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Darkness

"Do not fear the darkness"

She slept

She was in Cappadocia She didn’t kno They put her in a bed that smelled of him, and she slept

Warm, wrinkled hands forced her up in the bed

"Drink You must drink"

No

"Please, Ava"

Sh the forest Soft hands clutched her fingers Childish voices whispered in her mind

"Come back"

No

"We need you to come back"

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ava woke in the blackness, in the cave where they’d first made love She rapped in his scent, but not his ar at the chiselthe mountain would close in and crush her

"I know you’re awake"

It was Rhys She turned her head to the side and he was there, sitting in a corner of the roo at her with bloodshot eyes They filled with tears as he watched her

"Ava"

He reached over and caught her when she started to sob The cries wracked her body, wringing her out as he held her She shouted into his shoulder, beating at his back, but he only gripped her closer, rocking back and forth

She cried for hours, and then the blackness enveloped her again

Damien was there the next time she woke

"You need to eat, sister"

"I don’t want to"

"He wanted you to live" Da to shut out the words "More than anything, he wanted you to live"

"Go away"

"Not till you’ve eaten"

"No"

"It’s been over a week You’re dehydrated Evren is hours away fro"

"I don’t care"

Da out a soft roll and a cup of water

"Do not let his sacrifice be in vain"

She started to cry again, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, but she sat up Da more pillows behind her back after Ava took the roll from his hands She bit down, and it tasted like dust

Whispered thoughts circled her mind as she stared at the mural in the library, the bucolic scene of fae The ancient scribe she re silently with pale blue eyes