Thirty Seven #3
A keening sound escaped Luna as she slid down to the ground.
I gasped at the same time, bringing my hand to my mouth.
Zarana’s head snapped in my direction, and her eyes narrowed.
Could she see me? I didn’t care as my gaze stretched past her to Adrian convulsing on the ground.
The lanterns scattered around him illuminated the violent tremors racking his body.
Glowing silver patterns marbled his face, neck, and hands.
Their bright glow was visible through his white shirt.
All my attention zeroed in on him as everything else receded away.
All the sounds became muffled, with the exception of his blood-curdling screams.
“We’re not alone!” Zarana’s words barely registered as she thrust her arms out in my direction.
“Go!” Lady May’s shout snapped me out of my haze.
She shoved me forward, out of the way of Zarana’s magic. I landed on the ground and scrambled to my feet to go to Adrian. Magic blasted all around me as Lady May sent bolts of it hurtling toward Zarana, Heiran, and Celestina. They blocked her attacks before firing back.
I was almost to Adrian when Tarn grabbed me by the elbow. “Not so fast!”
I thrust my other arm out and sent a charge of my powers, knocking him off his feet.
Adrian was a writhing heap of rigid limbs when I dropped to my knees by his side.
“I’m here!” I exclaimed urgently, hoping that he could hear me.
His glassy eyes were focused on the cavern ceiling.
“I’m here,” I whispered, clasping his face with both hands.
Since keeping him in place was impossible, I moved with him in order to maintain the skin-to-skin contact.
When I called Silberium to me, it rushed in, knocking the air out of my lungs.
The ancient magic flooded me, and I was immediately swept in its current.
The healing energy filled my veins and began coursing through them, erasing any remnants of the poison from my blood.
Adrian stopped screaming and thrashing as his eyes drifted closed.
The silver vines on his skin dimmed as gold patterns sparked on my skin, snaking up my fingers to my hands and arms. The star between my thumb and pointer finger on my left hand pulsed with a dazzling gold light.
Several long minutes passed as I siphoned Silberium, barely aware of the fight raging behind me. I didn’t dare avert my gaze from Adrian. Why was he not waking up?
“Give me more,” I rasped, praying that it wasn’t too late. “Please, let me take it all.” I pressed my lips to his.
His hand flew up and fisted in my hair as he kissed me back.
The kiss was bruising, his grip on me firm and unyielding.
I wouldn’t be able to pull away even if I tried.
Adrian was still unconscious, but his survival instinct drove him to expel Silberium from his body.
Every part of me lit up with an incandescent glow as I melted into the kiss, surrendering to the onslaught of the ancient magic pouring into me at a staggering rate.
I was submerged in Silberium, its silky, luminous waters enveloping me.
Adrian’s touch caressed my cheek as I floated up, lifting higher and higher.
He shifted on his elbow to lay me down. Hovering over me, he kept kissing me, his fingers gliding down my neck to my chest and lower.
Yes, I thought as desire invaded my blood, mixing with the euphoric bliss of Silberium. The combination of the two sensations was intoxicating, wrapping me in a pleasure so intense that it bordered on pain. I teetered on the razor-sharp edge for a moment until I tipped over.
Everything changed in a lightning-fast second.
I was no longer swimming in the warm waters; I was burning in them.
The light in my veins turned to flames. They started to devour every inch of my body as the power rushing into me became unbearable.
It stretched my skin and shattered my bones.
There was no confining it now. I screamed, but the sound was muffled as Adrian kept kissing me, seemingly unaware of the torture I was going through.
When I tried to push him off me, he didn’t budge, his powerful body caging me in.
Debilitating panic surged. I was going to die.
I had taken too much, and now Silberium would destroy me.
I went limp in Adrian’s arms. At least he was alive.
I had saved him, and that was all that mattered.
“Adrian, you need to stop!” Lady May’s voice cut through the fog of my terror. She must have blasted him with her magic because his weight was suddenly thrown off me. I stared at the cave ceiling, feeling as if my body had been flayed open. I wished I was looking at the night sky and the stars.
“Emelin!” Adrian’s broken cry sounded a second before his face appeared in my line of vision. “What happened?! What can I do?!” His feverish gaze darted over my face and my body.
“I love you,” I breathed. All the pieces of me might be scattered on the ground around me, but my heart was still whole, and it belonged to him.
“Don’t leave me!” His desperate plea echoed off the cavernous walls.
My eyes drifted closed, and I finally saw the stars as I joined them in the eternal astral sea.