I focus on the vortex as Cy makes a sharp right with the plane and we begin flying in an arch next to it. Dimithinia calls out in Ritrioan as I brace myself and scan the vortex.
Where’s her soul, damn it? Where?
My eyes land on a specific spot and the mark on my neck roars to life with a vengeance. I’m almost knocked off my feet.
It’s her. I can’t see her but I feel her in every cell of my being. Waiting for Nylicia to give us the go is almost impossible.
I’m out of the plane the moment she gives the signal.
The power of the vortex is both catastrophic and awe-inspiring. It tears at my skin and threatens to displace me. Flesh is shredded faster than it can grow back, and within seconds the bones on my arms are visible. I can only imagine what the rest of me looks like.
This is how she died. What she went through.
Clenching my teeth, I ignore the pain and send out a pulse of my own power just as Zen drops into the vortex behind me.
Focus. She’s right there. Don’t think of anything else. I mentally call out for her in my desperation.
A tiny spark spirals to life feet from me.
A spark that my soul recognizes instantly.
I slam another wave of energy behind me to propel myself through the vortex. It isn’t enough. Raw, megalithic power pummels my flesh and pushes me backwards.
My immortal body struggles to repair itself as it’s torn apart, but it’s obvious I don’t have much time left.
Furious and determined, I send out wave after wave of energy, fighting to move forward. Blood pours out of numerous wounds and whatever Nylicia did to give me strength suddenly wears off.
For a second, I doubt I’m going to make it.
I reach out my ruined hand, destroyed fingers stretched out.
The tips of my fingers touch it.
I let out a cry, forcing the last of my energy out of my body in one huge sonic wave.
Almost. Almost . . . come on, I’m fucking dying . . .
My vision blacks out and I lose consciousness just as I feel my hand connect with her soul.
.
.
.
.
.
A shock of new energy burns through my veins.
Ismini.
Slowly, my lids peel open and the roar of power around me registers in my ears once more. It takes me a few seconds to realize what’s happening.
The R’mannev just went from being my enemy to my ally in one second flat. One moment I’m sick and weak, the next I’m recharged and in fucking control.
What’s left of me anyway. At least forty-percent of my body has already been ripped apart.
Have to get the fuck out of here. I stare down at the tiny energy orb glowing in my fist. I can’t lose you, damn it. Another wave of energy hits me right in the face and cuts open my forehead. Blood spills into my eyes. More power crashes into me and I feel my jaw crack.
Nylicia, damn you!
“I’m trying!”
I refuse to let go of Ismini’s soul. Groaning viciously, I use the last of my strength to hang on just a little bit longer.
The soul in my hand literally pops, expanding and becoming denser. It pushes my fist open, growing larger than I can hold. I snap my arms around it once it’s big enough.
Another wave of the vortex’s energy slashes the skin of my back open. More blood spills out.
A huge explosion goes off around me, and the world goes white as I’m ejected from the vortex.
Heat. Flesh. A body.
She’s in my arms.
My chest caves in with relief.
I’m holding my R’ma as we spiral at hundreds of miles per hour back towards the ground. I don’t have enough power left to dematerialize.
But I’m not letting anything happen to her.
Turning us, I use my body to buffer the fall. I land on the desert floor, and the impact rips open what’s left of my back. Arms tight around my female, I skid into the mountainside. It shakes dangerously, pieces of rock landing around us.
Alright. So I’m still powerful enough to break landmasses.
Seconds later, something hits the ground about twelve feet from me.
It’s Zeniel with Evesse passed out in his bloody arms.
I look down, needing to see her again.
Ismini.
My Ismini.
Shaking from the exhaustion and gratitude, I hug her to my chest and revel in her slow heartbeat.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zen cradling Evesse, his face lost in her neck as he rocks back and forth.
We did it.
We all fucking did it.
I groan, trying my best not to cry like a pussy as I nuzzle Ismini’s cheek and breathe in her scent. Leaning back, I move her hair so I can see it.
My mark.
After thousands of years of hating Fate, I suddenly have a good reason to be grateful.
A very good one indeed.
CHAPTER 30
ISMINI
“B y the gods, baby girl. I thought I lost you.”
I know that voice. Hot lips ghost softly across my cheek, my neck, that specific spot. I gasp, heat rushing through me. My back arches.
Fuck, wait. My back? Huh?
That voice again. More kisses raining down on my skin.
Wait, skin?
Do dead people have skin?
My eyes open, and the bright sunlight makes me cringe. I close my eyes. Blink. Try again. When my vision finally clears, the first thing I see is the mountain. The same one I died on.
Wait. I did died here, didn’t I?
“Ismini.”
Oh my God, I’m in his arms. His. “Dyletri?”
“Fuck.” He pulls me tighter against him.
The smell of his blood slams into my nose. Another gasp escapes and I turn my head towards him, meeting his relieved gaze.
Then I see all the blood. All the gashes. The catastrophic wounds slowly stitching themselves together all over his body. “Dyletri . . . you’re . . .”
“I’m fine. Fucking perfect. You’re back.” He cups the back of my head, fingers digging in tight. His lips land on mine, and heat explodes between us. His blood slides into my mouth. I cling tighter to him, moaning hungrily. His teeth pierce my lip, mixing our blood.
Dyletri groans into our kiss, his hands lifting me. Lips not letting go.
Lust floods my heart, reigniting all of my nerves. My inner walls throb, empty, screaming for him as he positions me so I’m sitting on his lap.
I slide my pussy on the hardness of his cock underneath me.
He kisses me like he’s trying to suck out my soul. If he feels anything like I do, I can’t blame him.
More blood slides into our open, dueling mouths. His sinks an incisor into my lip again. When he lovingly cups my neck and rubs his thumb over his mark, I almost come. “Wait . . . what . . .”
The sound of a plane landing behind us breaks us apart. Dyletri rests his forehead on mine. He’s panting harshly against my lips, his taste tempting me to eat him. “You’re back. Thank the Fates, I got you back.”
The tone of his voice squeezes my heart. I take him in again, seeing the multiple wounds that are struggling to heal. “My God, what happened?” I ask, cupping his jaw.
But I already know the answer to that. I’ll never forget how that vortex tore me apart, until there was nothing left of me.
“It’s okay. I got you back. They’ll heal,” he murmurs, kissing my cheek, and he pulls back.
My eyes widen. What the hell? White, purple, cerulean? Mouth agape, I stare at the large mark covering his neck and curling around the lines of his tribal tattoo.
“Wh—what? Dy . . . what?”
Raising my arm, I see the same exact colors reflected in my aura.
No fucking way.
“You are mated to me.” I don’t know which feeling to go with; delirious happiness or guilt.
What happened to Dimithinia? Did the s
acrifice fail?
I remember sensing her presence right after I died. As if her soul had brushed against my own.
“Fuck yes. And I got you back. Come here, baby.” Dyletri’s eyes are slightly unfocused as he pulls me back to him.
I’m lost in his kiss. There’s only him and his gorgeous cock that I’m dying to have inside me once more.
Eve’s name drifts through my mind.
I rip my mouth away from Dyletri’s. “Oh God. Eve! Where’s Evesse? She jumped in after me. Oh God . . .”
“He has her, baby. Calm down. Zen has her.” Dyletri tries to soothe me as I look to my right.
Zen’s cradling my unconscious friend like he’s afraid to let her go. His face is buried against Evesse’s neck, and his shoulders are shaking. He’s just as bloody and injured as Dyletri.
“And Dimithinia?” I’ve seen too much of her history. Condemning her to an eternity of suffering, locked inside the Underworld, isn’t an option for me. I won’t be able to live with that on my conscience.
“I am right here, Ismini Harrovnian. And I am very, very grateful to you, even though I do not deserve your consideration.”
I turn, eyes wide.
The appropriate response would be some kind of fear, no? Some kind of guilt since I’m straddling the god Dimithinia still loves.
A god who has my mark on his neck.
A god that almost died for me.
Possessiveness explodes to life inside me. My lip curls back with a low, vicious growl.
Ashamed of myself, I slap a hand over my mouth. Inside me, a war rages. The bond yells at me to destroy my rival. Bust her face in for ever having touched my male.
The gorgeous woman smiles kindly at me, as if she understands. She has black hair, bright, blue eyes, and features so exotic and perfect that I want to gouge her eyes out that much more.
The emotional connection I have with her is as strong as ever. I’m beyond ecstatic to see her here.
And yet, that doesn’t make me want to kill her any less.
How the hell am I going to control myself around her?
I lower my hand. Acting sane right now is the most I can hope for. “How are you here? How am I here?”
“Were you not willing to help bring me back? I want this fool under you to be happy. You make him happy. You are his mate. And you, Ismini, were once willing to die for our happiness and to save people you do not even know. Why would I not help?”
You see? Stop being psycho. She doesn’t feel anything for your R’mann. Stop fantasizing about destroying her.
When I look at her again, I hear another dangerous sound bubble up in my throat.
I cover my face with my hands. “I’m so sorry. I can’t control it.” The need for violence has me shaking uncontrollably.
Dyletri hugs me to his chest. “Shhh, baby. It’s okay. Trust me, I get it.”
“I . . . I . . . am so confused,” I mumble into Dyletri’s chest.
“What is it that you do not understand?” Dimithinia asks.
Even her heavily accented voice is sexy as hell.
Jealousy rises to mix with the possessiveness. I’m downright envious of this woman and her history with my mate. “Don’t you . . . aren’t you . . . him . . . Dyletri don’t let me go. There’s something really wrong with me.” I curl into his lap, holding on for dear life, and squeeze my eyes shut.
I died to bring her back and due to this mating force, I’m going to be the one to take her life again. How fucked up is that?
“Oh, Dyletri, she is adorable.”
Did Dimithinia just call me adorable? That just makes me feel like more of an asshole.
“I know.” His tone makes some of my irrational jealousy melt away.
“Ismini, I thank you for your sacrifice, but the Fates did not bring me back for him. He is not mine, and I am not his. That is your headache to handle.”
“Shut it, woman.”
Annnnnd . . . The jealousy’s back.
Those two really need to control their level of playfulness with each other until I figure out what the hell to do about this problem.
I lean up on Dyletri’s lap and turn to see Dimithinia giving him a stoic, unapologetic look. “I’m really, really glad you’re back. I’m just having a hard time right now.” My voice is shaky.
Dyletri cups my chin. “Ismini, baby, I love you. Do you understand that?”
This god loves me?
Of course he does. He risked his immortal life for me. He’s mated to me.
Just like that, Dimithinia’s forgotten.
“Little one.” Dyletri smiles and adjusts me on his lap. “I’m in love with you. Not someone else, but you. Get it?”
I still can’t reply. My heart’s threatening to explode out of my chest.
“For the sake of the gods. For my sake. Will you please just tell the being under you that you love him, too, so we can move on from here?” Dimithinia asks, her voice amused.
I manage to nod as I stare into Dyletri’s silver and blue eyes, and I finally find my voice long enough to say, “What she said.”
“Really?” Dyletri seems pleased even though he’s trying to look hurt.
“I love you, too.” With a little gasp, I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze tight. Mine. Mine. God, he’s really mine. “I’m so sorry I acted like a jealous psycho.”
“Baby, I told you. I get it.”
Right on cue, Cy skids to a stop next to us. “Iss!” He grabs my face and plants a huge kiss on my cheek. “You’re back!”
Dyletri leans closer to him, muscles tensing, incisors bared. The sound vibrating behind his teeth is a thousand times scarier than the one I threw at Dimithinia.
“Easy, mated one.” Cy falls backwardss into a sitting position with his hands up. “I’m just glad to have her back. Jesus, I guess I shouldn’t go check on the other one, then.”
“Don’t try. I just did!” Ian calls out.
I hear another dangerous growl floating through the air.
Ian pats Dyletri on the shoulder, a smile on his face, too. “Fuck me. I haven’t seen something this awesome in a while. When’s the Ziaphrite?”
“The what?” I raise my eyebrows at him.
“The mating ritual, baby girl. It’s the ceremony that fully bonds us. When do you want to do it?”
I whirl around in Dyletri’s lap. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
His lips curl slowly into a smirk. “Something like that.”
“Oh my . . . okay.” This girl right here is officially overwhelmed. “Okay. Get me back home. Let me make sure my friend wakes up. Give me two seconds after that to assimilate all this so then I can say yes.”
Nylicia fades into view. Despite seeming weak, she’s glowing with happiness. As she passes Cyake, her eyes land on him and I see a brief flash of what seems to be rage in them. It’s gone too fast for me to be sure. “Umm . . . Ismini . . . I think that was your yes.”
There’s a huge smile on Dyletri’s face.
“Huh?” What is she talking about?
Everyone breaks out into laughter, which of course confuses me more, but Dyletri just squeezes me tight. “Let’s get you guys home so we can take care of your friend. After that, you’re all fucking mine.”
CHAPTER 31
Four days later.
– Enzyria
DYLETRI
I ’m aggravated as fuck as I follow Zen down the steps of the compound not even a week later. “So you’re just going to leave? She’s not even awake yet. Don’t you think she’d like to have you here when she does?”
“I have no choice. Understand that. It’s . . . it’s not forever. I can’t stay away from her forever. Trust me. But I need to go away long enough to learn to control this. For fuck’s sake, Dy.” Zen spins around. “Look at me!”
I am. Zen’s eyes have completely changed. Overcome with black, the one spot of color in them are his glowing red irises. Red and black marks have begun to appear on his face as well.
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Last time I saw him like this, the War Erencei—the actual term for demons—Mavrak had been at the fore.
It’s who he was born as. Before he lost control to his powers of Vengeance, Mavrak had been my friend.
And the irony is that, that male, before Vengeance took over, was Zeniel. He doesn’t remember it, but I do. Same personality. Same way of feeling. Everything.
I want to tell him that but he’ll never accept it. Will never accept Mavrak. Vengeance tore through five dimensions when he lost control. The death toll was twice as large as the last war.
“Fucking hell, Zen . . .” I run a hand through my hair, knowing what the marks mean. It’s just a matter of time before he loses all control to Mavrak. We have no idea how to help Mavrak deal with his out of control powers.
We were clueless then; we’re still clueless now. Zeniel and his powers of Tranquility were supposed to be the answer.
How fucking naive of us all. Mavrak and Zeniel are the same person. Split in two in a way even worse than Salicyar and I. Eventually, those two halves were going to be forced to meet again.
This was inevitable.
“Yeah. Look, Dy. You’re at peace with Salicyar, which is good. Even so, he was never as dangerous as . . . him. She’s not even awake, and just being near her . . .”
“This happened because of her, didn’t it? You came back from Earth after I sent you to get her and you were already showing signs.”
He says nothing, his jaw pulsing.
“Don’t fucking tell me Mavrak broke free . . . Did the girl commit a sin in her past?” This can’t be happening. Not to him. I refuse to accept it.
His nod nearly lays me out flat. “Mavrak wants to get out to get at her.”
One of my best friend’s might end up mated . . .
To a female his powers of Vengeance want to kill.
No. Nylicia wouldn’t lead him to her if that was their destiny. “It won’t end like that. You are destined for each other. When she wakes up—”
“Nylicia said it will be a while before that happens. Her death forced her to deal with things she wasn’t ready to face. It exposed all of her weaknesses.”
“But that’s my point. You’re running Zen, like I did. And take it from me, pushing it back is not the solution. It’ll only come back to bite you in the ass. You have to make peace with your other side, man. Maybe then you can control it.”
Ryze Series: Books 1 & 2 Page 21