Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,80
draping it over me. “Can’t say that your backup plan is solid, but… it's better than nothing.”
I adjusted my arms over the soft white blanket. “You’re not the only one with tricks up their sleeves.”
“You have a long way to go to play in my league, Lexi luv.”
A yawn pulled at my lips, but I refused to give in to the exhaustion. My body was screaming at me to rest. It had been hours since I slept—well, real uninterrupted sleep. I was afraid to waste any time I was given with Ashor. “Don’t think about sneaking out on me,” I murmured, snuggling in beside him. I rested an arm on his chest. “I will hunt you down.”
He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I nestled deeper into his coolness. “I wouldn’t dream of it, luv.”
Strong arms wrapped around me, and I tumbled into an abyss of darkness.
I woke up alone, tucked in the bed, and stretched my legs as sunlight streamed bright and bold across the floor. I rolled over onto my back, staring at the empty spot beside me. The air still held his ocean midnight scent. Sitting up, I wiped the sleep from my eyes. “Ashor?” I called, listening to see if the shower was running, but I already knew.
He wasn’t in the suite.
The thread tying his body to mine was stretched, as if he was moving further and further away from me. Heavy panic pressed down my chest like an elephant was sitting on me. It clamped around my lungs and squeezed the air out of them, causing my mouth to go dry.
No! No! No!
He wouldn’t do this to me.
He wouldn’t leave me. Not again. Not here.
But if it was the only way to keep you safe? a voice in my head mused.
“Shut up!” I screamed, sounding insane, hands slamming down onto the bed. I didn’t care. Verena wouldn’t allow him to just walk off. It was against court rules. Right?
Darting off the bed and out of the bedroom at demon speeds, I scanned the common area, and then threw open the door to the hall, not sparing the guards a single glance as I began my search of the castle. My heart was in my head, beating like a jackhammer. I scanned the faces of every demon and human I passed, knowing before I saw their features that they weren’t him. None of them eased the ache that spread like fire through my veins, threatening to burn me from the inside out.
“Ashor,” I whimpered, shoving aside the pain. I braced my hand against the wall in an attempt to steady my swimming head.
I had to find him.
Before it was too late for us both.
My feet turned in a circle, not feeling the ground underneath me, and the bustle of demon activity didn’t even register. There was nothing but white noise in my head. It hit me with a force that almost knocked me off my feet. He was really gone. No matter where I searched, I wouldn’t find the prince anywhere in the Court of Envy.
Why had Verena let him leave?
Why would he leave me?
Again?
Why?
It didn’t make sense.
I was alone. Utterly alone in Hell.
My back hit the brick wall, and I began to sink to the floor, tears stinging my eyes. My world was spiraling, and I didn’t know what to do about it. Strong hands grabbed my arms, yanking and tugging me back inside the castle. I was shoved not gently back into my room, a door slamming closed in my face. My fists beat against it as I screamed his name into the empty apartment. That broken feeling from so many months ago came back, crippling my bones. Turning around, I dropped to the ground, a crumpled mess of tears and agony. Darkness exuded from my pores, enveloping me like a cloak.
Tears blurred my vision. This ache, this pain, it would only get worse the longer we were apart. It would poke and prod me, a constant reminder to find him, because only then would either of us be complete. When he left, he took half of my soul with him, and now my body was paying the price.
I hadn’t been lying when I told him I would hunt him down.
It was precisely what I planned to do.
The prince and the queen.
Damn them both. Damn him for breaking his promise. Damn him for breaking my heart—a heart I swore no man would ever have again.