Page 100 of Lethal Souls

“It’s not guaranteed that you’ll lose me,” she says. “It could only be our Tether that’s broken, but that’s fine. We’ll still have each other, even if we can’t share thoughts.”

“Or you could die all because you keep trying to be optimistic about our fates.”

Her head shakes, and I notice her eyes glisten in the moonlight. Sighing, I drop to one knee in front of her and collect her hands in mine.

“You’re meant to be my wife soon,” I tell her in a softer voice. “We’re supposed to have a wedding, a big day dedicated to our union. You don’t have to do this, Willow. I can protect you and the baby.”

“Not if Selah does to me what she did to Warren and my birth mother, Caz.” She snatches her hand out of mine and storms back inside. I follow her, watching as she flops down on the edge of the bed and drags her hands down her face.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffles. “I’m just so tired of being weak and useless. I want to fight too, Caz. You can only protect me physically, but what about my mind? Selah touched me. She was close to me. She’s on me, Caz. I can feel her! I can’t even sleep peacefully because she’s waiting to strike. She’s lurking in the back of my mind, ready to seize her moment. But if Hassha does this—if she gives me the energy to become stronger, to block Selah out and to fight without so much struggle—I have to take it. It’s better to take this risk than to sit around waiting for the nightmares to get worse.

“What if Selah finds another hole in Hassha’s and Korah’s protection like she did with the barrier over Blackwater? She could sneak her way in and force me to slaughter every single person in this manor, and do you know why? Because I’m the weakest person here. I don’t stand a chance against her. But I could with Hassha’s help, and you know it.”

“It’s suicide, Willow.” Defeat washes over me. She won’t let me convince her. I can hear her thoughts. She’s set on this, and I don’t understand why.

“You don’t know that.” She matches my stare. “In this world, we have to take risks, Caz. Just like I risked going into your mind to stop Decius from overruling you. Just like I risked bringing you to Earth with me without knowing what could happen to you. I will take risks as many times as I have to if it means protecting the people I love. So just…don’t fight me on this. Please, Caz.” She rises, meeting up to me and cupping my face in her hands. “I need you to support me on this. I need you to trust that everything will be okay. We can’t think the worst will happen.”

Clenching my fists, I pull my face out of her hands.

She stares at me, flabbergasted.

“I will never be okay with you killing yourself,” I grumble.

“But I was supposed to be okay with you pointing guns at your own head?” she snaps back.

“That was different! That was before I realized what I was placed in this world to do. You saved my life, Willow. You washed away all those dark thoughts, all that murky water, and made my life clearer. You gave me a reason to live, and now you’re telling me that I have to let it all go? Because that’s what this is. You’re telling me that I have to accept the possibility of losing the one thing in my life that has restored me!”

I can’t even look at her. I’m so angry. I’ll break everything in this room if I don’t leave now. My hands are burning, my eyes too. I feel the energy inside me sparking, riding through my blood, daring to wake up.

“I have to go.” I turn for the door.

“Caz,” she pleads when I yank it open, but I don’t stop.

I can’t. And I’m glad I don’t because as soon as I’m in the corridor, I raise a hand and a burst of scarlet escapes my palm, melting the iron railing in front of me.

SIXTY-TWO

WILLOW

I have no idea where Caz is.

It’s been hours, and he hasn’t returned to our room. He’s angry, that I can feel. He’s not letting that rage go, and he wants me to know it.

I sigh, slipping into a robe and leaving our room. As I drift down the stairs (not without noticing the melted railing), I hear distant murmuring.

It isn’t until I’ve rounded the corner for one of the sitting rooms that I spot Caz and Killian standing near the fireplace, deep in conversation.

Caz hears—or feels—me before I even reveal myself. His head turns, and his eyes lock on mine. They’re cold, distant.

He looks away just as quickly, jaw ticking. The fire highlights half of his face, casting the other in shadows.

“Willow?” Killian calls, glancing between us. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah, Kill. Everything’s fine. Why aren’t you two sleeping?”

“Can’t,” is all Killian says.

Caz doesn’t respond at all.