Kellan’s hand twitched in mine as I was hurtled back into my own sins before they began to ricochet once more. Pain waseverything. Shame and devastation collided in my chest as the weight of my sins tore at my determination, and I slipped.
My grip slackened in his, and the visions paralyzed my consciousness. I simplyendured. My agony echoed Kellan’s as I took the place of the suffering victims of his sins. Endless battles on pirate ships, torture, and acts of war took me from losing an arm to a head, to spilling my intestines on the deck of theHydra.
A young man with dark eyes and wet, chin-length hair snarled at me in a battle on a ship before running me through with a knife he’d kept hidden in his boot. The young Kellan snapped his face up as he twisted the blade, and his dark, lost eyes softened in grief as he took the kill, sparking some memory I’d lost long ago.
It went on and on, bouncing between my own acts and his, until finally…
Kellan’s small form shrieked as an older girl, with startlingly blue eyes, was marched to the center of a wooden platform next to a bright fountain, the snaking stone necks of a Hydra stretching from its center. Her face was pale and scared as she looked at an older boy standing next to a man with long, blonde hair, and a sinister smile crawled across his face. I laughed as tears streamed across Kellan’s face, and I grabbed the girl by her bright red hair, wrenching a cry from her lips. Young Kellan screamed in a rage and grabbed a dagger before slashing it at my arm. He was quick, dodging my hand as I tried to grab him and slicing it down the front of my shin. He pivoted, sliding between my legs and plunging it into the back of my thigh. I hollered before…
Silver light exploded in my vision. Thick liquid drew long lines down my face as I breached the surface, and air filled my lungs.
“Stay with me, Bonscaíh,” Kellan croaked from behind.
My head lolled against his shoulder. My mind reeled against being ripped out of our shared hell and back into my own consciousness, and I blinked against the stars in my vision.
My temple hit his cheek, and his breath came hot and quick against my skin.
“I’ve got you,” he breathed against my wet hair. His arm wrapped around my chest, and Honor glowed softly in his hand.
Where were we?
Kellan… I’m with Kellan… I found him…
My gaze slid from the ominous clouds overhead to the black water.The Abyss. Kellan tightened his grip as he kicked against the sludge.Swim. I had to swim.
I twisted in his grasp, and he loosened his grip, sliding his hand beneath my armpit as I began to move my arms and legs through the inky water. My wide eyes shot to his, and relief swept through me. Inky water spiderwebbed down his face and over his short beard as his sharp jawline hit the sludge. His long, dark auburn hair was painted black as it floated at the surface.I found him.
“Swim,” he commanded, his dark eyes fierce and somehow bright against the Abyss. A bone boat appeared in the distance, the courier staring at the two of us treading water before letting out an earsplitting shriek.
“SWIM!” he shouted.
I kicked through the thick water, my feet dragging as fire burned through my muscles. The courier rowed toward us as identical shrieks echoed across the Abyss.
Winged rodents cried from above as they circled where we swam, giving our position away to any creatures nearby. Fog gathered as a rumble rolled up from below us.The creature.
Fear stabbed through me as the creatures of Tynan’s Hell swarmed.Dead.We were in the sea of death… There was no escape…
A familiar wave of velvety darkness surged forward. It was the peace of night, the space between stars. It was quiet relief.
You are Death, it seemed to whisper. My own darkness rose to the surface with the gentle reminder.
I scanned the creatures moving closer…swarming us. These were creatures of death, and Death commanded them.
I was Death.
My hand gripped Kellan’s and pulled him to a stop as I treaded the thick water. His wild eyes found mine and his dark brows pinched.
“Trust me,” I croaked through ragged breath. “And do not let go.”
Kellan’s grip hardened on mine, and he gave a confident nod. “Never.”
Something warm flared in my chest. This place was made by the Obscura. Bymy power. It was at home here, and these creatures were mine. I closed my eyes and sent a gentle tendril of Obscura into the Abyss, searching for the creature that lurked beneath.
The Obscura rippled in response as it reached the large, ancient being and gently wrapped calming shadows around it, coaxing it slowly to the surface. Kellan’s arm wrapped around my waist as the thick water plunged to the sides, the force of the swells enough to tug us apart. He tightened his grip with both arms, my hand still reaching toward the depths of the Abyss. I dragged my gaze up to find his lips a breath from my own, and the black water drew a line over the white scar on his lower lip.
Kellan’s pupils dilated as my gaze landed on his. They widened and darted to my ears for a moment. We staggered as the sticky, bloody back of the creature of the Abyss hit our boots and began to rise. We clung to each other as it breached the surface.
I looked around, waiting for Tynan to appear, but he remained hidden. Thick clouds formed overhead.
