Page 161 of The Immortal’s Mark

I want to look to see what happened, but Des’s arms hold me tight. I can’t move.

The Elder’s chants rise.

Sparks pepper my flesh.

Des yanks his head back, eyes searching mine before dipping down to my injured arm.

I follow his gaze and gasp at the lack of burn.

“W-what—AH!” White-hot power slices through my skull.

The golden light has shifted its path to my mind. It weaves through every cell, burrowing deep, taking possession of me.

Dark flecks burst across my vision.

I grip Des’s shirt, desperate for answers, but unable to utter anything that isn’t a cry of pain.

“I’m so sorry, Darcie.” His breath brushes my burning forehead. “I’m so, so sorry.”

What is happening?

The Elder’s aged voice crescendos. Every nerve in my body fires at the spark of power that emanates from deep within my soul, right before a soft pillow of peace drifts over my mind.

It’s so sudden I almost don’t trust it.

Then a familiar, strong hand settles over my chest. “Breathe, Darcie.”

I inhale a staggered breath. The pain…it’s gone.

I barely have time to register the relief before the world explodes into a whirl of color.

Then—

A black curtain drops.

And I fall into nothing.

39

DES

Dark clouds roll and rumble outside, manifesting the devastation ravaging Thane’s soul down in the belly of our mansion.

I stand at the railing of the balcony in Darcie’s room in Greece, staring out at the volatile sky, cursing the Creator for the fate he has dealt.

In the room behind me, Darcie sleeps, recovering from the horrific ordeal Adir and the rogue Elder put her through.

A vice squeezes my heart at the thought of the agony she had to endure.

Bondings are not painful, not according to my brothers and their wives.

But what I witnessed…that was not a typical bonding.

The Elder acted against the Will of the Creator. He and Adir tried to circumvent the fated bond my brothers and I have with our Ones. They tried to take Darcie from me.

And they nearly succeeded.

My head falls forward, and I try to suppress the ache that threatens to overwhelm my good sense. The ache that urges me to close the distance between the bed where the young woman who haunts my every waking thought rests and me.