Page 24 of Whispers of Ruin
Hide.But she didn’t say that part out loud. She was a little ashamed of herself for having run away. She hadn’t considered it so before, but now it felt cowardly.
She should have stayed and faced life without Fabian instead of running away. At the time, retreating from the world had been a balm to her battered soul, but she could never do it again. No matter what future hurts she endured, she would never run from the world; it was far too beautiful, and there was too much good she could do in it for her to hide again.
“Nothing was ever the same after he died. I intended to stay in the crone realm until I died too, but then you and Sahira arrived, and those plans changed.”
“What happened to the vampire?”
“Fabian’s brother killed him. He was there when it happened and was the one who told me about Fabian’s death.”
Brokk was silent for a little while before speaking again. “Would you go back to the crone realm?”
“No. I’ll miss Fabian until the day I die, but I’m not meant to remain in only one realm. I see that now. Besides, he would want me to live and enjoy things again. I needed to go to the crone realm and build something beautiful there to help me heal, but that time in my life is over. There are many new, beautiful things to build in the realms… if we can save Lexi.”
His arms squeezed her again. “We’ll save her, and if not us, then someone else will. I have faith in that. Cole won’t rest until he finds the crudue vine.”
Brokk was right about that. Cole would do everything in his power to save Lexi, but… “I hope he doesn’t destroy the realms to do so.”
Brokk didn’t protest her words or say that his brother would never do such a thing; they both knew he could. If Lexi died, nothing would stop the Shadow Reaver from taking over and leveling everything in his way.
They had to get out of here, but she didn’t move as she allowed Brokk’s presence to soothe the ragged edges of her tattered heart. If things had been different, if there had never been a Fabian, she might have fallen in love with this kind, powerful, ruthless man who held her so tenderly.
But things could never be different.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
When the sunwas fully up, Brokk knew it was time to let go of Kaylia but was reluctant to do so. She fit so perfectly against him and felt so right in his arms that it felt like he was releasing a piece of himself.
But she didn’t belong in his arms… or at least, she didn’t think so. The conversation of her dead fiancé wasn’t brought up on a whim.
This Fabian was why she’d been so distant and cold yesterday. She didn’t have to tell him that; he could read between the lines. She felt guilty for sleeping beside him because she’d enjoyed it; that was why she remained in his arms now.
She was warm and lush, and he’d give anything to caress the silken skin beneath her clothes and hear her moan his name, but she’d brought up her fiancé to drive a wedge between them. He didn’t give a shit about ghosts, though.
They were both very much alive, and there was no reason for them not to enjoy each other, but he couldn’t bring himself to push it further. She told him about her fiancé to place a mental barrier between them, and he would respect that.
While he understood her reasons for trying to keep her distance from him, he couldn’t bury his disappointment. He wanted her, and she was still in love with a dead man.
He was trapped in a special kind of hell.
“I hope you don’t mind me sleeping beside you again,” he said. “You were shivering pretty bad again last night.”
“I don’t mind. Thank you.”
Reluctantly, Brokk unraveled his arms from around her and pushed himself to his feet. He stretched as he surveyed the endless, empty landscape while trying to keep his focus on anything but her.
They had to get out of this mirror realm; at least in Doomed Valley, there were plenty of lethal distractions. Killing something trying to eat them would make him feel better.
“Hopefully, we can find a way out of here today,” he said.
“That would be good.”
They retreated to separate sections of the sky and relieved themselves before returning to their packs. Once there, they brushed their teeth, ate a quick breakfast, and set out across a much cloudier sky.
The gray clouds rolling in darkened the horizon as they blocked out the sun. He wondered what would happen if it started raining. Would it fall from the ground or down from the trees?
It would be interesting to see, but no raindrops dampened them as they continued their trek across the sky. They wandered for hours before coming across another set of stairs.
At first, Brokk wasn’t sure what was ahead of them as, like the last one, the stairs mirrored the sky, but he spotted a difference in the landscape before it solidified into a possible escape.
