Without letting go of Murak, she let Iain’s power slide over her, cradling her close and protecting her from attack the way he would have done had he been able.
She fell to his side and pressed her hands against his bloody chest. The stab wound was deep, so close to his heart, she wasn’t sure whether it had been hit. He was bleeding heavily, telling her that there wasn’t much time.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, then ripped a thick ribbon of energy from him, causing him to groan. She closed her eyes and concentrated on finding the severed blood vessels in order to close them. Her hands slipped on his skin. Heat seared her fingertips, drying the blood beneath them. Iain sucked in a pained breath and his heavy muscles clenched tight.
The effort was grueling. She felt her cage around Murak falter, and had to let it go—had to let him go. Iain was more important.
Heat flowed through her. She could feel waves of it rising from Iain’s body, hear the air crackling with it.
The stream of power began to waver, stuttering as she demanded more from it. The shield at her back fell, exposing her to dozens of demons hungry for Iain’s blood.
There was nothing she could do. She knew instinctively that if she let go of the small thread of strength she’d managed to hold on to, she’d lose it forever. Iain would be gone. She’d be powerless. Both of them would die.
If she was going to die, she wanted it to be because she’d given her all to save him, not because she’d given up on him.
The sound of the demons behind her grew louder, closer.
They had realized her protection was gone and were closing in.
Cain fought his way toward Jackie. He couldn’t leave Autumn unprotected, so he had to bring her along, fighting with her slight weight dangling over his shoulder. He told himself it was no different from protecting a brother’s flank, but that was a fat lie.
Her limbs flopped around with every slice and thrust, forcing him to move carefully so as not to chop off her leg.
Jackie had stopped helping him kill the demons and instead knelt over Iain. She was trying to save his life. Cain knew that. He would have expected no less of her. But she seemingly had no care for herself or her safety. From the moment she’d dropped Iain’s sword, Cain knew that her life was now in his hands.
Finally, after what seemed like half a year of combat, he was only a few feet away—close enough to see faint blue sparks flying off her back.
She was still alive.
The field holding Murak in place sputtered and then dropped. Cain closed the last few remaining feet toward Jackie, cutting down wave after endless wave of armed Synestryn soldiers and smaller, clawed demons.
The blue flashes sparking at her back began to fade.
Her shield was faltering, just as the one around Murak had done.
Cain was out of options. He lunged sideways, keeping his left side and Autumn out of the reach of swords and claws. His right arm moved with frenzied speed, making his muscles burn in protest.
A blade was headed right for him. He couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t dodge. It was angled to strike his right arm. He could already see his limb being severed, flying across the space to land as food for demons.
There was nothing he could do but watch as the blade fell.
The demon blade struck, but he felt no pain. Bluish sparks scattered in all directions. Half a second later, Drake was at his side, lopping off the legs of the demon who’d nearly ended Cain’s life.
The girl’s weight lifted from his shoulder. He grabbed for her, but as soon as he felt the faint, welcoming heat of friendly magic surrounding her, he let go.
Drake was here. So was Helen. She must have been the one to relieve him of his burden.
“Thanks,” shouted Cain.
Drake grunted in response, going low to strike while Cain went high. Between them, two more demons fell.
Two down, another dozen more to go.
Jackie had managed to stop Iain’s bleeding, but she was too late. He’d lost too much blood.
His breathing was fast and shallow, his heart fluttering in his chest. Tied to him as closely as she was, she could feel him trying to leave his body.
She couldn’t let go. She loved him. She needed him to stay.
She knew it was selfish, but she didn’t give a shit if it was. All that mattered was holding him close, so that’s what she did.
Jackie wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest. She tightened her hold on his power, refusing to let go.
“Don’t leave me,” she begged him. “Not yet.”
I have to go, she heard him whisper against her mind. You’re not safe so long as I draw breath. Soulless…
“I don’t give a fuck about that. I’ve seen your soul in your actions. You’re a good man.”
It’s too hard. My monster has grown too strong.
The core of him—the part of him that made him who he was—began to lift out of his body. She could see it in her mind, feel it through the luceria. It pulsed with power, streaming with thick, black branches. Within that mass was a narrow, golden ribbon wound tightly around it. The ribbon glowed against the darkness, stretching back into Jackie.
His soul. That giant, powerful thing was his soul. She could feel the emptiness of it, the deep aching void that had once been filled with light and life. Gone. All of it gone now—dead and scraped hollow.
He was right. There was nothing left of his soul to be saved. Dead was dead.
Grief welled up inside of her, hot and fierce, clawing and tearing her apart.
She didn’t want to live without him. Intellectually, she knew she’d eventually heal, but she’d already suffered too much. She didn’t want to suffer through his death, too.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I’ll go with you.”
No! He screamed it into her thoughts, shoving her back. She didn’t go far. She was tethered to him too tightly, knotted around him too many times to ever be free.
Where you go, I go, she told him, content with her decision.
Something ferocious and deadly broke free, shaking its huge body and stretching its powerful limbs. She could see it in her mind—inside of him—the monster he’d spoken of. She’d felt its presence before, but seeing it now, she knew why Iain feared letting it free.
Giant, layered with thick muscle under tough skin that looked like stone, it towered in her mind, teeth bared, leathery wings spread, and clawed hands open and ready to grab her.
Go, it growled at her. Leave us to die.
She firmed her resolve, refusing to let something so insubstantial scare her away. No.
We won’t let you die.
Then stay. Stay with me. Live.
No soul. No life.
Then take my soul.
The monster froze and then cocked its head to the side. It looked down on her with Iain’s eyes.
No! she heard Iain shout from a long way off.
Done, said the monster, its pointed teeth gleaming behind its grin.
A horrific, wrenching pain ripped from her chest, stealing her breath. A dark presence shoved itself into her head, taking over her limbs.
Like a puppet, she jerked to her feet. Power roared into her, but she had no control—no idea what was happening.
Her feet lifted from the ground and she rose into the air above the battle below. Her head swiveled around until she sighted Murak slinking away.
Her hand reached out and an instant later, Murak stopped. His body rose up and drifted closer until he was right over the crush of demons fighting her friends, her sister.
Another swelling spike of power funneled through her, and she watched as the skin peeled back from Murak’s body. He screamed, but it did no good. His skin was stripped from him, ripping away clothing as it went. Blood rained down over the demons, distracting them from combat.
All that energy that had been rushing through her vanished, and Murak fell into the waiting jaws of his troops. His screams rose up as he was ripped apart by the teeth of his own soldiers.
Jackie fell to the stone floor, landing next to Iain. He was ghostly pale, unconscious, and unmoving. She tried to reach out and touch him—to make sure his heart was still beating, but her arm was too heavy.
Sleep, she heard the monster growl, only this time that voice came from within her. You must live for me now.
Chapter 31
Iain woke. That alone was surprising enough. Even more surprising was the sense of peace and the utter quiet within him.
There was no monster. No rage. He hadn’t felt like this since the day his soul had died.
He was lying on a bed with Ronan staring down at him, concern lining his pretty face. Behind Ronan stood Helen and Drake. Cain was in the doorway. On the bed next to him was Jackie, lying far too still.
Panic made him sit up, and a rush of dizziness slammed into him.
“Easy,” said Ronan. “She’s fine. Just sleeping.”
“What the hell happened?” he asked.
“I put both you and Jackie to sleep for a few days so you could heal,” said Ronan. “I wasn’t sure either of you would make it.”
“We’re at a Gerai house,” said Helen. Her eyes and nose were red from crying.
Drake put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her into his embrace.
“It wasn’t safe to move you,” said Ronan. “We almost lost you both.”
“Where’s the girl?” asked Iain, his voice rough and dry.
“Autumn is at Dabyr with her family, recovering at her mother’s side. So is the other woman we found.” Ronan’s gaze darkened as he said that last part, as if it upset him to speak about it.
“Everyone’s fine,” said Drake, clearly more for Helen’s benefit than Iain’s. “We all made it out.”
Ronan nodded. “And you woke up. I’m glad to see all is well. I wasn’t sure it would be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Iain.
Ronan glanced at Iain’s chest. “See for yourself.”
He looked down and half of his lifemark was as dead and barren as ever, but the other half was green and lush with a new batch of leaves. He stared at it in shock for a long time, trying to figure out if he was still dreaming, or if this was some kind of sick joke of the afterlife. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t, either.”
His memories began to come back. The kidnapped girl. The caves. His inevitable death. Jackie refusing to let him go. He remembered feeling her tied so tightly around his soul that he knew if he tried to leave his body in death, she would have followed him.
His monster. It had bargained with her, accepting the gift she offered. Her soul. Iain had tried to stop it, but he’d been too weak. He’d had no chance of regaining control of the beast.
“Oh, God,” he breathed, the impact of what had happened barreling down on him.
She’d given him her soul.
Iain reached for her, diving headlong through their link. He had to give it back. He had to force her to take back her offer.
The ethereal constructs of her mind seemed familiar to him now. He’d spent so much time connected to her that she felt like home.
He found her lounging by a sparkling blue pool, soaking up the sun. She seemed completely at ease, completely content. She looked up at him, shielding her eyes with her hand. Her sweet body was barely covered by a bikini, her skin dewy with perspiration.