Crown of Cinders (Imdalind #7)(121)

Cail ran from me to dance with Rosaline as I gingerly pulled the clothes on. Then the little girl ran back to me, a wide smile on her face.

“Come look what I did, Mommy!” she said, grabbing my hand as she pulled me away, tugging in an attempt to get me to follow her.

“Look what Uncle Cail did, you mean,” my brother said, the joy on his face unfamiliar. He smiled wide before throwing the cigarette away from him, nodding his head toward something behind me. “Go see, sis.”

“I helped, too, Uncle Cail,” I heard a pout in her voice, which seemed very far away as I turned, my heart beating in my throat. “Hurry, Mommy!”

Rosaline ran past me into the dark of the cave just as a body came into view, a squat, muscular man groaning and complaining about something as he pushed himself into a sitting position, the long dreads hanging around his face.

Thom.

He was alive.

“See! Mommy! Look what I did!” Rosaline squealed, running right to her daddy, tackling him back down to the ground. His own astonishment washed over the hall.

I stared at them—Thom’s astonishment, Rosaline’s loud giggles—before it clicked inside of me.

Tears streamed over my new skin as I ran toward them, my still healing body stumbling over the uneven rocks in my mad attempt to reach them. Luckily, Cail came to my rescue, holding my arm as I made it over to them, only to collapse back down.

Thom and Rosaline wrapped me up in their embrace, laughter and tears and unbreakable joy cementing themselves in this moment.

In me.

“Mommy!” Rosaline yelled joyfully, planting a big wet kiss on my cheek. “Daddy!” she yelled even more loudly, giving Thom a kiss just as large.

Thom’s eyes met mine for the first time, tears spilling down his cheeks as his joy seeped into me.

I felt it, too.

The happiness.

But it couldn’t last.

Rosaline pulled us back into a hug, her arms tight as she pulled our heads together, another laugh tickling in my ears.

“We’re all free, Daddy!” she announced, her voice quick as she plunged into the usual titter that was so familiar, something that had been so missed. “Mommy killed Sain and released us! Cail saved you because he says he likes you, and he thinks you need to be with Mommy. I quite agree, although I am still not sure I like your hair like that. It looks silly.”

Thom laughed at that, a deep rumble that moved inside his chest and exploded into the hall in a sound of pure joy that I hadn’t heard for centuries. The sound smacked against me, jumpstarting my heart in a flurry of butterflies that I hadn’t felt for quite some time.

“I like his hair,” I said, and Rosaline turned toward me, her lip jutting out in a pout. “It’s better than that stupid hat.”

Thom’s laugh deepened, and Cail joined in. Rosaline looked between us all in confusion.

“I’ll explain when you’re older.”

I said the words without thinking, the impossibility of that hitting me as the laughter stopped, as the joy in Rosy’s face fell and Cail sat down beside us with a look just as grim on his face.

“This isn’t forever,” I provided, the joy in my heart turning to lead as I suddenly had far too much trouble breathing.

“It’s for good-bye,” Rosy said, her voice breaking as her own tears dripped from her eyes, staining the ash that had fallen on her face. “It’s for now. I’m not gone forever—”

“Just for now,” Cail finished for her, wrapping his hand around mine as he held on tightly, his eyes glistening.

“Just for now,” I repeated.

Thom wrapped his arms around me as he pulled me into him, Rosy curling up in our laps as she began to cry, pulling and gripping my hip. Her tears fell in my lap as Thom’s dripped onto my shoulders.

“I love you, Mommy,” Rosaline cried, holding onto us more tightly. “I love you, Daddy.”

“We love you, princess,” Thom gasped. I was surprised he could get the words out, while I could only cry, the words broken and mutilated by my sobs.

“We love you.” Cail gripped my hand more firmly as I tried to speak, looking at him once more, the pressure from his hand leaving as he faded into nothing and the weight of my daughter on my lap leaving also.

The tears flowed, Thom holding me tightly against him as we cried together, the sound of our sobs increasing into a roar that seemed to move into the stone around us, into the cave, shaking it.

It took me a moment to realize it was not the pain of our breaking hearts that was causing it. It was from something deep inside the cave, something that was ripping apart.

“Thom,” I gasped, my magic reactivating into the familiar heat as it, too, began to sense what was happening.

Thom looked up at me, the same look of panicked realization clear.

The cave was coming down.

“Run.”





RYLAND





31





Her panicked breaths echoed inside the long corridors I soared through, rumbling over the stone as they bounced back to me. The panic and fear in the sound were a delectable prompting. She wasn’t far ahead, only steps, only one dark turn.

I was almost to her.

Don’t let her get away.

Staying as quiet as I could, I floated above the stone floor as I tracked her, careful not to alert her to my presence. I was sure she knew I was following her, but if I could convince her I had lost her, I might still have a chance … as long as she didn’t stutter. I couldn’t follow that.