Rogue Soul (The Mythean Arcana 3) - Page 87

Incredible pain tore through her as the limb yanked free of her flesh, leaving a great gaping hole. Through the pain, Ana swore she could feel the oak’s regret. But all she could see was the glee on Druantia’s face.

Ana fell to her knees, then toppled backward, lying so that in some cruel twist of fate, she could watch Druantia’s face as her blood seeped into the earth in an ugly parallel of what had happened here so many years ago.

The distant sound of Cam’s roar of pain echoed through her as he fell to his knees beside her.

Mortal. She truly was mortal enough to die. Trees crashed around her, the ground trembling with the impact.

She felt Cam’s shaking hand on her cheek, tilting her face toward him. “Ana, Ana, Ana.”

She tried to talk, but could only cough.

“Damn it, Ana, I love you.” Pain laced every syllable.

He loved her?

“You’re so close to having a life on earth. Fight this,” he said, grief for her loss clear on his face.

Fight it? There was no way to fight a giant hole in her chest. She would die.

Though her vision was going black, she caught sight of her tree looming behind Cam. So close to the rest of her soul and to Cam, yet so far away.

Her tree stood strong, as if waiting for its compatriots. Finally, as Ana’s vision became nothing but a blur, the trunk began to crack and lean. The oak crashed to the ground, and as it did, a whoosh of something glorious filled Ana’s being. It filled in the hole created by Druantia’s last strike until the pain was but a memory. It continued to flow through her, filling holes she hadn’t known existed.

Her soul. Half of it had been trapped in that tree, and she’d never had any idea she’d been missing it. But everything was so much brighter now, so much fuller. And she was healing. As a Mythean would. No longer mortal.

She gasped, the first decent breath she’d taken since her wound, and opened her eyes to see Druantia’s withered form. She was halfway to mummification. Within seconds, she was nothing but dust, as if she’d aged 2,600 years in a minute. Behind her, Ana could see the wisps of souls flying from the downed trees, up into the air and away toward freedom and peace.

“Cam.” The words were rough in her throat.

“Ana, you’re healing.” His voice was awed.

She turned her head to look at Cam. His cheeks were wet.

She reached a shaking arm up to touch his face. She could see him now. Could really, truly see him. In the light of understanding and their past. All the hesitation that she’d felt over her feelings hadn’t been about him. They’d been about her. About her being unable to feel so much because she lacked half her soul. But, oh, how that had changed.

With the last oak fallen, the witches ceased chanting and silence fell upon the forest.

“Cam, I—”

His voice rode over hers, thick with concern. “We need to get you back to the university.”

“We all need to get back,” Cora said. “The worst is over, but the forest must settle. It’s dangerous here.”

Cam nodded and swept her up. Ana realized that the time for speaking her heart had passed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Cam laid Ana upon the bed in the infirmary at the university, worry wrapped around his heart like barbed wire.

“I’m fine.” She coughed, a bit of blood marring her lips.

“You’re not.” He pushed gently on her shoulders when she tried to sit.

Behind him, Esha demanded that a nurse help her sister, while Cora helped a wounded Vivienne to the bed in front of her. Bright light shone through the windows, illuminating the long room studded with narrow beds placed at regular intervals. Healers rushed to the beds, inspecting Vivienne’s crushed torso, a testament to the strength of the Pechs.

Cam felt a pair of hands brush at the wound in his back. Another healer. He reached around, pushing them away. “Help Ana first.”

“Really, I’m fine,” Ana said. “I think the other Dryad souls helped me heal. I’m a bit tender is all. See to Cam’s back. And Aurora’s arm.”

Tags: Linsey Hall The Mythean Arcana Paranormal
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