Chapter 38

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He reappeared as abruptly as he left, spat out from a vortex, shoved it seemed from thin air, back into the real world, back from death. Loren jumped when Dynan whirled around, reaching for the closing hole. He pushed her out of his way without seeing her, but stopped as he realized the chasm was gone.

“Dynan—”

“No,” he said, searching the room, his desperation growing. Loren didn’t like what she saw in his face. Before she could ask what had happened, she saw his pupils dilate, terrifying her instantly that he would disappear again. Go back to that pit. He started shaking and she reached for him.

“Dynan, what’s happened? Are you—”

“They’ve got my father.”

She didn’t understand what he meant, and he couldn’t explain. “Where was that place? Is Marc all right? Where is he?” she asked and a chill ran through her when he shook his head. “What happened?”

He sank down on the edge of the bed, staring into his hands. He didn’t answer for a moment, unable or unwilling to. She couldn’t tell. He seemed dazed, then angry the next moment, and finally, grief clouded his eyes. “They’ve got my father.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Seven years ago, Maralt killed him. He took his soul. He’s had him there all this time and no one ever realized it.”

“Where, Dynan?”

He didn’t seem to want to answer, but when he finally did, the name sent a shiver of fear down her spine and she moved closer to him. “They’ve got my father there,” he said and his voice broke.

Most of the rest of his explanation was lost, but Loren gathered that Marc had arrived and against his wishes, had brought Dynan back, leaving his father enslaved. He didn’t have an explanation for why Marc hadn’t yet come back. Dynan had tried going back for them, but couldn’t, and Loren shivered at the thought of him even attempting it. The place was the same whether it was called Perdition, Purgatory, or the Gates of Hell. They all meant eternal damnation, subjugation, and perpetual torture. A soul lost. She didn’t want Dynan trapped there, and was afraid he’d try again.

“All those lives,” he said. “All the people he’s killed are there. Allie, my guard Jarrid, Gemern Taldic, Xavier. All of them, back to—” He stopped, his face paling and he started to shake his head.

She thought of all the people he had named and realized who he meant. Elana Marleen. Loren put her arms around him while he sat unmoving, staring vacantly at nothing. She wanted to tell him that they would be all right, but she didn’t believe it any more.