Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (38 page)

“
Gale,
I was instructed to kill you.”

Everything
around me felt tense, the air smothering. He was holding on so
firmly, I expected him to not let me go when I pulled away,

Miraculously,
he let his hands drift uselessly to his sides. Standing there on the
quiet, empty beach, we watched each other with such similar distress
it was heart breaking.

“
You
wouldn't.” It was as bold a claim as I could make. If he had
hesitated, said nothing, my entire confidence would have shattered.

He
lifted his chin. “I won't, you're right.”

Relief
sank into my bones. So sudden, that pressure releasing, that I
crumbled onto the sand.

Nethiun
was at my side, helping me sit down. “Gale, what is it? Are
you alright?”

Grinning
so my teeth shone, I nodded. “I'm just exhausted. And
relieved, to hear you say that. Before, you told me you couldn't
promise me you could keep me safe from her.”

His
frown was small, but obvious. “I still can't promise that.
Gale, my Mistress... if she wants me gone, she has to merely decide
it. I'm pretty certain once she realizes you aren't dead that she'll
remove me, and then no doubt come after you.”

I
went limp, hands digging into the grainy ground around me. “Just
like that, then. So what do we do?”

“
I
wish I had an answer.” He pulled my jacket around me firmly,
then squinted at my face. “You're white as a ghost. What is
it?”

Thinking
about it, I found myself chuckling in embarrassment. “Nothing
big. I haven't eaten since those oranges last night. All the stress,
everything, I haven't been hungry.”

“
That's
not like you,” he teased.

Huffing,
I stuck out my tongue. “Too bad I can't eat sand.”

Straightening
up, Nethiun glanced out over the water. “Stay here and enjoy
the tranquility. I'll get you something.”

Arguing
was useless, I was too drained. “Alright, but don't take too
long.”

“
Of
course not.” Flashing me one more grin, a look that made me
swell with delight, the twaelin vanished into the void.

Unhooking
my backpack, I used it as a cushion.
Enjoy
the tranquility, he says.
Shoving
my boots off and socks off, I wiggled my toes in the sand.

Maybe
I'm in shock, maybe things are so nuts that I don't know how to
react anymore. But if what he said was true, and he's decided to
stand up against his Mistress to keep me safe...

It
may end up a useless gesture.

The
moon was winking in the sky, casting a ghostly glow over everything.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my fingers to my belly and tried again to
feel for the power that rested in me.

I
didn't get much time to explore. The electric tingle in the air was
an announcement. “Geez, Nethiun,” I laughed, glancing up
and expecting his familiar form, “you really are fast—”

Those
gold eyes, tired, twitchy, watched me from a few feet away. It
wasn't Nethiun who'd appeared, but Ethlyn.

He
was hunched over, holding himself like he was still in pain. One
hand covered his shoulder, the other hung at his side limply.

“
Ethlyn!”
I gasped, struggling to my feet. I was hit by a wave of
lightheadedness from my hunger, but stumbled over to him anyway.
“Ethlyn, I—are you alright? I talked to Valenforth
earlier, he said you weren't doing well, but...”

But
here he is. Why is he here?

He
didn't say anything, only hung his head. Chestnut hair, more
frazzled than I'd seen before, dangled into his eyes.

Bending
low, I hesitated to touch him. My hands paused just over his arms,
twitching in the air. “Ethlyn, hey, Ethlyn! Talk to me, are
you okay?”

He
lifted his head, showing me the empty, insane glint in his bloodshot
eyes. “No, I'm not.”

Oh
God, he looks awful!

Wincing,
I pulled my hands back to me. “What's wrong? Tell me, just
talk to me. I'm so sorry about everything, Ethlyn. I didn't mean for
any of it to happen, I swear.”

“
I
know.” He didn't even smile. “I know you didn't.”

“
Does
it hurt still?” I asked, eyeing his shoulder, the spot he had
hidden.

Licking
his lips, Ethlyn stared lower. I didn't know what he was looking at,
but it wasn't my face. “It... it itches, Gale. It's pulling at
me, screaming to get it back. To take it.”

The
back of my neck prickled. “What?”

“
Here,”
he said, so quiet the waves almost took the word away on the wind.
“There. I need it. Gale, I need it back. I—I'm sorry.”

Bristling
with a rush of fear, I inched my foot back. “What are you
sorry for?”

“
It
itches, it just... it's too much. I'm going to go insane, if I
don't—I need...”

What
the hell is he saying?

“
Ethlyn,
what? What do you need? You're scaring me now.”

Gold
as the sun, yet colder than shadow, the twaelin lifted his eyes back
up to me.

It
was too fast, I hardly saw him moving. That was when I knew what he
had been so fixated on. Wicked fingers glowed blue, ripping into my
belly. It didn't even hurt.

No,
not at first.

Stunned
by the impossibility of it all, I felt his hand digging deep into my
gut.
No,
this can't be happening.
Gaping
down at the limb protruding from me, I noticed I had fallen to my
knees.

Ethlyn
bent over me, blocking out the moon, his face dark as pitch. Even
so, I could see his tears. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he
sobbed. “I need it back, I need
myself
back, I...”

I
tried to speak, but only a bubbling hiss came. My mouth was full of
the taste of pennies.

Blood,
that's blood. I'm dying.

Around
my vision, blackness crawled in like eager ants. Sharp, the pain in
my belly became worse.

Closing
my eyes, I felt numbness kicking in. My brain was drowning, lost as
darkness took over.

Even
so, I heard him. His voice was louder than anything, louder than my
thoughts.

“
Gale!
Gale, no!”

Nethiun,
that's him calling my name.

Screaming
as he was, it wasn't possible to pull me back from the brink of
death.

My
last thought, as I felt the sand brush my cheek, was that I'd at
least managed to tell my mother I had loved her that day.

It
was a small thing, but in our last moments, those always bring the
most comfort.

Nethiun

In
one moment, I'd been holding a brownie in my hand. Something sweet
for Gale, something I knew she would like. My biggest worry, when I
had appeared back on the beach, was that she might question my
morals in stealing the bit of food for her.

How
small it seemed, in hindsight.

Standing
there on the beach, I watched the woman I longed for, the woman I
had minutes ago sworn once more to protect...

I
watched her fall to the ground, an arm buried deep in her belly.

Ethlyn
didn't see me, not until I roared out her name. “Gale! Gale,
no!”

Then
he looked, his eyes reminding me of a rabid animal. Something was
wrong with him, and any other time, I would have wondered what.

I
didn't care about anything but her.

She
had been everything, I'd been willing to risk my life in order to
avoid the torture of killing her at my Mistress's request.

In
a blur, I was on him, shoving him into the ground in an explosion of
sand. “Why!?” I roared, not giving him a chance to
answer.

Jamming
my fists into his jaw, his throat, any place I could touch, I
pummeled Ethlyn without missing a beat.

He
didn't fight back, not once.

Breathing
heavy, blood dripping down my knuckles and staining the once white
shirt, I gripping him by the neck. “Why?” I asked again,
teeth bared. “
WHY!?”

His
face was no longer human, the glowing mass of blueish light
flickering through, leaking everywhere. I knew I was destroying him,
no part of me considered letting him leave.

No,
he wouldn't be escaping this time.

Gritty,
like his throat was full of sand—and perhaps it was—Ethlyn
began mumbling. “I couldn't... couldn't stop myself.. I...”

Throwing
him aside, I knelt beside Gale. I knew she was dead, I'd known the
moment her emotional cloud had snuffed away in a burst of sad
acceptance. That knowledge didn't stop me from cradling her head,
from touching her cold skin.

Pushing
her red hair from her face, as wild as ever even in death, I grit my
teeth.

No,
after everything, no. How could this be?

Behind
me, I heard Ethlyn muttering. It was wet, he choking on his words.
“She took part of me... took it, and I just... I needed it
back. You don't know that pain, you don't know that... that ache...”

“
Shut
up,” I whispered, placing my lips on her cream-colored
forehead. “Just stop.”

“
It
itched, it itched, and... even now, I don't... I didn't get it from
her... I reached into her, where I thought it was, my energy, and—”

Unable
to stand it any longer, I had stood in a whirl, crushing my heel
down onto what was left of his skull.

Watching
the energy melting away in front of me, returning to the source, I
knew I would see Ethlyn again.

I
didn't doubt the Corpse King would bring him back, he always had
before.

For
hours, I didn't know how many, I sat beside the body of the woman I
loved on the beach.

Holding
her in my lap, staring out over the waves, I thought about how wrong
everything had gone.

Hadn't
it only been a few days ago that I'd taken her flying the first
time? Kissed her sweet lips and hungered for more?

Last
night we'd made love.

Today,
I held her corpse.

She
called me a demon, once. Maybe she wasn't so wrong about that, in
the end. The title is fitting for creatures like us.

When
the sun began to rise, I lay her head gently on the ground. I knew
her body would be found eventually, but that wasn't part of my
concern.

I
didn't care about any of that.

I'd
already lost what mattered most.

****

The
throne room was blacker than I recalled it being. Maybe it was just
my mood.

Saying
nothing, I knelt by her manicured feet, hoping I could sit in
silence for eternity.