Steel & Stone Companion Collection (Steel & Stone Book 6) by Annette Marie

Author:Annette Marie [Marie, Annette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Published: 2017-08-20T23:00:00+00:00

Part II

Ash

The world returned in a blaze of light and air. His feet hit the solid earth and he whipped around, scouring the ley line, senses straining for that ripple in the power that preceded a daemon’s arrival.

Nothing.

The seconds turned to a minute, and she didn’t appear. His heart raced, striking his ribs like a frantic hammer—a once-unfamiliar sensation he’d grown accustomed to in recent weeks. Dread gathered in his center, an icy weight pulling him down.

Still she didn’t appear. One minute turned to two, two to three. Five minutes passed. He stood alone on the ridge, unmoving, waiting. It didn’t take this long. It shouldn’t. The passage through the Void could feel indefinite, but it lasted only seconds. He couldn’t imagine staying in that hellish oblivion for a full minute. If she hadn’t made it out by now, she was already lost.

No. Not again. He couldn’t go through this again. He stumbled back a step, panic rising. His gaze shot up and down the ridge, searching for a sign. But it had already been too long.

He’d thought she could do it. If any haemon could, it was her. She was so strong. He’d been so sure …

His lungs constricted, choking him. Why had he let her go? He should have stopped it. They should have found a different way. To die in the Void was the worst fate he could think of. Ripped apart by the emptiness, mind torn from soul, soul torn from flesh. Imagining Piper lost in that terror and pain—

He jerked back another step, fighting for control. The power of the line whispered across his senses, rushing by serenely.

Rushing.

His gaze flicked from the line to the rocky bluff where it disappeared from his sight. The line flowed, the power moving ceaselessly. Since she hadn’t been changing locations, Miysis hadn’t talked to Piper about controlling her exit point. If she’d stepped in and then out, the line might have carried her away from this spot.

“Piper?” he shouted.

Not allowing his faint hope to take hold, he jogged along the ridge, following the flow of power farther up the path. As he whipped around an outcropping of rock, the breeze shifted, blowing in his face.

He could smell her.

“Piper!”

Sprinting along the faint trail, he wheeled around a bend—and there she was, crouched in front of the line, wrapped tightly in the blanket, her loose hair hanging over her shoulders. He ran to her and dropped to his knees, already reaching for her.

“Piper!” His hands stuttered when she flinched away from him. “Are you okay?”

Are you sane? That was the real question he was asking, whether she knew it or not. Miysis had wisely refrained from telling her that the Void could drive a daemon insane as easily as it could kill them.

She nodded mutely, her head bowed and her eyes fixed on the ground.

He drew in a deep breath, calming the ragged edges of fear. “When you didn’t come out again, I was afraid you’d … but then I thought maybe you’d slipped a little down the line.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.