Esmyra’s heart dropped. “Drae, stop—” Her voice cracked as shetried to lift herself, but her body was trembling, and what was left of her strength had evaporated.
He crouched beside her again, eyes fierce with his relentless, stubborn love.
Jenli stepped forward. “The second half must be taken immediately, or it won’t work.”
Esmyra hesitated, her breath shaking as her gaze flicked between the vial in his hand and his face. “I didn’t want you to do this for me,” she whispered.
But Draevyn didn’t speak. He just nodded, gently cradling the back of her head as he lowered the vial to her lips.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered only loud enough for her to hear.
Tears raced down her cheeks as her mouth parted reluctantly. The liquid slid onto her tongue, tasting of crushed herbs and something metallic, like rose petals and roots. It was bitter and earthy, and even though she nearly gagged, she swallowed it all.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, like the slow exhale after a held breath, the agony in her spine began to dull. She let out a gasp of relief, her body sagging slightly into the blanket beneath her.
But that relief was gone as quick as it came once her eyes landed on Draevyn.
His entire body had gone rigid, his jaw clenched so tight the muscles fluttered. A low hiss escaped his lips as he hunched forward slightly, bracing himself with one hand on the table.
Fuck. It’s working.Even with that brief moment of pain easing, she never wanted this. Never wanted him to bear this for her.
And now her soul-searing pain was flowing into the man she loved.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said to Jenli.
Concern coiled in Esmyra’s chest, sharper now than the pain had been. His eyes didn’t leave hers, keeping her calm while he shouldered the weight meant for her.
But something else suddenly bled into her, curling dark and heavy in her ribcage.
It wasDraevyn’spain. Only it wasn’t physical.
It was the raw guilt he carried, creeping in like a slow tide and seeping into her. It was a wound that hadn’t scabbed over, the kind that whispered he should have done more, saved more,beenmore.
The feeling pressed on her lungs until her breath felt shallow, making her chest ache with a grief she hadn’t lived but now understood as if it were her own.
Esmyra realized then that his pain wasn’t just in his body or mind—it was a constant weight in his soul.
CHAPTER 52
Draevyn
The potion burned down Draevyn’s throat like molten lead, and then Esmyra’s pain consumed him the moment it slipped past her lips.
It wasn’t sharp like the slice of a blade, but a rotting ache, wrapping around every joint and rib until he could hardly breathe. It felt as if something inside him was slowly chewing its way out. He couldn’t even fathom how she’d been living with it forweeksat this point.
It waseverywhere, like an invisible weight was dragging him under. Needles pricked along his nerves in rhythm with the deep, pulsing throb until his vision blackened at the edges.
But through it all, he kept his gaze on Esmyra. Because her face… It waseasing. That was relief he saw in those glacial eyes.
Her ragged, shallow breathing now came smoother. The tightness in her features was softening and the tremor in her fingers stilled. The pain that had been carved into every line of her perfect face… vanished. She blinked, and for the first time since he’d rescued her, her eyes weren’t clouded.
And gods, the sight of it made every second of this agony worth it. He’d take every wave of torment if it meant she’d never wear that hollow look again.
Even as his knees buckled under the weight of her suffering, there was a strange peace settling into him. Because now she was safe, and he could finally be of use to her.
Through the blur of it, he watched Jenli move. Her hands were frantic, muttering with urgency as the black veins beneath Esmyra’s skin writhed like living snakes. She took up the blade again, pressing it just above the source of it all.
And when the steel cut in, his whole world ignited.
