“Heath—”
“I’m sorry. For all of it. I just … I was so messed up. I wanted revenge. I wanted … to destroy who I thought had destroyed what I’d been.”
Heath coughed, the action wrecking his chest, and he wheezed. Dying was painful, and he didn’t give a shit what anyone said otherwise. It soaked up every thought in his head, pushed him to get the words out before he couldn’t. He may not survive this call, but at least … at least he’d give Lorenzo some peace.
“I’m going to fix it. I don’t know how, and it may take the rest of my life, but I will. Don’t tell Cin I’m still alive. Let her believe I’m gone. Let me be dead for her. Just … promise me you’ll be everything she ever needed. Everything she wished I could be but couldn’t.”
Lorenzo was silent on the other end of the line, and Heath didn’t know what else to say. He may not have loved Cin the way she wanted him to, the way she’d hoped he would eventually—before she met Lorenzo. But he did care. He did want someone to take care of her.
He’d never loved her because he had nothing in his heart but pain.
But that wasn’t her fault, and he didn’t want her to suffer.
“How bad is it, Heath?”
“Enough to put a bullet in my head.”
“Whatever it takes, no matter how long, you fix it. Do you understand me? Fix it.”
“I will.”
The line went dead, and that was probably for the best anyway. He was so fucking tired.
Just take me home. Let me die having seen home one last time.
It was a pathetic prayer. One told to him when he was young. At death, for the Unseelie, they got one wish. One act of kindness for a life of pain they were forced to endure because of the sins of their forefathers.
One wish to pray for and be granted.
Most, he figured, probably begged for their life. But Heath didn’t want his life without knowing what really happened all those years ago. Why he’d suffered, or if he even had. But he wasn’t so naïve to believe he’d be given that chance, so he prayed to see home. To feel that magic surround him as he faded to the great beyond.
Instead, the Chaos Realm opened, the portal whipping and reaching for him as he lolled to the side. He shot his middle finger at it.
Even that was a lie. Fucking figures.
You wanted truth, Kieran of the Shadow. Come find your truth.
He forced his head up off the ground. “Who are you?”
No one. Everyone. Do you want your truth, or not?
His heart slugged on, each passing second a struggle just to keep working. “Yes, I do.”
Help her get what you seek.
“Her?”
Black tendrils sprung from the darkness, gripping his arms and ankles. He bellowed, fire streaking through his gut and clutching his heart in an iron fist.
Help her.
The words mixed with his screams as he was dragged into the Chaos Realm and the world faded to nothing but agony.
Want more of Heath’s story? Pre-order Fated to the Traitor now!
About The Authors
Georgette St. Clair writes hot, sexy romances starring Alpha heroes. The road to love may be rocky and fraught with peril (and humor and scorchtastic sex and healthy heapings of snark), but her shifters will stop at nothing to claim the women they love.
Georgette has worn many hats in life: newspaper reporter, EMT, internet marketer, cocktail waitress, temp, nurse’s aide (not in chronological order).
When she’s not rescuing fur-babies, she spends her days in a fantasy universe where she nudges her smart-mouthed, take-no-gruff heroines onto paths which will set them on a collision course with true love.
FOLLOW GEORGETTE:
FACEBOOK
NEWSLETTER
WEBSITE
GOODREADS
Writing professionally since 2008, LeTeisha Newton's love of romance novels began long before it should have. After spending years sneaking reads from her grandmother's stash, she finally decided to pen her own tales. As many will do during their youth, she bounced from fantasy, urban literature, mainstream, interracial, paranormal, heterosexual, and LGBT works until she finally rested in contemporary romance.
LeTeisha is all about deep angst and angry heroes who take a bit more loving to smooth their rough edges. Love comes in many sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as with--or without--absolute beauty and fairy tale sweetness. She writes the darker tales because life is hard ... but love is harder.
FOLLOW LETEISHA:
FACEBOOK
NEWSLETTER
WEBSITE
GOODREADS
Mated to the Prince (Portal City Protectors Book 3) Page 18
