Free Blood Stained Tranquility by N. Isabelle Blanco Page B

scared of how she felt for him, that she’d gone out of her way to be extra annoying and bitchy to him.
    And she’d had good reason to be afraid, hadn’t she? The first moment she’d laid eyes on him, she’d known deep down—somewhere dark and primitive—that she was staring at imprisonment. The inescapable kind.
    God, she’d been right. And now, she was locked in a mating all by herself.
    Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be as alone as she felt. “Guys, I’m sorry I almost attacked you. Thank you for everything.”
    The triplets nodded, Cy still inching toward the door like he didn’t trust her. Hell, he shouldn’t. He knew her longer than the other two did, even if it was just a matter of weeks.
    Soleria, on the other hand, stepped forward to cup her shoulder. “Man, you’re badass. I can’t wait. If I fling myself off the balcony, do you think that’ll speed up the process of becoming whatever the hell I’m going to become?”
    At the mention of her throwing herself off the balcony, a worried, stricken look crossed Ian’s face. It was gone too fast for Sol to see it, but Eve had.
    Again with the yearning. Again with the reminder that Zen didn’t feel that way for her.
    “I . . . I need to be alone.”
    She didn’t care that the words wobbled when she said them. Nor that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the covers as she did. Usually, any show of weakness went against every basic principle she had in her damned body. You don’t grow up in foster care and survive a broken, pathetic system by being a weakling.
    For the first time in her life, however, she knew she was surrounded by beings that would understand. If there was one thing she’d realized in the time since she’d met the gods around her, was that they felt on a whole deeper level. One she didn’t think humans could possibly understand. She now knew why, knew that their powers and instincts magnified everything, as was her case.
    She was so grateful for that. Especially when they all simply turned and left, no one uttering a single word since all of them knew there were no words to be given. Even Soleria, a human who had always had unnatural instincts, patted her on the shoulder and shuffled out.
    Evesse was left alone, faced with a reality that they all knew, even if not one of her friends was brutal enough to voice it.
    She might have been brought back. She might still be alive. But she was mated to a male that wasn’t mated to her. Kind of ridiculous actually. She had been resurrected and shoved back into a living form, only to go through death all over again.
    This time, however, it wouldn’t be quick like when she had been thrown into the vortex with Ismini.
    No, this time, she was going to experience every aspect of her death in slow motion.
    Fucking yippee.

Chapter 8
       
    -Renentr. The Underworld.
    After arriving in Renentr , Zeniel stood outside the Sivigh , hearing agonized screams echoing through the entrance to the underworld. The screams died off abruptly the moment he got into the Chamber of Souls.
    The creature that had been screaming was dangling from chains and resembled exactly what it was: a rotting corpse. Apparently, it was also no longer capable of much sound. Its breathing was stilted, its chest barely moved. Twitches rode its limbs in spasms, and dark brown blood oozed out of every inch on it, dripping onto the floor in hot, hissing puddles.
    The chains around its wrists and ankles glowed white with pure, holy energy. The fist that went flying at it, however, was covered in silver and black.
    The draugar ’s skeletal face crumbled inward. It wouldn’t be enough to finish it. Not yet. But Crius was obviously determined to drive the creature to the brink before pushing it over and ending it. Another fist landed, another loud crunch sounded out through the Abideos. Zen tilted his head, admiring the abuse.
    The draugars had originated within the deepest part of Renentr and had given birth to the