Page 186 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

Though as his coughing slowly subsides and his eyes lock onto me, I can’t help but once again see the boy who defended me throughout our lives.

True remorse lines every inch of his handsome face. An ache blooms in my heart as I fight the urge to go to him, to help him.

My earlier fury simmers into embers. Exhaustion tugs at my very soul. The lack of adequate rest and food is catching up with me. But I need to hold it together. I have one more thing I need to accomplish today. Then Ferria and I will figure out what the hells we’re going to do.

“E-Elara,” Lev pants out.

Bloodshot eyes trail my face as Ferria helps him sit up. He reaches out a shaky hand.

He’s nowhere close to touching me, but I take a step back regardless.

His expression falls. “Elara, please… I’m…I’m sorry.”

Tears burn the backs of my eyes.

I press the heels of my hands into my eyelids to hold them back and mutter, “I don’t care.”

I can’t afford to care.

When I lower my arms, I look at Rian. “Can you get him back to town?”

Molten silver traces my face, locking in on the lone tear that manages to escape the corner of my eye.

His features harden, and he gives a terse nod. The thick wall of darkness separating us from the rest of the field morphs into a wispy cloud of black smoke.

The marks on my arm shift ever so slightly at the pulse of magic that flows through the air. The smoke disappears, and the sight it reveals leaves me speechless.

The fighting has stopped.

No humans are left standing. Fae soldiers stand still, facing the tree line, as if waiting for another attack to cross into their territory.

I pray to Velmira that she saw fit to let many men escape into the dark forest—that the towns in this region are not completely unprotected.

I scan the blood-soaked field, my stomach churning and heart clenching at the senseless violence.

This didn’t have to happen. The Fae were going to leave. Why did Lev and the others have to provoke them?

A grunt grabs my attention.

Jaxon hauls Lev up with one arm. Ferria stands at Lev’s other side, helping to support him. But Lev doesn’t look at either of them. His attention remains on me, and the heartbreak on his face fills me with equal parts sadness and anger.

“Get him out of my sight,” Rian barks.

Jaxon gives a sharp nod. He and Ferria half drag, half carry Lev to a waiting horse.

Shadows slither up the reins, holding the creature steady while they haul him into the saddle. His body pitches to the side, limp, but fresh coils of darkness latch around his waist and legs, securing him upright like ropes made of night.

Lev’s brown eyes hold mine through it all. Even when Jaxon slaps the horse’s flank and the beast bolts toward the trees, he cranes his neck, keeping me in sight before the darkness of the forest swallows him whole.

Numbness creeps into my chest like frost. I’ll likely never see him again. And oddly enough…I’m okay with that.

A throat clears.

“Rian…” Jaxon exhales, his tone tight with nerves. “Do you think you can disband your creepy army? They’re freaking me out.”

His words draw my gaze from the silent tree line. Jaxon watches Rian with an expectant look.

Rian lifts a single hand.