“It doesn’t matter,” I growl to myself and everyone else. “Whatever they want, they aren’t getting it from her. Not while Damrion and I still draw breath. And she isn’t dying for it, either.”

Damrion nods in agreement, his gold eyes burning with steely resolve. "Agreed,” he snarls. “If it’s important enough that she’s willing to let them torture her rather than give it up, I’ll let this world burn before I let them take it from her.”

Chapter Nine

Abigail

Ilie on the cold, hard slab, my gaze fixed on the ceiling of the cavern. Water drips onto my cheeks, mixing with the tears that stain my face. Or perhaps all of the dampness is tears. I don’t know.

My entire body aches, each breath bringing more pain. It seems as if I've been here for years, stuck in a hell of their making, though I know it hasn’t even been a full day.

The Forsaken have stopped tormenting me for the moment, but it’s only temporary. They're afraid if they push too hard, they'll kill me, and then they'll never get what they want. I almost wish they’d get it over with already.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Every new vision is a fresh hell. Every whip of dark magic pure agony. If Adriel and Damrion feel even a tenth of what they’re doing to me through the bond, it’s going to destroy them. And I’m too exhausted to keep the barriers in place for long.

Footsteps sound on the cavern floor, drawing closer. I flick my gaze toward the sound to find the same Forsaken who has been in charge of my torment walking toward me, his yellow eyes locked on my face.

My hands curl into fists, defiance and wariness shooting through me.

"Are you ready to cooperate, Seer?" he asks.

"Go to hell," I spit.

No matter how many times he laughs, the sound still sends chills down my spine. There’s nothing human in it, nothing warm. "Hell doesn't exist, Abigail. But I can make you wish that it did."

He lifts his hand, his fingers curled as if to call his dark magic. I brace myself for another round of torture, but it doesn’t come.

A loud noise booms through the cavern, followed by an inhumane scream that dies in silence as quickly as it began.

The Forsaken leader pauses, his head whipping toward the entrance to the cave.

My heart pounds against my ribcage, fear and a desperate kind of optimism fighting for dominion. I try to suppress the surge of hope rushing through me, but I can’t. I cling to it, praying to any God who will listen that Adriel, Damrion, and the Fae have found me.

A second later, a bright Light blazes to life outside the cave, burning through the dark. Chaos erupts, the sound of fighting and the screams of dying Forsaken growing louder.

A sob of relief rips from my throat. They’re here. The Fae and the Valkyrie are here! Adriel and Damrion are out there, fighting for me.

The Forsaken leader sneers, rage contorting his misshapen face. But he can’t hide the flicker of fear in his yellow eyes. He knows what that bright Light means.

"They're going to kill you," I say, smiling for the first time in hours.

"Go ahead," I spit back, defiance swelling within me despite my fear. "If I die, I'll die knowing that you'll never get what you want."

“Perhaps.” He lunges toward me suddenly, one pale hand shooting out to wrap around my throat. “But do you think they can reach you before I sever your bond with your mates?” He smiles, a cold, terrifying smile, as he squeezes, cutting off my air supply.

There is no doubt in that smile, no lie. He’s absolutely certain he can do what he says—sever the bond between me, Adriel, and Damrion.

Terror surges through me, vast and infinite, the need to protect my mates and our bond overriding everything else. I lash out, and pure, bright Light blazes to life inside me in a way it hasn’t since I burned the Forsaken and varulv out of Eitr.

All day, I’ve tried to reach it to defend myself, and nothing. But in this moment, for my mates and our bond, it surges through me in a brilliant burst—as hot and wild as the sun.

It radiates outward, engulfing the Forsaken.

But he doesn’t burn like he should. He merely lights up, glowing the way the Fae do when they’re channeling Magn.

I stare in horror. Why isn’t he burning? What twisted magic could possibly protect him from this?

A furious roar echoes through the cavern before I have time to consider the problem further, and my heart soars.

Damrion!

“Get your hands off her, you soul-damned bastard!” Adriel snarls, the menace in his voice unmistakable.

The Forsaken hears it too. He releases his grip on my throat, allowing me to pull in a breath. He spins, dark magic flying from his hands as he sends it hurtling across the cavern toward Adriel and Damrion.

My lungs burn as I gasp for air, my vision blurring from the sudden rush of oxygen. I don’t see his magic miss Adriel and Damrion, but I hear it crash into the wall of the cavern, shaking the entire mountain.

He turns and flees deeper into the cave.

"Abigail!" Damrion’s voice slices through the haze.

I hear their pounding footsteps a second before I see them racing toward me, their lyststål blazing in their hands. The fear and fury on their faces make my heart ache, but they’ve never looked so beautiful to me.

They land on their knees beside me, reaching for me as one.

"I knew you'd come," I sob, tears pouring down my cheeks as they use their lyststål to burn through the chains binding me to the cold slab. As soon as the chains fall away, they release their weapons, grabbing for me.

“I knew you’d come,” I sob again, falling into their waiting arms.

"Of course we did," Damrion breathes, his words tinged with a fierce protectiveness that sends more tears pouring down my cheeks.

"We will always come for you, Abigail," Adriel vows, wrapping his body around mine, clinging to me as if he doesn’t intend to ever let me go.

To my surprise, Damrion wraps himself around Adriel, holding us both, sheltering us in his strength. Adriel leans against him, his head against Damrion’s chest. And for the first time, I see peace in their eyes, as if, for once, their wounds have finally healed and they’ve found their way back to one another.

I release the barriers keeping them out of my soul, sobbing desperately as I feel what I haven’t before now—their bond with one another.

It’s beautiful. So damn beautiful.

“Adriel, Damrion,” I breathe, staring at them in awe.

“Shh, ást-meer. We’re right here.”

“Together,” Adriel promises.

I bury my face in his chest, bawling as I realize just how close I came to losing this, to never having this moment. That thought breaks me in a way the Forsaken couldn’t.

I shatter, falling into them.