Page 41 of Heir of Broken Souls

Elysia looks away, gutted, her eyes now lacking the warmth that was present with Axel. “I beg to differ, this has everything to do with your mate.”

My body stiffens before I can hide the vulnerability. My palm lands on the hilt of my sword strapped to my hip. I’m utterly exhausted from the battle and the sight of all we lost. The destruction of my city and the deaths of my people. But I will never tire of defending Delilah.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she mutters. “You’d be killing the only person in these lands who knows how to decode that little prophecy your mate received, the one with all the answers we seek.” She smirks. “And yes, it’s a prophecy. Not a vision, not a dream, not a memory.” She clicks her tongue. “Oh, and the archangels very much sent it themselves.”

My heart lurches and along the bond, I feel the wave of nausea that assaults Delilah.

“What do you know of the dream?” she asks, her voice hard.

“Did I not just say what it was? You and I both know it wasn’t adream.”

With the shield now lowered, Axel’s footfalls reverberate through the ground until he stands right beside me. “They may not want to kill you, but I have no qualms about slitting a woman’s throat. Stop playing games,” he growls, dangerously low. “And spit out whatever the fuck you came here to say so you can leave.”

The grip on my sword tightens, but not because of Elysia.

Elysia’s brow quirks in surprise. “You would truly kill your mate? Isn’t it impossible to harm them?”

Before I can move Axel rushes for her, placing his hands on either side of her chair, making Elysia’s breath quicken. He lowers his head an inch from her lips and grits, “I’mnotyour mate.”

He pushes off before I can pull him away, making the chair wobble back and forth. Elysia’s cheeks flush a deep crimson color.

I find I’m, for once, out of my depth. My gaze slides to Delilah.Should I intervene?

I’m not touching that situation with a ten-foot pole.

I can’t help but snort.Such a way with words, my angel.

Speaking of words…“How do you know about the…prophecy?” Delilah ventures.

Elysia composes herself, pulling her gaze away from Axel. “Simple. You weren’t the only one to receive it.”

“Is that right?”

Elysia cocks her head. “You don’t believe me?”

“No,” Delilah says dully.

She rolls her eyes, waving her hands at me. “Just go into my mind and get it over with. I’m over the court politics.”

Take me with you, Delilah says.

Wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, Angel.

A look passes between Axel and me at the order I give him in his mind to guard us while we’re vulnerable. With a subtle dip of his chin, Axel straightens, his hands resting on the hilt of his sword, and I lace my fingers with Delilah’s along the bridge and pull her into my mind.

Chapter16

Delilah

I’ve never been within a mind outside of my own and Knox’s. It’s perplexing how each person deals with things. Like how one can choose a path of denial, another turns to substance, or how some, like myself, decide to shove their worries into a neat little box and throw it into the darkness of their mind. Hoping and praying to never see the inside of its contents again.

Elysia’s mind, however, is full of doors and locks. As if she’s protecting herself from her own mind.

She’s compartmentalized everything, built her walls with iron, the sturdiest of them all. But the strong exterior hides such darkness and sorrow it pains me to walk through it.

Knox and I pass through each wall, feeling her body shudder as we witness her life. It’s startlingly similar to mine.

With a father full of hatred and rage, Elysia and her sisters were confronted with his wrath daily. Their mother tried everything within her power to protect her daughters, but it wasn’t enough.