A Curse of Shadows - Page 106

“I forgive you, Dad. Whatever brought you to this point, whatever allowed this darkness to take hold of you, I hope you find peace with that, but for taking my mate, there’s a price to be paid.”

A crease forms between his furrowed brows, and I know he’s heard me. That’s enough.

With the power of Aurora and the dark energy now pulsing through the dagger, I don’t wait for his response. I drive the tip through his chest, straight into his heart.

As the blade burrows deeper, the dark cloud of black magic moves from me to him, consuming his body with a finality that I know he won’t come back from.

“Be at peace,” are my final words to him and I truly mean them.

As furious as I was before, hearing how bitter and power-driven he was changed everything for me. I don’t want to hold on to this hatred. I just want to be with my mate, like I always should have been.

He turns to ash right in front of me and the moment he’s gone, so is Aurora’s energy along with the dagger. While I’m thankful for what it did just now, I hope to never feel her essence within me again.

I turn around and my chest constricts at the sight of Grayson’s lifeless form lying next to Isla. Estee sits between them, holding on to the only family she has left in this world.

My mate begins to stir and I’m at her side in the next second. She blinks rapidly, her eyes wide with fear. “What happened?” Estee sobs louder, answering the question before I can.

Isla’s gaze finds her father’s lifeless body. Her shoulders go rigid and when I reach to hold her, she shakes me off. “No.”

“I’m sorry, love. I’m so fucking sorry,” I tell her through the bond as I helplessly watch her shake Grayson’s body, begging for him to wake.

Even with Gideon’s death, there’s no victory here.

“Dad!” Isla cries louder, holding his limp form to her chest.

Estee clings to her as they weep together. I wrap my arms around both of them, attempting to hold all the pieces together, even though I know it’s impossible.

Movement catches my attention a moment later and I blink away my own tears until I see my mother beginning to sit up. With everything else, I forgot she’d been tossed aside, but Gideon doing that might have unknowingly saved her life.

She covers the lower half of her face as our stares meet and she sobs along with us.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

ISLA

There is only soul-crushing anguish as Estee and I hold our father’s unresponsive body in our arms. I only just got him back. I didn’t have near enough time with him. I’m not ready to lose him again, not so soon.

Yet I know in that moment the dagger pierced his skin, he was gone. And with the way his veins turned black, this isn’t the same as what took the two of us out. No, this was meant to end a life, not to curse one.

Though he can be reborn. We can wait and see him again one day. It might take decades, and this is still heartbreaking, but this isn’t the end. I hope.

Maybe I’m wrong and he’s cursed to never return, especially since the dagger was meant for me, but I can’t think that way. Not when I was so close to having almost everything back.

Asher’s fingers wrap around my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Isla. I don’t know how he moved so fast, but your dad, he saved your life when I might have been too late.”

“We can’t control fate,” I tell him, doing my best not to be consumed with grief and, thanks to our bond, knowing Asher is also battling with guilt, I add, “None of this is our fault. Not mine or yours. At least it’s over now.” I glance back down at my father. “We’ll see him again, one day, and I know this is what he wanted. He knows we’re at peace and safe and now he can be too.”

Estee holds Dad’s hand tighter. “Daddy, please come back. I know Mom is there, but we still need you. Tell the gods you want to come home.”

There’s a chance he’ll stay for Mom, but maybe, considering the power Asher was just wielding, we can get both of them back.

With that hope in mind, I turn to my mate, moving to stand. He helps me and we take a few steps away from Estee. “Why were you glowing?—”

My words are cut off as Sosheena limps toward us. She’s gasping for breath through her tears and keeps her eyes on the ground. There’s blood on her face and thanks to her pale skin, she looks decades older than she did… Gods, was that really just this morning when I last saw her?

She’s not speaking even as Asher tries to talk to her. Her feet barely lift from the ground as she walks, hiccupping through the tears. Even though Gideon turned out to be a vicious man, my heart still hurts for her. It breaks for the woman who just lost her mate, who realized her whole life was a lie, and now, needs to find a way forward.

For the years I knew Sosheena while I was growing up here, she was always a strong woman whom I could look up to. She might feel shattered just like the rest of us do right now, but she’ll make it through this. We’ll make sure of it.