Infernal SoulBond

6, Relic

⟡ Ember ⟡
⟡

My mom never believed in death, not in the kind that you cease to exist and disappear forever. For a while after my father's death, she acted like he was still there. You would see her eating dinner by herself but with two plates, talking to herself in a corner of the cave, and she'd talk about him in the present moment - as if he were still there. I always wanted to tell her he was gone, I wanted to scream and shout and kick and scream. Now I realize that was how we both grieved differently. She wanted to believe he was okay, alive, and I wanted everyone to feel the same pain I felt knowing i'd never seem him again.

"Your father isn't gone, baby." My mom cooed, wiping away my tears. I wanted to swat her hand away, why did she still want to touch me? Why did she still want to comfort me? "Your ability, Ember. You can bring the dead to life, so if that's possible..your father can't truly be gone, can he?"

The memory was haunting me as I sat on the counter, one of my hands resting in my lap and the other in Warren's hold. I watched his eyes flicker up for a moment, his onyx eyes seemed to soften, half lidded with a lazy smile. My mom would forever be alone, miserable without her mate while I was here - being gingerly touched as he bandages my sprained wrist. I didn't deserve to live. "Ember, I hate those feelings of yours."

"I'm sorry."

His eyes avert back to my wrist, he wraps it again in between my thumb. "You can't blame yourself for what happened." I opened my mouth to argue but his eyes stopped me. He drops my hand, despite not being finished, and stares at me. I lick my lips, fear and desire both swirling in the pit of my stomach. "Your power is one of the most feared abilities in the world, Ember. You need to realize how powerful you are then realize how hard it is to control that much energy. Then, remember that you were a child. No body can hold a child accountable for something they physically can't control, especially considering there's no other necromancer alive - you have no one to train you or help you through your power. Yes, you killed your dad and there is nothing more than I want to do than bring him back so I don't have to see you like this..but that's not possible. You can't live in a hole of self pity and misery your entire life."

"What if I can bring him back?" I ask. You can bring the dead to life.

For the first time since i've met him, terror flashes across his face and he grabs the sides of my face, bringing his so much closer. "Don't ever bring the dead back, Ember. Do you understand me? You cannot bring them back."

"But i'm a necromancer, I can-"

"It won't be your dad who comes back, Ember. Don't ever try it. If you love your father, let him go." Part of me wanting to ask him why he keeps touching me, unable to focus on anything he's saying with how delicately he held me. But I knew the answer, because i'm his SoulBond. Growing up, my mom always told me that my mate would want to touch me and that I would want to touch him. She told me over and over again not to feel ashamed or hesitant to do so, that my mate would want me to whether they said so or not. In this moment, I realized how true her words were. I didn't know this man, yet I wasn't uncomfortable around him like I thought i'd be, and I didn't mind him touching me. I actually enjoyed it.

"I'm sorry." I whisper, though I didn't feel sorry. I didn't think my questions about bringing my dad back were wrong, I was curious..and desperate.

He drops my face, reaching for my half bandaged hand. "You don't ever have to apologize to me, little heart. But understand, nothing dead can come back." He pauses, stepping closer. "Centuries ago, a group of necromancers banded together to raise hell, do you know why? Because their leader promised them their dead SoulBonds would rise again. The leader of the group, his name was Zev Hawthorn, no one knows why he wanted to raise hell but he knew he couldn't do it himself. So..he rallied every other necromancer he knew - and he killed their mates. He used their weakness, their soul, against them and manipulated them into working with him, promising they'd get their SoulBonds back once hell was raised."