Roark grunted from over my shoulder and took it from me. “It’s in Fae. Rian wrote it.”
I watched him, anxious to know what it said. As soon as he scanned over the symbols, his face went cold and harsh. “What is it?”
“Let’s go.” He grabbed my arm and toted me out the door.
I wanted to argue, but I sensed the severity of the letter in the very lines of his body. He led me out through the staff exit, pushing through doors until we’d exited through the back of the hotel. Towering trees lined the back of the hotel.
“We must get deeper into the forest,” he said, looking around. Yeah, this was in no way forest-like at all.
“I mean, if we stick around this collection of trees, I guess it’s relatively forest-y.”
“Civilization is too close.”
“What’s going on, Roark?” I was starting to get scared. I didn’t want that letter to have bad news, but the impending feeling of doom begun to creep up.
“When you end my life, I need you to be in Faerie, as close to protection as I can get you,” he said and swooped me up.
“Roark, what the hell is going on?” I yelled, truly frightened now. He took off at Fae speed, cutting me off. “Roark,” I croaked, the wind whipping the word away.
He stayed around wooded areas and the back of buildings, going too fast for any human eye to see. I knew he had to have heard me, but he ignored me and kept running as he searched for a portal.
I fisted his shirt in my hand, frustrated. He had mentioned me ending his life. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t do that. This was Roark. He’d broken my heart. Hell, he’d broken me. But I just couldn’t even think of him being… gone.
Not only was it because I’d never killed someone, but because he was my mate. I may not want to be with him, but I wanted him kicking around somewhere, regretting that he’d lost me.
Drawn out of the agonizing hypotheticals with his jarring stop, I blinked and looked around. I hadn’t seen where we had been going because the perception looking sideways was always blurry. It was always easier to see everything when I was the one doing the running. He dropped his arms, and I slowly slid down, landing on my toes.
“What was in that letter?” Not much time had passed since he’d read it, but it already seemed to throw a shadow over him. Roark was stiff, and his featured had returned to cold and remote. I was confused, and the look on his face wasn’t helping any. “Why are we going to Faerie? We need to wait for Annie and Rian. What’s going on, Roark? You’re scaring me.”
His jaw worked, and he turned to look at me, his eyes hooded. “Let’s go.”
He strode to the portal, but I’d had enough. I grabbed his arm and dragged him to a stop, gritting my teeth from the effort. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I just—” He ran his hand through his hair. “I knew it would have eventually led to this one way or another, but I—” He paused and turned his back. “I just wanted more time with you.”
“Spit it out, Roark.”
He whirled and stalked closer. “You have to kill me.”
He reached over my shoulder, to the zipper on the backpack. It tugged on my shoulders as he pulled something from within and zipped it back up.
It was the dagger he’d given me.
Roark pressed it into my hand, forcing my finger to wrap around it as he angled the tip against his chest. With a gasp, I pulled away and dropped it on the ground as if it had burned me.
“You have to be the one that kills me, Rae. That’s the only way magic will return. The Queen bound magic because her mate was killed. You heard what the goblin said. You must kill your mate for it to be returned. That’s why the Queen was never able to bring it back. It was impossible since she no longer had a mate—”
“No, no, stop.” I took a step back and put my palms over my ears, shaking my head.
He grabbed my arms, pulled them down, and caressed my face. “Magic is a fickle thing. It’s grown a mind of its own being confined for such a long time. It’s demanding its due. This is the only way.” Roark paused and sighed. “Your sister…” I ground my teeth, wanting him to finish his sentence. “She got hurt. The type of hurt that can only be cured by magic.”
I stepped back, horrified by the words coming out of his mouth. My lips opened as if something was going to come out, but nothing did. I didn’t know what to say.
“S-she what?” My heart raced, struggling to catch up.
He scooped up the knife and pressed it into my hand again. “You have to kill me. You do this, magic is freed, and your sister can be healed.”
He pushed it in, and I felt the blade slicing his flesh. I gasped and pushed him back. With only that small cut, he had to be seen by a healer. He would die of iron poisoning with how weak he was.
“Do you want your sister to die?”
“No,” I cried out and shook my head, taking a step back. The knife shook in my hand.
“Then kill me now.”
I clutched my head. My thoughts were jumbled, and pressure settled behind my eyes. Killing him should have been easy for me. Even with all the sides he’d shown me these last few days, the good didn’t outshine the pain, did it?
Even ruling out who he was and what he meant, I was no killer. I’d considered it plenty of times, but never seriously.
There was only one person I’d ever kill
