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“I think so. Honestly, I’m not even positive what happened. I mean, I know that Porter had to… Because I…” And just like that, any amount of contentment I felt evaporates.
A lump wells in my throat as guilt presses down on my chest. Blood on my hands. I have blood on my hands. Darkness starts to fill my veins, but an invisible force sweeps through and erases it.
My heart thunders in my chest as I cast a quick glance at Porter.
What exactly did he do to me when he tethered my soul to his?
His lips on my neck…
Sucking…
Drinking…
Hunger…
It felt so good…
Porter’s intense gaze sears into mine and he bites down on his bottom lip hard. “Good Gods, I can’t take this,” he mumbles, then reels around and strides out of the room.
Silence stretches between Max, Foster, Easton, and me. And awkward silence that I don’t fully understand.
“Sorry,” I mutter to no one in particular.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault,” Easton says. He’s still holding my hand and he skims his finger along the inside of my wrist in a soothing gesture. “We should’ve told you from the beginning about Brody. Maybe if we had, things wouldn’t have gone down the way that they did.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it from you,” Foster mutters, looking at me with remorse in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I feel like this is all of my fault.”
“It’s not your fault. No matter when or how you told me about Brody… I still would’ve reacted the same way…” I almost lose it again as guilt claws under my flesh. But that invisible force pulls me back—pulls me away from the darkness. Whether it’s the link doing it or whatever Porter did to me, who the hell knows. Honestly, at this point I feel like I don’t have a clue about anything going on.
Poor, clueless, Sky. I’ve been called that before. A lot actually.
“I’m still not sure what’s going on with Porter… “ I shift my weight, pulling my hand from East’s, but only so I can wrap my arms around myself. “What exactly did he do to me?”
A frown etches onto Foster’s face. “He didn’t explain it to you?”
“He told me that he was going to tether my soul to his, and that it was the only way for me to return to my body without darkness possessing me forever. But he didn’t explain how darkness was able to possess me so badly, or how him drinking my power would keep darkness from possessing me. And I’m not even sure how he did it… What he is… He wouldn’t tell me much about anything.” I pause, waiting for one of them to give me an explanation, but they all appear hesitant.
Damn them and their secrecy.
Foster rubs his hand across his jawline, uneasiness masking his expression. “When Porter’s kind feed off someone’s powers, it temporarily tethers their soul to theirs, which means that right now your soul is connected to Porter’s and vice versa.” He lets out a quiet sigh. “As for the draining your power part of it, which is what happened when P
orter fed off you, that’s how he got darkness temporarily out of you—by sucking it out of your body. But if we don’t find a more permanent solution, he’s going to have to keep tethering your soul to his, because once an elemental enchanter unleashes their power of darkness, it won’t leave their bodies. At least not without some magical help. But I’d rather not have Porter continually feeding off you,” he mutters the last part.
I feel the slightest bit less confused, but let me stress the slightest bit part. “Does that mean I don’t have any power right now?” I glance up at the icicles melting above me—icicles I created only moments ago. “Never mind. Obviously I do.”
“You still have a little bit of power,” Foster explains. “But it’s probably pretty weak, so you’re going to need to be careful until the tethering fades. Hopefully by then, we’ll have a more permanent solution for all of this.” I’m about to mention that Porter said a more permanent solution was that I become like him, but then Foster sighs and rubs his hand across his forehead. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Max places a hand on his shoulder. “Go. We’ll explain the rest to Sky.”
Foster throws me an apologetic glance, his expression a portrait of misery. Then he walks out of the room, heading in the same direction as Porter did.
I suspiciously eye Max and East over. “What’s going on?”
Easton glances at Max with his brow raised. “Do you want to do the honors or should I?”
Max shrugs. “I’m fine with doing it, but she knows you better than me so it might be easier for her to hear it from you.”
East rolls his eyes. “Fine, I’ll be the bearer of bad news since you guys are all too chicken shit.”
