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They’re the three men who captured me to pay a debt, then wanted to set me free. Who hated me as a child but rescued me from the Skull Brotherhood and held me in their arms across land, sea and air.
They're the Deana-dhe.
And like a key turning in a stiff, rusty lock, more memories come flooding back.
All of them. Not just the recent ones.
My whole life is playing like a movie in my mind. I’m flooded with the good and the bad, the disturbing and the uplifting.
Rushing in like a tidal wave.
Drowning.
Gasping.
Panic rushes through my veins as terror grips my throat and squeezes, my thoughts circling back to that woman who tried to pull Soren off of me.
She's dead!
The sound of her scream rips through my memory, yanking me from oblivion and forcing me back in my body. Panic and overwhelming grief has me pushing Christy away from me as I try to climb out of bed, her name nothing more than a strangled sound on my lips. "Ffff!"
Christy moves away, concern etching her features as Arden takes her place on the mattress.
"Hey, Cyn. It's me. It's Arden," he says, reaching for me, cupping my face in his hands.
I push angrily against his chest, my broken fingers shaking as I press against him forcefully. I register the pain, but I don’tfeelit. His unmoving strength makes me cry out in frustration and desperation. It's such a broken, pitiful sound.
"Look at me, Cyn," he says, his voice full of authority now. It snaps my attention back to him and away from the memories of Soren and his cruelty, of Faith and all that blood. "Breathe."
I blink through my tears, dragging in a wavering breath. It hurts to expand my chest but I keep going as he breathes with me. Dark thoughts grip at my mind, trying to trap me with memories I don’t want to remember
She's dead.
"I'm sorry about your friend," he whispers, his gaze burning into mine.
I draw in a shaky breath, shuddering, shaking, pain ripping through my chest.
"Just keep breathing, in and out, in and out. Listen to my voice. I’m here. I’m here."
He tries to soothe me, and I try my hardest to focus on just his voice, just him.
"Good girl. Just keep breathing, okay? Just keep breathing."
Tears stream down my cheeks. Pain lacerates my chest. I'm raw, bleeding out grief.
"Live for me and my baby,"her voice in my head urges me.
Faith.
I mouth her name, a painful sob breaking free from my throat.
"I'm so so sorry," Arden repeats, as he gently strokes his thumbs across my skin. “For everything.”
For everything?
"We’ll leave you for a moment. Come on, let’s give them some space," Christy says, slipping away in my peripheral vision, the other men walking out behind her.
"Cyn," Carrick whispers, a mixture of emotions stuttering across his face as he sits on the bed to my left. His shoulders slump as he reaches for me. “We've been so fucking worried about you.”
