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“Yes. They won’t return to that insane state unless it naturally happens.” Alistair leaned against the wall. The crystal in his hand glowed a dull gray. Its power tugged on her with annoying insistence. She dragged her eyes away with effort.
“Naturally happens?”
“Their status was induced with a mixture of magic and poison. It’s why I can heal them. If they become the Fallen, then I cannot save them.”
That explained why he’d never saved a Fallen before. Gabby glanced at Felix, who nodded. Would Alistair answer her other questions?
“Why? Why does Jiaren want the crystal? How can you use it? What is it?”
Alistair sighed. For one second, he looked his age, his shoulders weighed down with the exhaustion of someone who’s lived longer than Gabby could ever imagine.
Stupidly, she wanted to hug Alistair, to comfort him, though he might slam the crystal into her chest and watch her explode.
“The Ruins, as you call them, are the remnants of an old civilization.” The bottomless grief in Alistair’s gaze squeezed the breath out of her lungs. Felix wrapped an arm around her shoulder, his love beating back their King’s sorrow. “That civilization gave up everything to seal away a powerful evil bent on destroying the world. The crystals are part of the seal. If they are destroyed, the monster will be free.”
An entire civilization, gone, to suppress a single being. Like so many other things she’d seen since her waking, it took her a few seconds to grasp Alistair’s meaning. Something else niggled in the back of her mind.
“You know about this, and you can use the crystal. Are you from that civilization?” Felix asked. “Are there any others like you?”
“No, I’m the only one left. No one else survived. I remained to ensure life continued flourishing. To make sure the seal remains shut for as long as possible.” Another heavy sigh. “It won’t be long now. If he’s working with vampires to obtain the crystals, then he’ll be powerful enough to break through soon. Once he is free, he will burn down the world.”
“Wait.” Gabby cocked her head to the side, her mind struggling to make sense of things. “But you are a vampire. Are we also from that civilization?”
“No, you are not.”
Gabby waited, but Alistair stayed silent without further explanation.
“You’re saying crystals. Are there more than one?” Felix asked before she could push for more.
One thing at a time,he said when she shot him an irritated glare, and she huffed.
“Yes.”
She tamped down the annoyance from Alistair answering Felix’s question and not hers. “Do you know the location of the others?”
“Not yet. When the seal was created, to ensure nobody could break it, we hid their locations. I can only detect the next crystal once this one is destroyed.”
“Will you destroy it?” The swirling gray light within the crystal called to her. Gabby leaned into Felix even as strength flooded into her.
Do you feel it?
Yes.
“Not yet.” Alistair straightened, his power expanding to fill up the room until Gabby couldn’t breathe. His black gaze seemed to suck all the light from the world.
Then he vanished.
Air slammed back into her lungs, and she coughed. “Does he do that a lot?”
Felix’s only response was a deep inhale. “Yes.”
“Where do you think he is going?”
“Does it matter?”
He turned her into his arms, his intentions hitting her a heartbeat before their bodies melded together and their lips clashed into a desperate and wanton kiss. She laced her arms around his neck, potent desire heating her blood. His hands ran up her sides, then down her back, leaving behind a trail of fire.
Her breathing was ragged, her lungs gulping for air, when he broke the kiss.
