A Crown of Blood

Chapter 11

I was free-falling for a moment. And then the cold ground collided with my hands and knees, and the shock of my fall snapped me back to reality. I'd leapt from the balcony without a second thought. Another shock of lightning tore across the clouds as though an ancient force gutted the stars, and each drop of rain felt like the stab of a needle, and my muscles screamed with fury. But I didn't care. Because across the long patio and grass, behind the trees, Damon laid motionless on the rocks, his skin smoldering where the lightning struck him.

"Damon!" My throat became raw from screaming his name over and over. He didn't move. Didn't do anything. Icy panic lashed up and down my spine as the wolf screamed, howled, and begged to get to him quickly. This couldn't be happening. "Damon!"

Rocks and twigs cut into my bare feet. I slipped and staggered onto the rocks.

He laid motionless on the rocky landscape, his eyes closed, the smell of burnt clothing and skin invading my nostrils, sending bile shooting up my throat. No, no, no, no. The mating bond tightened in my chest—a golden thread between our souls—and the wolf yanked as hard as she could. Wake up! She screamed. Wake up!

He was breathing. Thank Artemisia he was breathing. Grabbing him quickly, I tore the smoldering clothing from his chest and gasped at the sight: long, blazing red veins of magic glowed in spindly branches across his skin. The magic surged at my touch, zapping me, and I fell back on my heels. "What..?" I touched his cheek. The magic zapped me again—this time so strong, it stole my breath away. "What the fuck is going on—"

Halina...

There was that voice again. I thought it was the mate bond between our wolves.

Halina...

My head snapped up. Across the rocks, in the center of the lake, with long red capes and large black staffs, three witches unlike any I'd seen before floated above the water. The wind tore through their hair as they stared at me with bottomless black eyes, red runes eerily similar to the lightning strike on Damon's skin skittering across their faces as if it were alive.

Teeth bared in a vicious snarl, I jumped to my feet. "What did you do to him?" Ripping them to shreds would be easy, I thought, echoing the wolf's sentiments. We'd start with those terrible eyes.

Halina...

The voice multiplied to many, yet neither one of them opened their lips. And as they floated closer, I saw the horror: their mouths were sewn shut. My thoughts raced. I needed to get Damon to safety. I needed to get away from those fucking things.

Beneath me, Damon wheezed. "Halina..."

"Shh, shh," Eyes never leaving the witches, I knelt beside him. "It's okay. I'm here."

I made the mistake of looking at him. He was pale. The red veins turned black. His lips were blue. Those beautiful eyes—they were gone. Jumping away, I slipped and nearly cracked my head on the boulders on the water.

The alpha's fate, the witches whispered between the wind. Thunder cascaded over the landscape in long, melancholy rumbles. If you choose to make him yours.

"But he is mine," I croaked. My mate.

Another pained moan rattled from Damon's lifeless body. I'd never felt pain like this before.

What you seek and what he seeks cannot exist in the same space without fatal consequences. Take this as a warning, Halina.

I shook my head. "This doesn't make any sense."