To Claim A Crown Book Two: The Winter Harbinger (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Four: Truths

Delilah throws herself into the lounge and then onto Jackson wrapping her arms around his neck. Stellan jumps to his feet and he pales. He slowly walks towards the door.

"Oh Jackson! I knew something happened to you! I felt it in my chest!" Delilah steps back and pounds a fist to her chest.

Sarah eases to her feet slowly. There is a deep frown on her face but underneath it she's radiating fear. Raurlin motions to move but Naomi takes hold of his hand and holds him in place.

"I could feel my life drain from me as yours did from you! And to think that I could have died without you! Away from you! Because of these damn withdrawals. I swear it on the Mother Moon I will never drink again! Never!"

Stellan crumbles against the couch, slouching down just beside Raurlin. He sobs unexpectedly, his chest shaking with the effort.

"This makes no sense..." Sarah mutters as she walks hesitantly towards Delilah with a bewildered look on her face.

"What the hell is going on?" Jackson demands but his question is met with silence.

"Don't you feel it Jax?" Delilah pleads, pressing her palm onto Jackson's chest.

Jackson looks down at Delilah's hand as if it is a foreign object. He carefully pries it off his chest. Delilah looks from her hand to Jackson with a look of pure shock.

"You can't do this Jackson! You cannot reject me! We will both die. Is that what you want? To kill me for the witch? Come on...please don't do this to me! I'll do better. I'll be better!"

Jackson takes a step back and holds a hand out to Sarah. Sarah does not accept his hand but only looks at him with a pleading look.

"What's going on?" Jackson demands again.

Stellan forces himself up. "She's your aeturnum! I am her aeturnum! This makes no sense! It's killing me! I can feel it! Dee...I am meant for you. The Gods have cursed us."

The fire in the fireplace erupts with such intensity that Delilah shrieks. Sarah waves a hand but the fire continues to rage. She turns to face the fire with an angry groan.

"This is unbelievable. I swear when I get a hold of that bitch Sigrid I'm going to destroy her. Destroy her!"

Jackson walks to where Sarah is standing and he steps between her and the fireplace.

"You need to start talking, Sarah."

Sarah's eyes fall to the door again. She squeezes her eyes shut then looks up at Jackson.

"Jax please...can we not do this here?"

Jackson shakes his head with a withering glance at Delilah. "No, we do this now. What the hell is going on Sarah?"

Sarah turns to face Delilah and she holds an open palm up. Delilah backtracks against the couch and she opens her time to scream but before she can she chokes.

There is a burst of black worm-like figures moving from under her skin from her neck and into her cheeks. Stellan rushes forward and falls onto his knees in front of her.

The worms in single lines move to her mouth and black spurts of smoke fall from her mouth and onto the floor in front of her. Stellan grips hold of her hands. He whispers to her that she will be okay. That he is right there with her.

The worms continue to purge from her mouth and nose. Her body jolts and shakes violently until her skin settles and grows completely pale. Her eyes roll back and her body goes limp.

Stellan expertly catches her and gathers her in his arms. He settles down on the couch cradling her against his chest. Naomi stands up and lifts a throw. She walks to where they are standing. With a nod from Stellan she covers her aunt's bony figure.

"I knew it." Naomi states. "First Delilah then the attempt on Jackson's life. Very on par with Sigrid. She's trying to distract and divide us. We should have checked her for magick the second she turned up."

Sarah nods her agreement and she lowers her hand. With it the fire dies out. She looks back at Jackson who is standing with his arms folded.

"There's something you're keeping from me," Jackson states plainly. "And I need to know what it is. If there are things we've kept hidden we need to put them out there before they're used against us. And then we need to figure out how Sigrid knew about them at all."

Sarah nods her agreement. She sucks in a breath. "When we were in wolf territory. I did something. I cast a spell...a spell that killed off the aeturnum bond within you. And your potential aeturnum."

"Gods Sarah!" Raurlin exclaims with a look of pure shock.

"I know!" She wails. "We should have spoken about it beforehand but I couldn't stand the thought of losing you Jax! I can't compete with an aeturnum. I see the way Naomi and Raurlin are and I want that with you but I know that I never can. And I can't stand the thought that you could have that with anyone else." Sarah's rant dissolves into tears.

Jackson pulls her into his arms and rubs at her back. Once she is calm he leans back slightly to look down at her.

"My crazy witch. If you had asked me I would have said yes. I only want to be with you. The aeturnum bond is not a guarantee. I am surprised that you did this without telling me. It's going to take me some time to get used to but this won't be used against us. Okay?"

Sarah nods against Jackson's chest with a sniffle. Jackson faces Stellan.

"My King, may we check for any black magick within you? If Delilah is your aeturnum...let's be sure."

Stellan nods. "Do it. I need to know."

Sarah holds a hand out in front of Stellan and he braces, holding onto Delilah tighter. After a few moments he sucks in a breath and dares to open his eyes. Sarah drops her hand.

"No magick, Stellan. She is your aeturnum."

Stellan's chest falls in a series of motions. He beams down at Delilah.

"She'll know it too when she wakes?"

Sarah nods with a soft smile. "Yes. She'll know."

Stellan stands lifting Delilah upstairs. "Let me get her upstairs. Thank you, Sarah."

"My head is spinning," Raurlin states. "Let's uh...take a second and catch up after. Jax I'm sure you'd like some time alone with Sarah. Naomi, a walk?"

Naomi nods eagerly. "Please. I need some fresh air."