Page 162 of The Immortal’s Mark

“There is no need to punish yourself.” Alex slides up next to me. His pale fingers wrap around the railing, and his ice-blue eyes stare at the impending storm.

“Who said I’m punishing myself?”

“I’ve known you for centuries, and I recognize the self-loathing that is minutes away from darkening your soul.” He shakes his head with a sigh. “It’s the same self-loathing that has robbed you of happiness more times than I care to count.”

You and I both.

I track a lightning bolt that tears down from the sky, splitting into two strikes.

“She didn’t deserve this.”

“Neither did you.”

I swallow, and a confession I’ve been avoiding since the first moment I laid eyes on Darcie claws out of my throat. “But I wanted it.”

Creator knows…I’ve yearned for it.

And that makes me an asshole.

It is dangerous to be my One.

I’d resigned myself to never accepting the bond. It was the only way to keep my soulmate safe after centuries of failure.

And yet, the moment I saw Darcie in the National Garden all those months ago, I could not resist going to her.

The Creator may design paths for our souls to meet, but I am the one who followed it.

I approached Darcie.

I believed I could have a moment—a single moment with the stunning soul meant to be mine.

I never intended to bring her into our world.

But by giving in to the link pulling us together, that’s exactly what I did.

I doomed her.

I have stolen Darcie’s future.

And I will never forgive myself.

“Enough,” Alex snaps.

I don’t even flinch. “Enough, what?”

“None of this is your fault, Desmond.” He shifts, and his stare drills into the side of my face. “It was not your plan to complete the bond.”

“But I did.”

“Because you had no choice.”

“There is always a choice.”

“Not with this.” He shakes his head. “Not when the Elder had already begun the ceremony. You heard your brothers. Darcie’s soul was brought to the surface, and it was tearing apart while waiting for another soul to bind with.”

My chest constricts.

The memory of Darcie’s agony—of the golden lights burrowing into her flesh and bone, digging, searching, desperate to cling to her soul and inextricably tie it to another’s—is burned into my mind for all eternity.