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Natalia had been watching from the shadows She was never certain which Eric was the real Eric He was always so bipolar, wanting her near, but pushing her away And all this ti she’d destroy hiht she was alone She thought there was no one like her No one who understood The only being that had any inclination of what she goes through on a daily basis was being forced to his knees and dying Natalia watched, torn Part of her wanted him to suffer There were years she didn’t knohat she was, didn’t know to hide it It cost herhi, she couldn’t Soer than she was She knew that blue fla so that was supposed to be hers

Natalia are of soave her additional power It could shield her froh power to shield the Eric and couldn’t sit there anymore He was hers Natalia took off at a full run, headed directly for Eric He didn’t see her co No one did The demons that were there were few, the Queen’s servants, and their eyes were on the round Eric’s eyes were closed, his chest barely ot to his practically flew, each step bounding off the ground like she’d taken three strides She felt the power drain from her with each step The demons saw her run, and moved to intercept her, but Natalia passed effortlessly over the over the blue fla to protect him

Ivy saw Natalia run into the circle, and coirl arched her back and a screah the cavern Natalia scooped up a lifeless Eric in her ar to find a way out Eric didn’t move He didn’t speak or open his eyes It was the way Ivy wanted it It appeared that he died, a spell of false death She’d deal with him later

Natalia screaic was stronger than her own There was no way to stop the spell that was encasing Eric, and now it trapped her, too When Natalia scooped up Eric’s lifeless body, she orried that thisHe was so pale, his beautiful body perfectly still Angering the De the Underworld of her presence wasn’t so she wanted, but Eric was hers Any torment he deserved should come from her hand, and yet, part of her wanted hi pain wasn’t splattering off of Natalia like raindrops When the blue sparks hit her skin, torment ensued There were no words to describe it Her spine arched with Eric in her ar, dying It was too late Natalia could no longer support her oeight The spell pulled theround Eric fell, motionless at her side Tears welled in her eyes If she had everything to do over again, oh, God… she’d ivable mistake And noas too late

Ivy held the spell, sealing it and holding both of theh Natalia’s body wasn’t so from Eric Ivy wasn’t certain how she knew that, she could just sense it The ony Eric felt every day poured from him and interacted with her spell It was as if the curse was confused, accepting Eric’s false death, but refusing to leave his body Instead, the curse arched, showering them with blue sparks as it barreled into Ivy’s spell

Regret coursed through her Ivy didn’t want this It was bad enough that Eric had to be treated this way, that he forced her to do this--but this girl Who was she? Who was crazy enough to follow Eric into the Underworld? And then she threw herself into the spell It was a desperate act, an action to protect hiony, of the pain that coursed through hier, it would destroy her

Natalia slumped, her head was too heavy to hold Out of the corner of her eye she could see Eric The sparks were killing her, at least she thought that as happening Why else would she feel like this Her body had withstood pain before, but it was nothing like this This torony It never ceased With each spark of light, Natalia thought she’d die She glanced at Eric onceshe failed, and then the world went black

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Collin stood next to Ivy, at the edge of the water The Pool of Lost Souls spread behind him like an endless lake of pure blue He slid his hand onto her shoulder When Ivy turned to look at hi Every ounce of betrayal, every drop of reaze

Collin hated Eric when he was alive, but this--whatever this as so beyond hideous Even for Eric He shook his head, pulling her closer, trying to comfort her, "There has to be a reason for it He wouldn’t do this to you"

Ivy felt Collin’s hands on her, holding her chilled body tightly to his Collin was like her, a soul with no body But it didn’t matter how alike they were, he didn’t understand her relationship with Eric At times, neither did she

Tears flooded her eyes, but they would not fall Souls cannot shed theirl--as that? Did he plan that? Did he drag her down here with him? It see to provokehim" She shook her head sadly She couldn’t destroy them It just appeared that she had and now she didn’t knohat to do