AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 54
Taveon
Pain shotthrough Taveon’s core. He cried out as he doubled over on top of the wooden table the council had gathered around for a discussion on what Bree had done and whether or not they could bend the rules. His heart thundered in his chest, and he could barely see for the shadows creeping into hiseyes.
Every cell in his body ached, like he was being stabbed in a million places atonce.
Rafe jumped to his feet and grabbed Taveon’s shoulder, leaning down to stare into his face. “Taveon? What ishappening?”
“Bree,” Taveon hissed through clenched teeth. That was the only explanation. The bond between them had gone quiet after the battle, but they would stay linked until there was a winner of the crown. She had likely blocked off her mind, not that he could blame her. He’d felt her churning emotions, the millions of thoughts flying through her mind. It had been overwhelming, intoxicating, and far more than he could handle for longer than a few moments at atime.
But now that link between them had been ripped open wide, and she was screaming on the other side ofit.
“Bree?” Rafe’s face went pale. “She’s in myquarters.”
“Someone has found her there,” was all Taveon could manage to say. Indeed, he could not tell much more than that. Vaguely, he could imagine a blurry form, a trembling sword, and a voice full of anger andsteel.
But then he managed a few more words. “Take me toher.”
Rafe slid his body underneath Taveon’s arm and dragged him out of the room. The murmur of voices followed, but Taveon did not bother to listen to a word they said. Soon, Dagen was by his side, and his body ducked underneath Taveon’s opposite shoulder. For a moment, Rafe and Dagen exchanged tense looks, but then they each gave a nod as if accepting the other’spresence.
When they reached Rafe’s quarters, the door was flung open wide. Taveon groaned as he stared down at Bree’s lifeless form. She was sprawled across the stone floor, blood pouring from a gaping wound in her chest, her perfect wavy hair spread around her head in a halo of darkbrown.
Everything inside of Taveon began tobreak.
“Oh no,” Dagen moaned from his side and abandoned his post underneath Taveon’s shoulder to storm across the room. He dropped to Bree’s side, his chest heaving as he stared at her with horror-filled eyes. “No, no, no, no,no!”
“Bree?” Rafe whispered, his faceashen.
“She is still alive,” Taveon eked out. Through their bond, he could feel the unmistakable throbbing of her life-force. She was sorely injured, but she was still alive. There was no mistakingit.
Dagen jerked his head up from the floor to meet Taveon’s eyes. “Are youcertain?”
“Yes,” Taveon said, closing his eyes. “But she isfading.”
“We can heal her,” Rafe said quickly. “Taveon, can you stand on yourown?”
His old friend was still standing there supporting him, even though he knew Rafe was desperate to be by Bree’s side. Taveon winced but nodded, grabbing ahold of the wall to hold himself steady so that the better male could go toBree.
All of this was Taveon’s fault. He had seen the face of her attacker. It had been Anken’s champion. Taveon should have insisted she finish the fight. But more than that, he should have never allowed her to fight for him in the firstplace.
Rafe dropped to her side and pressed soft hands to Bree’s forehead. Her eyelids fluttered as she fought so hard to keep her mind from drifting away. Taveon shuddered as her fingers shifted on the stone floor, a single pinky reaching up towardRafe.
She loved Rafe. Taveon could feel the emotion through their bond. She loved him with every beat of her dyingheart.
“I need Taveon,” shewhispered.
His head jerked up. Had he heard that through their bond or had she said it aloud? But Rafe seemed immune to the sound. And so did Dagen. They still hovered over her, feeling at her wound and desperately trying to do whatever they could to saveher.
“Taveon,” he heard again, and this time, he saw that her lips did not move. “I need you to hold myhand.”
Taveon moved toward her body as if in a dream. Rafe glanced up when Taveon reached them, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. But Taveon did not feel quite as weak as he had a moment before. Instead, he felt a strange determination settle over him. He sunk to the floor and sat on his knees, his heart clenching as he stared down at Bree’s lifelessform.
Her fingers reached toward Taveon, and he grasped them tight in his hand. Electricity crackled through his core. Light exploded in his mind, and every single cell in his body felt ripped open from the force of her touch. Taveon ground his teeth together, and he held on tight to Bree with all the waning strength in his bones. He understood what was happening now. He knew exactly what she wasdoing.
She was opening herself up to him, takingallof his power into her veins and allowing him to fill her upcompletely.
And he let all of it go. He gave her every single part of him, including the parts he kept hidden from the rest of the world. There were things about Taveon that no one else knew. No one except for Rafe. But no matter. He would not hide himself from Bree, not if it meant she could survive thisnight.
His strength and power rushed out of him, through their clenched hands, and into her dying heart. His vision swam, and his own heartbeat slowed. Time ticked slowly by until there was nothing left in the world but Bree’s soul. Darkness consumed him, and his last thought was of the look on her face as his most important gift filled her body.Immortality.
She looked into the very depths of his soul, and shesmiled.
