Page 81 of Heir of Broken Souls

Lifting my hands to reveal swirling golden power, Peter tsks.

“I wouldn’t if I were you. One step, even anotherflickerof magic, and your friend dies.”

Injustice slams into my heart. Hatred burns in my veins, forcing me to tamp down on a snarl.

“He is not who you truly want,” I say as calmly as I can, but my voice still shakes with fury. “Put the blade down and take me.”

A saccharine smile spreads across his face as Ace closes his eyes and a tear rolls down his cheek.

“How lovely of an offer. Unfortunately, you’re not ready yet. Not fully, shall we say,developed. You’re useless to me.”

My hands clench into fists. Peter tracks the movement, but it’s Ace who breaks the silence and yells, “Take care of him!”

Panic envelopes me.

No, there’s still time… I still have time…

“Your pain, however, tastes so delicious.”

And with a wicked grin, Peter yanks the sword across Ace’s neck.

A scream rips from my throat. Panic, fury, sorrow, grief—it all slams into me at once. So powerful I fall to my knees and scramble—crawl—to Ace.

Tears swim in my eyes, blurring the sight of his decapitated head until I kneel beside him, sobbing in earnest as I try to fix him, as I try?—

I peer down at black hair, not brown. At sapphire eyes.

I’m staring at Knox’s decapitated head.

A dark female laugh rumbles from behind me. Turning, I see Hazel as she steps into my line of vision carrying the sword dripping with Knox’s blood…

I’m utterly helpless as I scream.

* * *

The scream dies on my lips as I catapult forward, not in a dark room but in a luxurious cabin. My hand juts out, finding Knox sitting up beside me, rubbing circles along my back.

I cling to his hand, needing to feel the warmth of his touch as blood pumps through his body.

Alive.

Alive.

Alive.

“Breathe, Angel, breathe,” Knox says soothingly.

I shake my head. My breath is choppy, my chest heaving as I shake from the adrenaline the dream caused. My gaze flies around the room, trying to name all the items I see to distract me—to gethisface out of my mind.

The crackling fire in the fireplace.

Dark magic lord.

The candles lit along the top of the mantel.

Dark magic lord.

The sheets twisted around my ankles.