The God & The Shadow

Chapter 78

VERONICA

Tarrin grunted underneath me and breathed heavily. I kept my eyes closed despite the rising need to know where Demeter and Nixon were, given that I couldn't hear a damn thing.

"Veronica." Tarrin muttered weakly.

"Yes, it's me. I'm here, Tarrin." I reassured with untethered desperation. His face was wan and covered in sweat, his neck full of red marks and cuts and his body plastered with blood. I couldn't even imagine what pain he was going through right now and what he went through for Demeter to have captured him.

"I can't see a thing." He said with a tone more disappointed than terrified.

I took a moment to look around. It was dark, the room full of smoke that blurred and clouded my vision, but not too heavy to completely block me from seeing. Perhaps it was similar to what Lore told me before about being immune to his own powers when they manifested.

"It's temporary. Can you stand?" My eyes raked over his entire body on a mission to seek out any sign of torture Demeter had done to him, externally or not.

"Go to Lore. Only the two of you can finish this now."

I shook my head and helped him sit up. Unlike Lore and Demeter, I was sure that I did not possess the gift of healing. I tried healing one of the shallow scars I found along my arm not too long ago and all my effort amounted to nothing. I really didn't have the gift.

My left hand supported his spine and I used my right to touch his face and push back his hair. "I need to get you out of here."

My body immediately tensed and perked up at the sound of metal clanking against the floor. I set my gaze dead straight in front of me and I noticed some of the unconscious angels from earlier were beginning to stir awake. It wouldn't take long until Demeter or Nixon show themselves as well.

"Come on. I'll take you back." I pulled on his arm and urged him to stand, but he wouldn't budge.

"Go to Lore. It's okay, Elvira."
"No, you don't understand. They will–"

"It's my fate, Veronica." He interrupted me as if we were back in his office and I was arguing with him on a mission I had reservations about. I missed having that. A life where I had control and I didn't care about anyone else but me.

It was lonely, but it worked for me, hadn't it?

"It's okay." Tarrin removed the hand I held on his arm to hold it in his palm, gently rubbing it with his thumb with a soft smile on his face. "Bring him back, Elvira. You can do it."

Shifting glances between Lore's limp body, the soldiers that stirred, and Tarrin, I shook my head vehemently. "You don't know what you're talking about, Tarrin. Hermes and the rest are out there. You can find them–"

"Veronica." He interrupted and I fell silent. "I have lived a long life and I've fought long enough." He pat my hand several times before placing it over his heart.

Everything around me suddenly stopped when I felt his heartbeat fleeting underneath my fingertips.

"I'm not leaving, kid. I promised you no tears, right?" He choked on his words and coughed. I panicked and my breathing grew ragged, but he rubbed my back and helped me find my balance once more. "It's okay, Veronica."