tried to move away from him, but my arms wouldn’t budge. It felt like they were filled with sand; they laid uselessly where they were. I was fucking trapped and there was nothing I could do about it. Panic rose in my chest.
Damien’s hand came up to cup my cheek, and I looked at it in horror. I didn’t want him to touch me, but I couldn’t stop it as he laid it upon my skin. “Don’t… Touch… Me…” I felt my eyes widen as he stroked my cheekbone. There was a burning sensation when he touched me. It felt… wrong. Utterly and completely wrong.
He continued like I hadn’t told him to stop, like nothing had happened. “I was so worried when I found you, Eva. I can’t believe what he did to you, but don’t worry. You’re safe now,” he said, his eyes darkening. “He’ll never touch you again.”
“No, get away…” I moaned, but I still could barely find my voice. I was trapped inside of my own body, watching the world happen around me, and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing I could do.
I heard voices coming from outside the door, and Damien turned around as they caught his attention as well. He broke out into a scowl before schooling his face back into his perfect mask of concern.
“Where is she?! Where is my daughter?!”
My father was here. My heart lurched forward. If I could only talk to him, I could tell him everything that had happened to me, and he would save me.
He was the king of Helia. He would listen to me, he had to. It was the only damn chance I had, and I couldn’t risk fucking this up.
The door to the room I was in slammed open, and my father stormed in, running up to my bed. I thought he was going to knock Damien over in an attempt to get to my bedside. Hell, I wished he fucking had. I tried to reach out to him, to say anything, but it was no use. I didn’t know if the dark magic still flowed through my veins or if they slipped me some sort of drug that rendered me immobile, but either way, I was fucked.
