Page 83 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

Five of them.

“Take Evander and run!” he screamed at her before drawing a sword from the sheath inside the wardrobe.

My knees buckled as I watched the scene play out. The truth of what actually happened the night Nocturne breached the barrier and attacked my parents.

My mom waivered in place, visibly torn between taking me to safety and leaving her husband behind. Baby-Me cried as another crash of thunder shook the cottage.

“How?” my dad asked them.

“Your brother,” one answered in a strangely familiar twang. As he removed his hood, my heart jolted. Black hair, tanned skin, and golden eyes. He looked just like Stryder. It wasn’t the mercenary I knew though. His father, maybe? “He gave us some of his blood to break through your barrier spell.”

“You speak lies,” my dad responded, gritting his teeth. “Eidolon and I may be at odds, but he wouldn’t betray me.”

“Think again,” Not-Stryder said, smirking. “You see. While you’ve been hiding behind this barrier like a coward, the queen gave birth to a son. A baby too weak to even breathe on his own. As you know, Bremloc isn’t known for possessing strong healers. The kingdom of Haran, however, is. So, a bargain was struck.”

“What kind of bargain?” My dad glanced back at my mother, his pleading expression clear.

“King Silas offered to save the little prince if your brother agreed to help us breach the barrier and retrieve the treasure.”

It felt like I’d been punched in the gut with an iron fist. King Eidolon had betrayed my dad… to help Sawyer? Not out of jealousy for me having the saint’s power or anger over the broken treaty with Haran. He’d done it to save his son.

“No one needs to die here, tonight, Elias.” Not-Stryder nodded to the other mercenaries around him. They started closing around my dad. “Hand the child over to us, and you and your pretty lass can go on with your lives.”

“You’re not taking my boy,” my dad spat at them, sword at the ready. “My brother chose to save his son as I’m saving mine.”

“We have no intention on hurting the boy,” the mercenary responded. “I have two sons of my own, you see, and give you my word that he will be cared for. His blood is far too valuable to be spilled so carelessly.”

“Cynthia,” my dad rasped without looking at her. He kept his eyes on the approaching men. “I wish we could’ve had a hundred years together. But even that wouldn’t have been enough.”

A sob left her throat. “Eli, I—”

“Protect our son,” he gently cut her off, adjusting the grip on his sword. “As he grows, never let him doubt how deeply I loved him. And how I wish I could’ve seen the man he becomes.”

Tears pooled from my eyes, and my throat burned. I fell to my knees in the middle of the room, my heart full of lead.

My mom tucked the baby against her chest and ran down the hall.

The edges of the room began to pulse, like a memory about to shatter. Vision blurry, I looked up to see my dad as the five mercenaries lunged toward him.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see anything more.

Cheep.

A nuzzle to my wrist had me glancing down. Pumpkin stared up at me with his big green eyes and rested his tiny foot on my hand.

The stormy night had faded. We were back in the clinic.

Sunlight filtered in through the window, and dust particles floated within the beams. I sat on my knees, frozen in place, my head spinning and throat tight.

“Evan,” Phantasia said, drawing my gaze up. She sat beside the cot with my men around her. All of them stared at the unconscious version of me. “You’ve seen your past and gained enlightenment but now must delve deeper. Peer into the face of the thing you fear most.”

Chills snaked down my spine.

Everything went dark. Quiet. Like someone had shut off the only light in a windowless room. Unease gripped my sternum, and I shakily exhaled. Wishing I could escape this freaking nightmare.

I felt like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, traveling among various scenes until reaching the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The most terrifying vision of all.

Within the pitch-blackness, a familiar glow appeared. The red spider lily. One sprouted up from the shadows, the only thing I could see in the dark, empty space. I stared at it, unmoving. Too scared to move. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see whatever happened next.