“I’m not interested in apologies,” he says. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”
“What are you interested in?” My gut clenches. “I demand to know the truth.”
“Why do you think I’m here?”
“Because you’re following me—stalking me! You think that just because you saved me you can claim me!”
He shutters his eyes, mumbles something unintelligible under his breath.
“You held me in a locked room—bolted from the outside—with no way to escape! You held me hostage against my will—and tried to keep me weak, so I wouldn’t be able to leave!”
“Is that what you think?” His face clouds with pain.
“That’s what I know! Now where the hell is Dace?” I start to push past him, only to have him grab hold of my arm and pull me tightly against him.
“Don’t,” he says, his gaze fixed on mine. “Trust me, you’re not ready for that. It’s worse than you can imagine.”
I try to jerk free, but it takes a few attempts to succeed.
“You won’t like what you see,” Axel warns, but I dismiss it with a wave of my hand. Following the set of tracks that lead to my broken, bloodied, but still breathing boyfriend.
twenty-two
Dace
I wake from the dream with bleary eyes, a foggy brain, and the memory of Daire’s sweet scent clinging in a way so insistent, so real, I instinctively roll onto my back and thrust a hand before me in a foolish and desperate attempt to make contact. Trying not to picture myself as I really am—a tortured mind, a wretched body, with five stupid fingers grasping at air—refusing the truth my heart knows too well.
She’s not there.
Never will be.
This is a place of deep fetid darkness and gloom. Home to demons, those who hunt them, and the soulless, like me.
A light as bright as Daire’s has no place here.
Even that strange glowing man was quickly overcome. Took only a matter of minutes to see his radiance permanently snuffed and diminished.
Still, my longing to gaze into her glittering emerald eyes and taste her sweet lips manages to persist. My need far too fervent to be tempered by something as simple as truth, I continue to grasp and pull and yearn until I wear myself out, burrow deeper into the earth, and wait for the dreamstate to claim me again.
twenty-three
Daire
I drop beside the crumpled form, my fingers frantically digging through layers of earth. Clearing his back of debris, I grab hold of his shoulder and try to roll him onto his side, only to have him mumble something incoherent and push me away.
“Dace—please, it’s me!” I cry, trying to make him face me again, but he’s quick to deny me.
“He’s gravely injured and severely traumatized.” Axel’s voice drifts from behind. “He’s been down here too long to believe it’s really you.” His tone is straightforward, containing no hint of smugness, and yet the words manage to grate to no end.
Determined to ignore him, I lean closer, press my lips to Dace’s ear, and urge him to open his eyes and see that it’s me. Only to have my heart sink in despair when he shrinks from my touch and squeezes his eyes tightly shut.
“Either end me or leave me!” he croaks in a voice so damaged, I barely recognize it as his.
“I will never end you. And I have no intention of leaving without you,” I say, managing to force him onto his side until his face is just inches from mine. “Dace, please!” I beg, reaching for the key at my neck and holding it up before him. “You must remember this, I’m sure that you do. I wear it as a symbol of our love and I gave you one to match.” I slip a hand under his bloodstained sweater, hoping his key is still there, that he didn’t lose it on his hellish journey here. Breathing a sigh of relief when I curl my fingers around it and bring it to his face. “Tell me you remember. Tell me you haven’t forgotten the time we spent together.” I press the keys together until they’re perfectly matched, then I lower my lips to his and kiss him until he finally relents and kisses me back.
His lids flutter open. His eyes meet mine. And when I see the emptiness inside, my heart collapses in my chest.
Soulless.