She was in there. Druan had locked her in the time vault and it wouldn’t open for a hundred and fifty years, assuming he found the key. Even if he did, he’d be dead by the time she could be released. She would wake as he had, with everything she knew gone, her family and friends dead.
“No!” His roar of anger echoed off the stone. He punched the wall with his fist. Druan had stolen everything else. He would not steal her. Faelan touched the engraved symbols, trying to reach her. He’d take another time vault and get one of the warriors to lock him inside, leaving a note so he and Bree could be awakened at the same time. He didn’t care that it was breaking the rules. He’d face Michael when the time came. Who would do it? Ronan? Faelan’s talisman grew uncomfortably hot.
He remembered the vision of the archangel, the kindness in his eyes, the voice leading him here. Why would Michael bring him to Bree if she couldn’t be rescued? She wasn’t ordinary. She’d saved the world. She’d survived looking at an engaged talisman and destroyed a halfling. The talisman was painful now. He had an idea, but if it didn’t work, he risked killing himself and her, too.
Uttering one last desperate prayer, he readjusted the symbols, setting the talisman to destroy, and aimed it at the lock. The air grew heavy as the words flowed from his tongue. A rumble rolled up through the floor. A flash of white light shot out from his talisman, followed by a loud pop. Colors flashed, blue, orange, and green as Faelan was flung against the wall.
Chapter 35
Faelan pulled himself up and stared at the time vault. He grabbed the lid and threw it open. Bree lay inside, her eyes closed, face bruised. A trail of blood ran from her neck, staining her collar. Faelan barely had time to recollect the puncture marks on Russell and the vampires hidden among the demons, when Bree’s eyes flew open, and she screamed. Clawing her way out of the time vault, she shoved past him and ran for the door. Shock dulled his senses. She was halfway through the graveyard when he caught her.
“Bree, stop.” He leapt and grabbed her, pinning her arms when she tried to struggle. They fell over a headstone and crashed to the ground. He rolled on top of her. “It’s me, Faelan.”
She stilled. He eased his hold and leaned back, giving her room to breathe. She lifted her face, but it wasn’t red eyes and fangs he saw. It was terrified green eyes, human eyes that widened with recognition. And he could see the blood was from a gash on her neck.
A tiny sob escaped her lips as she touched his face in disbelief. “You’re not dead. Oh, God, you’re not dead.”
Faelan sat up and pulled her against his hammering chest. She was alive. In his arms, safe. They sat there, clasped together, unable to find words.
“I can’t breathe,” she finally gasped, trying to pull away.
Had the time vault damaged her? Or his talisman? “Are ye hurt?”
“No. You’re crushing me.”
Faelan eased his hold. “I thought I’d lost you.” He patted her face, her hair. “I’m sorry I let you go. I didn’t want Druan to find you. To know how much you mean to me.” His voice was raw, his face damp as he pressed it to hers. Her tears or his, he didn’t know.
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight, then leaned back and gripped his shoulders, panic in her eyes. “Jared is the demon, not Russell.”
“You’re safe now. He’s gone.”
“You destroyed him?”
“I had to. He released the virus.”
Her eyes widened. “He released it?”
“My talisman was already open, or it would have been too late.” She would’ve been the only human to escape annihilation.
“You did it. You saved the world. Wait… what year is it?”
“It’s been only four days.” Four agonizing days.
“What about one hundred and fifty years? And the disk? I heard the guards say Jared hid it in one of the towers.”
“I used the talisman.”
“You aimed it at the vault… while I was in there?”
“It was either that or get Ronan to put me in one, so I could wake with you a hundred and fifty years from now.”
“You can do that?”
“I don’t know. I was going to try. I couldn’t let you go. Did he do this?” Faelan asked, looking at the cut on her neck.
She nodded. “I told him I wasn’t interested in helping him repopulate the world with halflings.”
Faelan remembered Grog and the other body hanging in the castle. Druan’s obsession with Bree had probably saved her life. “Did he… hurt you?”
“I don’t think so. When I woke, someone was carrying me to the time vault. I saw the lid closing and knew I’d never see you, even if you’d escaped.” She looked back at the crypt and shuddered.
Druan had put her inside the time vault awake! Faelan stood and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get you inside and cleaned up. You’ll need rest, and there are things I have to explain.” He swung her up into his arms and carried her across the torn backyard, through the kitchen, and into her bedroom. He put her on the bed and pressed his lips against her forehead. “I’ll be back. I’m going to get a washcloth. I want to clean your wound.”
“I need a shower to wash off this blood.”
