Page 207 of Heir of Broken Souls

Something within my gut twists, making me back up as I call again, “Hello?”

I shouldn’t have wasted my breath because as the shadow moves out of the darkness and into the light of the gas lamp hanging between our two cells, I cease to breathe.

The gasp that flies from my lips is muffled by the hand that slaps over my mouth as I sob once more.

A man comes into view, with a pair of eyes I could never in all my wildest dreams forget.

Scrambling forward, I wrap my hand around the bars and reach through them, tenderly touching his cheek. As I come into contact with warm skin, I whip my hand away as if I was burned.

One word, one name, rings through my mind. It should be impossible and yet the ghost from my past looks at me through the iron bars as if I am his salvation.

An ethereal voice begins to whisper in my ear, chanting the phrase over and over.

Open your eyes and come alive, golden one. It’s time for their demise.

The chanting stops as soon as it started, adding to the shock thundering through my bloodstream. Words finally rise up my throat, moving from my mind to my tongue.

“Is that really you?” I ask.

He heaves, his eyes filling with a sheen that make my own tears fall.

“I’ve been waiting for so long.”

The sound of his voice makes me want to scream with delight, but all that manages to come out is one single word.

“Ace,” I breathe.