Page 198 of Heir of Broken Souls

Slapping my hands on my brother’s body, I blast out another wave of shadows to keep the demonic creatures at bay and send every ounce of healing power I can into his body—burnout be damned.

Harlow smiles as she sways.

I don’t have the hands to catch her as she faints, or the extra magic. I can’t let go of Lenox, not as his face twists in pain, his body writhing.

“Nolan!” I call, my fear showing as I teeter on the verge of hysteria. “Nolan!”

He falls beside me, using one hand to heal Lenox and the other to try and shake Harlow awake. All the while, Axel kneels, holding Elysia in his arms. “Gods, not again. Why isn’t she waking?!”

“It’s a vision, Axel!” I snap. “Get it together!”

I can’t help the frustration that leaks into my voice. He’s far too submerged in his trauma to recognize this happens nearly every time she has a large vision, and instead of helping us or making her comfortable, he just freaks out.

Bile rises as I watch every inch of Lenox’s skin grow anew and stitch together. He’s truly being reborn, there’s no two ways about it. There was nothing but shredded muscle, bones, and flapping skin, and now before me is my chosen brother coming back to life.

Harlow doesn’t stir, not even when Lenox begins to call for her.

“What did she sacrifice?” Nolan asks so quietly it makes me pause.

“Let’s just hope it wasn’t a life for a life,” I say solemnly.

Golden light explodes throughout the forest at my back. It shines as bright as a fallen star, glowing between the leaves of trees, the canopies, and the bodies of our fallen as the demons run from the one thing they’re fearful of.

Delilah’s golden power.

“She needs you,” Elysia suddenly announces, pushing herself out of Axel’s arms as she comes to quickly.

My hands are off Lenox before I realize what I’m doing. I rush to move back but Nolan places a hand on my chest and shoves. “We have him, go!”

I look to Lenox, and despite the shock that’s thundering through him, his pain seems to have lessened. He dips his chin, the only go-ahead I need and the only reason I turn away from him.

Elysia wraps her hand around my wrist before I can get too far and stops me. Her eyes grow glazed, and I know better than to interrupt her.

“For you, child, are the only one who can defeat those who threaten to bring us to our knees.

Spread your wings and you shall find, that your gold shimmers as do I.”

Elysia stops as suddenly as she started, but her words—the prophecy—leave me in tatters. Even Lenox tries to sit up and Harlow blinks her eyes open, paying attention to what she’s saying. They seem to bring everyone together despite the pain that’s evident on all our faces.

Lenox crawls, his fingernails digging into the bloody soil as he pulls—heaves—himself beside Harlow. Yet she can’t seem to believe that he is breathing, let alone moving.

Pulling my gaze from the reunion, I turn back to Elysia and the prophecy that will change all of our destinies.

Swallowing thickly, I whisper, “What does that mean?”

“You know what it means, Knox.”

“Spread your wings and you shall find that your gold shimmers as do I.” My words falter, tapering off as every stark realization since the moment I met my mate comes barreling through my mind.

The nickname that fell upon my tongue the first time I laid eyes upon her.

The color of her wings.

The nature of her personality.

The magnitude of her power.

The ancient feel of her magic.