The Touch of Salvation

24: Ophir

GRACE

Something was wrong.

I feel...strange. I feel as if something was in my head, lingering, pulling strings that shouldn't be strung. As I come to the training grounds, the hoards of men training part for me. They all drop their fights, protecting me from others that might now have realized that I was coming through.

Demise and Goliath aren't here. I look longingly at the training grounds, promising myself that I would return after giving birth, before going into the city.

"Grace!"

I turn toward Rosalie's voice. She's out of breath and dirty from training. Her eyes are wild as she nears me. "Do you know?"

My brows furrow. "Know what?"

She grabs my hand and pulls me away from the city back to the palace.

"I really wanted a red velvet cupcake, Rosalie!"

"Demise is renouncing Goliath as his Segundas."

I stop. "What?"

She nods. "He's doing it now. We have to hurry."

As we come to his office, I don't bother knocking as I tear through the door. Demise is sitting with the rings of the segundas on his desk, no longer on Goliath's hands. Goliath doesn't look at me. His gaze his hard and sorrow-filled; he looks like he's accepting his fate. Beside him is another man who I had come to know and like. His name was Bralen, and he was a great fighter. But he wasn't Goliath.

Bralen reaches for the rings.

"Bralen, leave. Please, go now."

His eyes snap to mine again and I can see something cross his features for a moment. Demise says nothing, so he nods, bows, and leaves the office quietly. "What the fuck is going on?" The door slams behind me because Im pissed - furious.

This wasn't a Demise decision, he shouldn't have made it without me, and up until this moment, he had never made such an important choice without my counsel. It's completely out of character. Even more out of character, Demise would never remove Goliath as his second. They were best friends. They were brothers. Demise was ready to die for that man not even three years ago.

Just a few weeks ago, Demise told me he wanted Goliath to be our child's caretaker if we both died. So what the fuck got into his head?

"Goliath, pick up your rings, put them on, and if this motherfucker ever tries to take them from you again, remind him that I made his life a living hell."

I can see a small smirk on the segundas' face as he picks up his rings and leaves the office once again. Demise looks at me, steady, and not at all phased.

"What has gotten into you? Removing Goliath as your second?"

"I gave him an order and he refused to go through with it."

"What did you ask him to do?" He goes quiet. I already have a feeling. "Demise..."

"I asked him to get the keys from Adalind. He refused-"

"Because he's her mate!"

"We need the keys!"

"No, we don't!"

The room rattles in a raging battle of death and life. His death crawls to me and life spreads to my palms to force him away. His death had never tried to hurt me, and it still wasn't, but it never came too close to me. Never tried to get close to me. Something was wrong. I could feel it. His red eyes dimmed and turned...silver, and then flashed to red again.