“It’s over,” I whisper, unable to meet their heated stares. When I devised this plan, I knew it was extremely unlikely that Dagny would complete her training before Slaine found us. I knew all along how slim the odds were that I would get to experience some happiness in this wretched life—that there was less than half a percent chance I would have a future with my mate—but I still clung to that thread of hope, let it consume me. I deluded myself so much that I began to see it as fact at some point. I believed I would make it out of this intact, trusted too much in the fates and the stars and the extraordinary sensation of feeling something for the very first time. Now…

“There’s only one thing left to do,” I say, a hollow pang ringing in the space where my heart should be. I look at my mate, and I know at that moment I would do anything—anything—to make sure she lives. I’ll gladly go to my death, happy I had this small amount of time with her. Happy I had a glimpse of the life I could have lived.

“I’m going to show you where Abaddon’s heart is. We’re going to reverse the sundering—once and for all.”

* * *

The violent wind whips against my face, cruel icy tendrils slicing my cheekbones and causing my eyes to water. Each breath I take is labored and painful, but it’s nothing compared to the agony pulsing down the bond, filling my chest and weighing me down as that pit of dread in my stomach spreads, consuming every part of me and threatening to send me crashing to the ground.

The sensation originates from the beautiful woman flying to my left, her expression matching the surge of pain echoing through the bond. As hard as she tries, she can’t keep me out of her head—or rather, she’s unable to stop the violent rush of thoughts and emotions that pour out of her, filling my ears and striking fear to the center of my chest.

She’s angry that I kept the location of the heart a secret, but she also understands why. Not only is it incredibly dangerous to retrieve it, but digging it up means there will be no more Malice. No more Kaebl, or Cyprien, or Lir. Roark and Fenryr will be absorbed just as easily as the rest, and nothing will change that.

I know why Dagny is angry, and it has nothing to do with me. She’s furious at the fates for bringing us together only to tear us apart when things were finally good, and she was finally—finally—happy for once in her life.