Page 164 of The Immortal’s Mark

Does she feel it too?

Does she know what’s happened?

“Des?”

My name on her lips is my undoing.

Before I can reconsider—before I can remind myself she just woke up and needs time to process what’s happened, I close the distance between us and wrap her in my arms.

My heart squeezes when she returns my embrace.

I tuck my head into the crook of her neck and breathe her in.

“Des?” She mumbles against my shirt. “Are you alright?”

“I am now.”

And I vow, before the Creator and with every ounce of power in my veins, I will never let her go.

It is no longer a choice.

40

DARCIE

Every muscle in my body tingles, my joints throb, and my skin feels too tight.

Even the air kissing my cheeks is too abrasive. The coolness is anything but gentle despite the heat burning beneath my skin.

I…don’t feel right.

Something is off, but I can’t figure out what.

My eyelids crack open, and I immediately cringe at the sunlight flooding the room around me before a familiar ceiling comes into focus.

I’m in Greece.

When did I⁠—

Breath lodges in my throat. I jolt upright, whipping my head from side to side, panic threatening to choke me. Only…I’m alone.

Aside from the two men standing on the balcony.

I exhale a staggered breath, relief loosening my muscles as I watch Des and Alex speak.

I’m safe.

Des got me away from Adir before it was too late.

My eyes snap down and examine my hands.

There’s no sign of golden light, but my gut says I’m not unscathed from Adir’s attack.

With each breath I take, the certainty that I’ve changed grows.

I expect panic to surge as the trauma of Bella’s death and what Adir almost accomplished with the help of Faine and an Elder hits me.

But I’m…composed.