Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(58)

My heart beat as if I’d run a marathon, but it had nothing to do with my outing and everything to do with the man bent over his forge, glistening in the sun like an ancient Greek god.

After double checking the way was clear, I slipped inside and hid in the shadows by the back wall. “Hey, Doc, mind closing up shop for a bit?”

Rowan dropped his hammer, his hazel’s filled with an emotion I didn’t understand. He cursed under his breath. “You shouldn’t have come here. You just don’t think, Princess.”

Princess? “I was careful,” I said, jutting my chin forward. “Gods, it’s stifling in here. Why are you working in the middle of the day?” It dawned on me that he’d told me he only smithed at night for just that reason.

I gauged his posture. His shoulders were stiff, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the hollow of his cheeks twitching. The hair on my arms rose just as the door to his back room opened and Strati flooded inside the open walls.

I drew steel, but before I could engage, one of the soldiers poised a blade at Rowan’s ribs.

“Think well, darling,” Zale said, strolling out from the back room looking like a well-dressed peacock in full preen. “You don’t want more blood on your hands than you have already, do you?”

My gaze snapped back to Rowan and the Strati standing at the forge. The odds were bad, but I’d fought worse. Rowan had a sword billet right beside him. If he made any move for it, if he did anything to defend himself . . . anything other than let them take him hostage I could—

Zale’s stupid face broke out in a gloating grin.” You should know, Princess, we have your little scorch. If you want your pet unharmed. . ..”

Coal? They have Coal. What about Terran?

My breath left my lungs in a rush. As quickly as my mind and muscles could react, I broke my stance, laid my blades onto the back bench and raised my empty hands.

“All of them,” he demanded.

My hands shook terribly, whether from fear or fury I didn’t know. It took great effort to empty my pockets. In the end, every gift Rowan had given me was left abandoned.

“That’s my girl,” Zale said, his smirk lifting with malicious intent. “I told your mother you could be trained—given proper motivation. We just need to get you in the mood for our wedding and then I’ll have you all to myself.”

I stared over at Rowan and swallowed the bile burning up the back of my throat. How could things have gone so wrong, so fast?

Rowan met my gaze. Disgust and anger burned in his eyes and struck me like a physical blow. Rowan and Elani would suffer for this. They would both pay for him getting involved and helping me in my fight. In just a few short days, I had ruined everything he’d endured to protect his sister.

Bruin’s deep timbre growled in my mind. “It was an accident you’ve said. You didn’t mean it, you’ve said. Fuck, Lexi, your actions have consequences. You hurt the people around you and don’t even see it until they’re lying there bleeding.”

My reflection stared at me from the polished surface of the metal wall. I clutched my chest, sure my heart had shattered. Mika, Tham, Eury, Coal, Rowan, Elani. All of them either had suffered or soon would because of me. Bruin was right. I hurt people. I did this.

Darkness hit fast as my mind shut down. I let the blackout take me. I deserved nothing less.



“You have to go back, Lexi,” Tham said, swinging the hammock with one leg draped down and his toe against the forest floor. With the gentle sway of our bodies, we watched the dappled afternoon light dance between the lacework of leaves above us. “As much as I love our time together, you can’t stay here with me indefinitely.”

I snuggled tighter to his chest and breathed in the suede and outdoor scent that was Tham. “Stop being logical. A few more minutes, ‘kay?”

Tham squeezed my shoulder and kissed the side of my head. “It is your dream, neelan. You hold all the power.”

I sighed. Dream, vision, or visitation from beyond the Fade, I didn’t care. Tham came to me when I needed him and that was enough for me. “If only that transferred into real life, maybe I’d know how to get everyone out of this mess.”

“You will, sweeting. I have faith in you.”

“Well, that makes one of us.” I closed my eyes and soaked in Tham’s warmth. It was unnerving to not hear his heart beat beneath his open vest. Dead or not, he possessed the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever known. “Will you stay with me? It’s silly, but I feel stronger knowing you’re watching over me.”

“I swear it.”

The moment the sky clouded over and Tham sat up, I knew the evil was back. Cold tendrils crept over my body, seeking, probing. The icy slither snaked its way into my mind and into my chest. The evil lured and coerced, grew to be more and more seductive each time it entered my dreams.

Whatever it was . . . whoever was inching inside me wanted to possess me—take me over and consume me. I felt it to the depths of my soul.

“Lexi,” Tham said, shaking my shoulders. “Go now. Fight for the others as you fought for me. Go. Find your boy and get him away from that female.”

“But, I . . .”

“Go,” he shouted. “By the love of all things holy, listen to me now and go, neelan.”

I sprang bolt upright and kipped to a ready stance. My legs trembled as my fingers grasped at my chest. The darkness of evil dissolved into a phantom chill. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Tham shaking me from the illusion each time, I would never have the strength to fight off the abyss that threatened to consume me.