SHARED PAIN
Nyctophobia (noun): abnormal fear of darkness.
DAY 30, HOUR 23
All the kings were whimpering in their sleep, and Arabella was convulsing.
I was wide awake in the bedroom.
Blazing pain coursed down my spine, and as I concentrated on the agony, I realized it was in a pattern.
I felt every slow slice of the enchanted blade through flesh.
I felt what Arabella felt when the slur was permanently etched into her skin.
The knife nicked her bone, and I gasped.
I’d bitten through my tongue hours ago to hold back my screams as I convulsed. Luka twitched against me, his breathing labored, and I knew he was experiencing the same thing.
The completed soul bond was making us live through Aran’s nightmare.
I shook and ground my teeth together.
I was glad the jewelry had completed the bond, because now I understood exactly what Aran had been through. I knew firsthand how badly she’d been tortured. I focused on the pain of her past as I held her in the present.
The worst part was Aran was also experiencing it.
I’d tried to wake her up, but she was in the grips of something that was much more than an ordinary dream. The kings yelled out. For some reason, their bond sickness was also making them suffer.
I endured in silence and did the only thing I could do. I tried to comfort Aran. I squeezed her tight against me and prayed that even in the depths of hell, she’d realize she was no longer alone.
I would stand by her side.
No matter the circumstances.
A single thought repeated in my brain and brought me peace as I convulsed—never again would she suffer alone. Our souls were bound together.
Her pain was my pain.
I drifted off to sleep with her in my arms.
