I stiffened and pulled her closer to my chest protectively.
What was he playing at?
My Protector instincts flared. How dare he speak to our Revered like that? How dare he disrespect her so callously?
It was sacrilegious.
Arabella’s lips, which were turning blue from blood loss, curled up into a mocking smirk, and she mouthed, “Go fuck yourself.” Her skin was a disturbing shade of gray.
My Ignis smiled, tipped his head back, and bellowed to the night sky.
Flames shot from his mouth like a dragon.
Scorpius grabbed Corvus’s flaming shoulders and said, “Get the fuck away from her. What is wrong with you?” He voiced my thoughts as he pulled our Ignis away from our precious Revered.
The twins ripped off their hoods and formed a protective shield with their bodies.
“Are you okay?” one of them whispered to Arabella and stroked her cheek.
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Clearly, I’m fine.” Even bleeding out with a gruesome wound, she was sarcastic.
I would have laughed if my insides weren’t curdled with fear.
A dimple appeared on the twin’s cheek. It was John, and he poked her nose. “Little Smurf idiot got stabbed.”
Arabella struggled in my hold like she was going to fight him.
I tightened my grip as agitation flared sharply in my gut because everyone was acting deranged and she was bleeding out in my arms.
“We need to get her help!” I shouted as I backed away from the other men. “Who the fuck has the RJE?” My voice was loud and raw, power sizzling in my veins.
Everyone stopped moving.
I’d entranced them.
Arabella was the only one unaffected; she squirmed against my chest and stared up at me, her wide navy eyes misted with shock. She no longer radiated cold, and her presence felt small in my arms.
I studied every curve and plane of her face.
The jagged scar beneath her eye and the dark circles from exhaustion enhanced the otherworldly nature of her beauty.
She was the only person in all the realms who was completely unaffected by my voice. While I didn’t enthrall Corvus and Scorpius, my voice still triggered my mates’ powers.
Arabella seemed completely unaffected.
She was perfect—she was also gravely injured.
Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and pressed another kiss to her forehead. “I will never leave your side, ever again,” I promised huskily.
Her skin was unnaturally cold beneath my lips.
“I don’t forgive you,” she breathed out with a harsh rattle.
Snow gathered in the curls that stuck out around her head in a fluffy halo.
I held her tighter against my chest and whispered, “I know, sweetheart. You don’t have to.”
She winced but pressed her face into my shoulder. Her hand splayed across my chest, and her fingers curled.
Bells tinkled, and snow drifted.
No one else existed in all the realms but the two of us.
Seconds expanded. The ground beneath my boots metaphysically shook as an onslaught of emotions battered me.
Something tender spread between us.
It was the same feeling I had when I’d realized what her name meant.
The science behind soulmates was nebulous because the unique composition of an individual’s soul changed how the bond interacted.
I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and held her close.
Startling clarity gripped me. It wasn’t a coincidence that she was the only person I could speak to freely.
It was fate.
We were destined.
I clutched her against my chest as snow kissed our cheeks and steam rose around our feet.
Fate had brought us together.
The moment broke as the men stalked toward us as the compulsion ended.
“I have an RJE,” Corvus said as he answered my original question.
A device whirled.
All four of them lunged toward Arabella at once.
Crack.
I staggered but held both of us upright as I fought off the dizziness of traveling through space.
Shaking my head once, I turned and ran through the quiet forest, down the path. I cut through trees so I could get to the medical barracks quicker.
Throwing myself inside, I laid Arabella down on the first white cot. One of the twins collapsed on his knees by her side and grabbed her hand.
He whispered to her quietly.
Corvus screamed for the doctors. Cherry blossoms floated around my Revered and covered her stomach, like they were trying to heal her.
The doctors gasped as they took in her ruined stomach.
“Enchanted sword wound.” A doctor shook her head. “It’s too much damage.”
An empty bed exploded in flames.