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What she hadn’t said to her mother was that as soon as dark fell, she would do everything in her power to escape her captivity. If in the end, she found it impossible, then she’d find some way to terminate her own life. She’d rather die than contribute to Margetta’s ambitions to rule and create her version of a perfect society.
* * * * * * * * *
When Seth regained consciousness, he was alone though the sound of rushing water made it difficult to hear much beyond the shallow cave.
The pain in his back had eased and his blistering had subsided. He was on his way to being fully healed, but where was Lorelei?
He recalled Margetta had been ready to burn them both to a crisp, then he’d blacked out.
So, what could have happened to prevent Margetta’s attack?
He reached out for Lorelei telepathically and became worried when nothing returned to him, not even a hint of her telepathic frequency.
Nothing.
Panic set in.
He sat up, a wave of dizziness battering him.
Where was Lorelei?
Then the harder question rose to pummel his mind: had Margetta killed her?
A different kind of pain suddenly rolled through him, waves of agony in his chest that had nothing to do with the effects of sunlight.
His gaze slowly drifted around the cold, damp shelf. A sheet of icy water flowed in front of him, a perfect representation of how his ribcage had contained his solitary heart for centuries.
He was alone.
Yet for the past month, he hadn’t been.
Lorelei had accompanied him every night, always guarding him, thinking about him, putting his safety above her own.
Now she was gone.
Margetta had intended to kill them both, so what had changed her mind?
He drew his knees up and rested his forearms over the tops of them.
He knew then what she’d done; Lorelei had made a bargain with the ancient fae. He knew it as surely as if the words had been spoken aloud in his cave-like prison.
Lorelei had sacrificed herself and she’d done it to save his life. This was the truth of her character.
Another powerful wave of emotion gripped his chest. How many times did Lorelei have to prove her loyalty or her character before he found her worthy?
He’d kept himself removed from her, even though Queen Rosamunde herself had sent Lorelei to guard him. That alone should have alerted him that he could trust her, that he could bring her into his life without fearing she’d betray him.
Instead, he’d held back at a critical moment, even after she’d saved his life when Margetta had fired away at his tree house.
And now Lorelei was gone, caught in the grip of her mother’s evil hands, and what would her future be? Would she be forced now to enter into an Invictus wraith-pair bonding? Would she be used for even more experimentation by her parents? Would she become the weapon that her latent power suggested she could become?
Almost completely healed, Seth rose slowly to his feet. Night had almost come, just a few minutes more now and he could leave the safety of the waterfall.
But he knew only one thing. He needed to find Lorelei and bring her home.
This was her home, with him, beside him, whether wolf or fae or even wraith. Lorelei belonged with him and he with her.
He’d been a fool to let his past experiences with Kristen determine his relationship with Lorelei. He’d allowed Kristen’s betrayal to rule his life all this time, never once letting anything remotely like love or affection come near him again.
