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“They were not worthy of you.”
“You kept me from having a home! A family!” she screams. The air around her shifts, and she falls back, breathing labored.
“Get the fuck out of here now, Ancient,” I warn. “Or so help me, I will kill you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he snarls.
“Ridley,” I say.
“If you’re going to get her out of here—” Sullivan starts.
My brother appears right beside me and reaches down to touch Ember. In an instant, they’re gone.
The ancient roars, his silver eyes burning bright as he dematerializes across the room. He grips me by the throat and slams me to the ground. His fist slams into my nose, and bone cracks as warmth slicks my skin.
And that’s all it takes.
Dark energy explodes from my body. It throws him off of me with the force of an earthquake. I jump to my feet, blood dripping from my nose. “Come the fuck on, Ancient,” I snarl. "I thought you wanted to have fun.”
“She ismine,” he snarls. “I saved her. I protected her!”
“Time to go.” Ridley touches my shoulder, and we disappear. When we take form again, we’re standing in my tent back at the rebel camp. Outside, it’s silent save for the sounds of an owl hooting in the distance.
“The reaper?” I question.
Ridley groans. “I’ll grab him.” He disappears, and I scan the room for Ember. She’s lying in the center of my bed, her slight form barely visible in the dim light cast from the steadily dying fire.
“He lied to me,” she chokes out.
“I know.” I cross the room to her and press my hand to her forehead. “But you’re safe now. We’re together.”
Tears in her eyes, Ember stares at me, her head lolled to the side. “Why are we here? We can’t be here,” she cries.
“Easy, you’re safe,” I repeat.
Ridley materializes. “Reaper took off.” Reaching into his pocket, he offers me a handkerchief. “I’ll try to track him down to let him know she’s safe.”
I use the handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Ember’s forehead. “And the ancient?”
Ridley sighs. “If what I know about ancients is true, the Veil works as a filter, trapping them when they attempt to move through the worlds. It’s how they were imprisoned in the first place.”
“And if it doesn’t?” I ask.
“You have more protection here than you can have back in that world.”
“Taranus—” Ember chokes out.
“Is not here,” I assure her. My vision blurs, dark energy shifting inside of me as it seeks an escape. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, forcing it back down inside. “You are safe.”
“He can get me here. You have to take me back, let me die.”
“There is no fucking way I am letting you die, Ember.”
She shakes her head. “You have to let me go, Rafferty. It’s the only way—” She trails off and passes out, soft breathing the only sound in the room for the span of a few heartbeats.
“I think she may be more stubborn than you, brother.”
Reaching down, I brush a strand of red hair from her pale face. My chest constricts seeing her like this, pale as snow against crimson sheets.
