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Chapter 180
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Iridian Chapter 181
Instantly, I understood.“I’m nothing if not traditional.” Dain murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he sank onto one knee. His throat worked as he swallowed, his eyes fixated on my own, shimmering with a mixture of hope and worry. “Rachel…you’re the mate I never thought I’d meet, and the one I knew I didn’t deserve. This isn’t how I anticipated things would go, not one bit. I never planned on wanting to keep you, but the second you won Iridian and stepped foot in my castle, I couldn’t imagine letting you go. I told myself I’d win you over by showing you the beauty magic could bring into your life. I hoped that in doing so I’d eventually earn your affection, even though that’s something I’m still not sure I deserve…” The color across his cheeks deepened, his eyes concealing flashes of shame. “I’m not a good man, not entirely. It’s not merely my plan that’s motivating me to do this, but the desire to keep you—to have you at my side for eternity. This thing between us, this game wh
Iridian Chapter 182
“With everything on your plate, I’d be a bit stunned if you didn’t have nightmares.” Dain said soothingly, purposefully leaving out the real reason for my abrupt awakening.The hand he used to draw soothing circles along the dewy skin of my back was more distracting than I’d like to admit and kept my heartrate from calming for obvious reasons. If it wasn’t desire that swarmed my thoughts, it was guilt.More often than not, those two emotions would appear at the same time, chasing one another into a restless oblivion that usually included a headache.It wasn’t just Aidan that evoked that emotion, but his—“Have you decided when you wanted to see them?”With the mention of his twin sisters, I was plunged back into the blood-stained nightmare that had sent me sprinting headfirst into consciousness.It had felt like hours in that throne room, slowly draining the life from Aidan as his sisters watched—as my entire family watched. The only one smiling was Nadia, and though the pale bull at
Iridian Chapter 183
For a second, I’d thought the White Bull had retreated, knowing its days were numbered as they ticked away on the calendar, but I’d been wrong. The closer the wedding and mating ceremony became, the more restless its presence seemed to become. Every couple of hours, I could feel it stirring. Deep within the abyss it carved within the furthest depths of my mind, it’s voice would slither forth.It played on my doubts, fears, and the darkest of thoughts I’d never admit had come from my own mind. Now more than ever, I had to resist.In between the back and forth with the wedding staff and juggling time with my family and with Dain, I found spare moments to sneak into the archive room and the numerous libraries around the castle, all in search of information on the ancient force of evil I’d been battling.What information I found was troublesome and had already been given to me by the bull itself.The few who were tricked or lulled into letting it slither into their minds, they never laste
Iridian Chapter 184
“Well, isn’t this beautiful.” Mom’s hum of appreciation pulled me from my tumultuous thoughts, and my failing search for some fragment of information in regard to the ancient Bulls.With the wedding planned for tomorrow and not a single new idea on how to rid myself of the White Bull, I’d officially run out of options.Speaking to Aidan’s sisters had helped cleared my conscious some but had done nothing to ease the guilt and grief that hovered over me like a looming cloud.Tomorrow, I’d be fighting two battles, one mental and the other physical. It was a disaster waiting to happen, but I’d never utter the words aloud. Instead, I planned to fight—with every fiber of my being, I’d fight.Mom padded over from behind a cluster of stacks, over to the wooden table I stood hunched over. When I felt a tap to the center of my back, I straightened up and met her concerned eyes.She’d been worrying more and more lately, both about Zack and me. It had taken quite some time and a healthy dose of r
Iridian Chapter 185
He knew. This entire time, he knew.The moment I saw the picture and the sickening heat of embarrassment and betrayal gripped my throat; all reason had been tossed out the window.It didn’t matter that he’d been nothing more than the Game Master at the time, or that I’d been clueless about my true role in all of this.All that mattered was that he lied—he pretended not to know when the truth of what I’d done was crushing me alive, tainting every moment we had together.I’d resisted him and the pull of the mate-bond because of what I’d done, but not only did he not care that I’d murdered his brother—his last remaining family member, but he knew this whole time.For the duration of my short life, I’d always been quick to anger, but this was different.Instead of a raging inferno that boiled the blood in my veins and made my skin flush with heat, I was swallowed whole by the very presence I’d been fighting for two weeks, consumed by the hatred it injected into my thoughts.The White Bull
Iridian Chapter 186
Lingering in the empty space in-between each erratic heartbeat that wracked my chest, floating within the moments that marked each slow blink my eyes made, that was where the Black Bull lived.Time gave no warning as it slowed, prolonging the last thuds of Dain’s dying heart until each beat roared like an earthquake in my ears, chasing the sound of his voice and those last haunting words he whispered to me.“Forgive me, darling…forgive me for failing you.”More than anything, I wanted to tell him he hadn’t failed me. I wanted to beg him to act while he could, to use the darkness he commanded to end my life, but I knew he wouldn’t. Dain saw murder, while I saw my freedom.The darkness he had unleashed into the training room was no longer vicious but condensed itself around its master and exuded a sort of melancholy that made the deepest parts of my soul ache. It wanted to protect him but wouldn’t harm me to do so.Instead, it kept him company in his final moments.Within the furthest r
Iridian Chapter 187
Free falling into the very abyss I spent weeks running from wasn’t wrought with fear or anguish like I’d expected.It was peaceful. A slow decline into oblivion—into pure nothingness, with only Rayna’s steadying gaze to ground me.It wasn’t instinct that led me to reach towards her, but the same unearthly voice which had sung to me the only resolution in my fight with the White Bull. Rayna met me halfway, stretching until the muscles in her neck grew taut and her snout grazed my fingertips. That small touch was all it took.As Rayna vanished, the last thing I saw was the love in her eyes, even brighter than the sun itself.In that moment, the darkness imploded.Waves and waves of billowing colors surrounded me, thrashing, and melting into one another to form a writhing cocoon around my body. Within each color was a memory, a fragment of the love that fueled my light and strengthened my soul.A wriggling sliver of the brightest violet I’d ever seen held Adley’s smiling face, her ocean-
Iridian Chapter 188
The glow pulsating beneath my skin carried a gentle warmth that smoothed over the harsh edges of my panic, bringing clarity and strength.No longer was I locked within a vortex of my memories, staring at a rippling image of myself, Apollo, and Dain.I could feel everything.For a fraction of a second, time remained frozen. It was Dain’s startled inhale that set things in motion again, followed by a flash of joyous surprise that crested across his eyes like the last woes of a shooting star.“Rachel, your eyes…” He sputtered, his voice raspy and overflowing with awe. His knuckles drifted across my jaw, igniting my skin despite the feather-soft nature of his touch. Blood dribbled down his chin, tracing the veins along his neck. “…h—how did you…”I gnashed my teeth together hard enough to crack a few, but that was the only way I could think to brace myself as I slid my hand from Dain’s chest cavity. Moving swiftly, yet with enough caution not to damage his body further, I retracted my cla
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