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.
Chapter Ten
Abigail
As soon as I’m safe, the Fae retreat, leaving behind dozens of Forsaken and varulv. Rissa and Tori send blasts of Light blazing in our wake to ensure no one follows as Adriel and Damrion pull me into a waiting van.
Everyone else piles in behind us. My mates refuse to let me out of their arms. They hold me close the entire way back to Eitr, murmuring soothing words to me. I lose myself in their embraces. Their warmth seeps into me, easing the pain and banishing the chill.
By the time we arrive back in Eitr, the sun is a bright ball overhead—at least it would be if it weren’t for the perpetual haze hanging over the mountain.
Adriel and Damrion release me only long enough for Rissa and Tori to wrap their arms around me in a fierce hug. We cry together.
“Thank you,” I whisper to my sisters.
“You never have to thank us, Abigail,” Rissa says, squeezing me gently. “What they do to one of us, they do to all of us.”
She doesn’t know how right she is. But now isn’t the time to have that conversation, either. There will be plenty of time for that later—after I have time with Adriel and Damrion. Right now, I need that more than anything.
I think they need the same thing because as soon as Rissa and Tori release me, they’re drawing me back into their arms.
“Come, little seer,” Adriel murmurs, lifting me against his chest.
Damrion brushes tangled strands of hair away from my face, his fingers gentle against my cheek.
They carry me up to Damrion’s chamber. Despite being their leader, his suite is no larger and no more grand than anyone else’s here. Fur rugs cover the wooden floor. Ancient weapons glint dangerously from the hand-hewn walls. The intricately carved bed takes up most of the room.
We bypass the bed, Damrion moving ahead to sweep open the door to the en-suite bathroom. Adriel ducks through, carrying me inside. It’s the largest bathroom in the house, though it feels small with Damrion and Adriel standing shoulder to shoulder.
Adriel gently sets me on my feet as Damrion moves to the shower, turning knobs and adjusting the spray. Within seconds, he’s back at our side, pressing into me from behind.
His lips brush the side of my throat, his strong hands running down my side as Adriel tips my head back.
"Abigail,” Adriel murmurs, leaning forward to brush his lips across mine in a featherlight touch. I still feel it like a gong ringing in my soul. “Let us take care of you, ljúfr.”
I nod, dazed by their gentleness. lulled by the feel of their hands on me after hours of nothing but endless pain.
Adriel smiles—that rare smile that makes my heart soar—and then slips his hands beneath my shirt. His palm against my skin sears me as he gently tugs my shirt up over my head.
Damrion joins him, his calloused fingers equally as gentle as they strip away my clothing piece by piece. The air between us crackles with love and devotion, the kind forged through shared experience and pain.
