AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 27
Taveon
Taveon’s hearthad never hurt more than it did in that moment. This was all his fault. Bree’s strange trance-like state was all because of him. Because she felt compelled to help him. Because he had been unable to help himself. And because he had been too afraid to tell her the truth abouthim.
But Taveon also knew that Bree would have gone through with it even if he had told her who and what he was. It would not have stopped her. She would have insisted on sacrificing herself to save the raven, to savehim.
And now he would have to do the same inreturn.
Bree had not only brought him back, but she had saved his court as well. When the walls had collapsed between them, he had heard everything. And he had seen everything that had happened since she had closed herself off to him. An army of outposters was on the way, led by a desperate Queen willing to sacrifice every outposter life in order to get the power she had always craved. Taveon had always known that she would not stop at the outposts, that one day she would come for histhrone.
And now that day hadcome.
Taveon knelt beside the bed and took Bree’s hands in his. Oh, how things had changed. Only days ago, she had been the one comforting him while he had imagined the feel of her skin under his. He tried to talk to her through the bond, but only silence answered. Wherever she was and whatever had happened to her, it was not the same curse that had been cast uponhim.
No, this was something else. This was all Taveon. A punishment for his power. A reminder of just how dangerous he couldbe.
Taveon closed his eyes and sent every ounce of his healing power toward Bree. He still felt weak from being stuck inside of his own mind for days. But he still managed to find every ounce of power hecould.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a warning sounded. A warning he had never heardbefore.
It knocked against the bond with a sharp blade, threatening to break his connection with Bree. His heart ached. Tears pricked his eyes. Even in the short weeks that he’d been so close to her, he had begun to depend on that connection he had with her. She liked to close herself off to him, but never completely. She was always there, inside of him and around him. She was in his soul, and he was in hers. And it was the kind of link that he never wanted to letgo.
If you heal her, the tiny voice said,it will break the bond between you. She has used a power no mortal should ever use. There must be payment inreturn.
Taveon recognized the voice. He had heard it in his mind before, but it had been years. He had started to think that it was gone. He’d thought he’d managed to shake it off. But now it was back, slithering into his ears like the snake itwas.
It broke Taveon’s heart to let go of his connection to Bree. He doubted he would ever feel that close to anyone ever again, no matter how many centuries he might exist in this realm. But he would not let her die because of his ownloneliness.
Taking a deep breath in through flared nostrils, Taveon poured all of his power into Bree’s slack form. Pain shot through his core as the bond between them snapped in half. A cut that he knew was permanent. He would never again be able to hear her voice in hismind.
Emptiness consumedhim.
