Immediate regret filled me as I remembered how I’d treated her. How I’d lost control of my temper and yelled at her, just like her mother—I’d been afraid for her safety, but it was no excuse. I was disgusted with myself.
A whimper echoed in the sleeping room.
In a blur, I flung myself at the lower bunk on the opposite side of the room and knelt before her.
It took me a second to realize Scorpius and Orion crouched beside me.
I turned to my mates with confusion and asked, “Did you experie—”
“Yes,” Scorpius cut me off.
The silence among us was fraught with angst and regret as we processed what we all knew.
We knelt together in disbelief.
Disciples at her altar.
Since we’d all been affected, it was obvious what was happening—the bond sickness had connected us to her memories. It was punishing us like we deserved.
“No, Mother, please,” Arabella whispered in her sleep as she tossed and turned before us. Her forehead glistened with sweat, and her covers were a mess. She slapped her arm back and forth like she was trying to fight off an invisible assailant.
I ordered, “Wake up,” as Orion shook her gently and Scorpius patted her face.
She whimpered louder.
Then she opened her mouth, bowed her back, and silently screamed.
Helplessness churned in my gut. I hated that I knew exactly what torment she was experiencing.
“Please,” I begged as my mates tried frantically to wake her.
Nothing worked.
She continued to thrash about.
Suffer.
We couldn’t wake her, but I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Flames exploded across my shoulders, and red blurred my vision.
They had desecrated my Revered. I needed vengeance, or I was going to burn the war camp to the ground and murder everyone within it. Embers fell around me as I turned to my mates.
“We need to make this right,” I said roughly. “I refuse to do nothing.”
“I agree.” Scorpius cracked his knuckles. “We need to go now, or I cannot be held responsible for my actions.”
The eye tattooed on his neck shot wide open. It stared down at Arabella’s thrashing form.
I nodded in agreement, flames crackling hotter across my shoulders.
“One of us has to watch over her,” Orion whispered. “I’ll stay.” He caressed her sweaty blue curls as she thrashed about.
“Then let’s go.” I grabbed Scorpius’s arm to guide him and stalked from the barracks.
We ran through the snowy forest. It was eerie at night. The once steaming ground was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow slammed against us from all directions.
The white contrasted with the vibrant green and rich brown conifer trees.
It was nothing like the shades of blue and gray that had painted Arabella’s vision.
What was wrong with her sight? What was that crushing sense of emptiness she felt?
I couldn’t breathe as another terrible thought struck me. Did Arabella still experience the world this way? Had we made the emptiness worse?
We’d failed our Revered in every possible way.
For a second, I stopped running and tilted my head back to the storm.
I inhaled.
It smelled like winter and rage.
It smelled like her.
The fire crawling beneath my skin intensified like it recognized her presence in the ice. Flames multiplied on my shoulders. The urge to unleash my powers spiked dramatically.
Sun god, I’m ruined for her.
When we got to the strategy room, I threw open the door with a bang and unlocked the desk’s drawer. Then I grabbed the RJE device Lothaire had given us before the war started.
The world whirred.
Crack.
We disappeared.
Only one thing was on our minds.
Vengeance.
Chapter 13
Aran
ALONE
Tenebrous （adjective）： causing gloom.
DAY 8, HOUR 14
Mouth open on a silent scream, I jolted awake and sat up straight.
I cracked my forehead against wood.
Sun god help the idiot who had designed the cramped bunk beds, because I was going to hunt them down.
“Oof, that sucks.” Orion was sprawled out on his bunk across the room, reading a book.
We were alone.
I rubbed at my forehead and winced. The clock on the wall showed I’d slept late into the day.
Seeing the question in my eyes, Orion smirked and said, “The twins and demons are bringing you back food from the cafeteria. It’s just the two of us.” He winked seductively. “Wanna hang?”
I flopped back onto my covers. “Yeah—myself.”
Orion laughed loudly, and I startled as I realized he’d been speaking to me at full volume. His voice was as beautiful as his face.