Prologue - Never Too Late
I had been running for an hour.
Running so fast that I was a blur to the naked eye. And yet I still wasn’t fast enough. She was still out of reach, and time was rapidly running out.
My heart hammered in my throat, my breath burned my lungs.
Evie? I called out in my mind, praying that I was finally close enough for her to hear me.
Praying that whatever that wall was that had come between us had finally shattered. There nothing but silence through our bond.
Tristan had been trying to get through for days, he was still trying. I had even tried roaming myself, stepping out of my own body more than once, only to immediately bounce back as I hit some invisible wall that was fucking impenetrable. It was like she didn’t exist. It was like there was just a void, an emptiness in the world where she had once been.
But I knew that wasn’t true.
I knew, with every fibre of my being, that she was somewhere, waiting for me to find her. Our bed may have been empty, but my soul was intact. I knew what it felt like to lose her. I knew what her death would feel like, and it hadn’t happened yet. There was still time.
We’d been searching for days. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t eaten. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, until she was safe. Safe in my arms where she fucking belonged.
It took days for us to figure out that final missing piece. That one blip we hadn’t thought of. And when we finally had it, finally figured out where she was, I didn’t hesitate. I ran. I ran with every scrap of speed and strength the Goddess had given me.
But I’d never run that far before. I’d never kept that speed up for so long.
I could feel the muscles in my legs tearing themselves apart. I could feel them shredding beneath my skin. But I had to keep running. I needed to keep going.
Evie, please, please answer me!
Ten minutes to midnight.
I needed to be faster. I needed to run faster. I wasn’t close enough, she was still out of reach. I looked at the compass tattooed on my wrist. I watched that magic needle spin aimlessly around, still searching for it’s counterpart. I was still too far out for the magic to work. I was still too far out for the magic to confirm I was even heading in the right direction.
Until I suddenly wasn’t.
The needle on my wrist stopped moving, so suddenly that I almost thought the ink had lost its charm.
It hadn’t. It was working just as it should, at long fucking last. And that thin black needle was pointing dead ahead.
Hugo was right. He’d found her.
And now I knew that she was under fifty miles away.
Eight minutes to midnight.
That needle pierced the barrier, I could feel her again.
I was so happy I could cry, I knew she was still alive, I knew she was still breathing.
Yet the ghost of what that witch was doing to her, even as I celebrated, filled my heart with ice. Her ritual had begun. And she had carved my mate with a litany of deep, burning slices over every inch of her. She was going cold.
She was giving up.
NO! NO I had to make it. I couldn’t be late. She was still fighting, she had to be, she had promised to keep fighting, so I had to reach her in time.
Evelyn!
I finally broke through.
I’m not sure how I knew, but Evie could feel me. She could finally hear me.
I could feel how tired she was.
And I could feel the cold, emptiness creeping in again. I could feel it, and Evie was still too far away to chase it away as it settled into my chest.
Evelyn! Please hold on. I’m almost there! We’re coming for you! We’re all coming for you!
I could hear her, her inner monologue. I could hear her doubting that I was really talking to her. I could hear her giving up. I could feel her giving in.
No no no, Evie, you can’t give up on me now. You can’t! The last time I saw you cannot be the last time. The last time I kissed you cannot be the last kiss we have.
She could barely hear me over the ringing in her ears. Her heartbeat was frantic and erratic, it was trying so hard to keep her alive, but it was running out of blood. She was running out of blood.
Six minutes to midnight.
She was talking about dying. She could feel herself dying. I could feel her dying. I could feel her slipping further away, despite how close I was to reaching her.
She was thinking about me. Thinking about us. She was imagining my arms around her as we lay in our bed together. She was wishing for it so hard I could almost feel the pillow under my head. She wanted to die with that feeling.
The weight of her wish crushed my chest. It twisted everything vital inside of me, and leaked in rivers down my face. No matter what, she couldn't die now. She couldn't die wishing so hard for something that was so fucking close.
You’re not going to die! I’m coming for you, please, hold on for me!
Four minutes to midnight.
I could see her smiling face in my mind as my legs burned. The kind of smile she gave me when saying goodnight. The kind of smile that told me she could no longer feel what was happening to her.
I was close enough that I could smell her, her blood sharpened the air, it was so thick I could taste it. I was close enough to hear her heart beating.
I could hear the chanting. The evil, sharp sounds of that spell that snapped the air. I could see the glow of their power. I could see how their words blocked my mate from view.
The first witch I saw, so caught up in their craft that they didn’t notice my coming, crumpled as I snapped their head off. It was the break that I needed, the small hole in the magic so that I could force my way through.
Two minutes to midnight.
Evie was cold. Her eyes were staring up at the sky, claiming that last, desperate comfort from the thousand colours of midnight that only she could see. Her entire body slick with her own blood. She was shackled in place, the burns from the silver blistered her skin. Her legs were mangled, broken and healed and rebroken over and over so that she couldn't fucking run, and there were so many bruises beneath the blood; I could feel it all, every mark, even if I couldn’t see all of them.
She was alive, but her eyes closed before she saw that I was there, that I had made it to her. I was on time this time. I had to be on time. It still wasn't midnight!
“NO EVIE! NO! STAY AWAKE! PLEASE! EVIE YOU HAVE, TO STAY AWAKE!”
