RECONNECTED SOULS
43
- MALAKAI -
T he journey home feels like it takes forever. Each hour that passes drags on a little more. What little patience I had is wearing thin. I want to see Alanis again.
We return to the castle four days later, the trip back slower because of our injured. Siveral and Hendrix are healing, but Kailu needs a real healer, not people making do. Iclas did quite the number on him, his back shredded, bones broken and never set correctly. He’s alive, but in some extreme pain, so I spend my nights lying beside him. Few words are exchanged, but every so often, he squeezes my fingers, laced through his. I always squeeze back.
When we finally arrive at the castle, I hurry down to the healing chambers, where Laylani is ready and waiting. Her eyes widen and her face pales when she takes in Kailu’s state.
“Hurry, place him here.” She moves things around and quickly orders the other healers to get to work on Siveral and Hendrix. Their injuries are nowhere near as severe, but they still need to be looked after.
I wait as Laylani works, sitting on the cot Alanis lays upon, worrying my knuckles as I watch Hannah heal Kailu. Hannah mixes up a concoction that puts Kailu into a deep sleep so he won’t have to feel the pain as she works.
“He’ll be all right,” Hannah says without looking up.
Nodding, I touch Alanis’s hand, only to jolt back at the coldness.
“Now what happens?”
Before anyone can respond, Ryta, Caselia, Viros, and Ames appear out of nothingness, along with those temperamental Fates. My father escorts Elion into the room, as well as a Shadow Vale Witch.
Ames locks eyes with the king. “Did you get everything I asked?”
My father nods but doesn’t look at me.
“Very well.”
The Fates step forward, taking the candle from my father and placing it at Alanis’s head. Then they grab my father’s dagger, the one passed down through the royal bloodline.
“Now for the missing piece,” Ames states.
Elion steps forward with the Witch. Both slice their hands open and allow their blood to drip into the candle. Ames’s blood red eyes turn to me.
“Now you two,” Ames directs to Viros and myself.
I raise a brow in question. Thankfully the quiet Fate answers me. “Alanis sacrificed what she always wanted in life. Love, acceptance, and a family. To restore her, we must show that what she sacrificed would willingly shed blood in return. Elion as her adoptive brother. Shadow Vale Coven, with Grim blood for her mother and grandmother. Viros, her father. And her mates. When the missing piece is restored to her soul, she will be whole.”
I swallow, quickly slicing my hand. Viros lets his blood flow freely onto the candle and I follow suit. The Fates pause. “Just one more thing. Healer, can you please bring me some of his blood?”
Laylani approaches with a vial of Kailu’s blood, adding it to the mix. When the blood hits the flame, the room shakes. The Fates nod their heads and disappear. Ryta and Caselia hold hands, chanting through the shaking. Rocks tumble from the walls, dust kicking up and choking me. The Goddesses of Life and Death place one hand on Alanis’s body and one on the light rising out of her. I can only assume that it’s her soul. When their chanting ceases, light explodes from her chest, showing golden tethers that tie to Kailu’s chest and my own. A sense of breathlessness fills me, a lightness overtaking my body I haven’t felt since I was a boy.
Holy shit.
When the light fades, the candle burns out and the room is pitched into darkness.
When we finally manage to light another candle, all that remains are Ames and Viros and a very prone Alanis.
I hold my breath, resting my hand on her forehead.
“She feels warm.” A sob wrenches out of my chest when I see hers rise and fall. I look up at Ames with burning eyes. “Thank you. Please pass along my thanks to the others. I will forever be in your debt.”
The God of Hell raises his eyebrows, glancing to the doorway before smirking. “I think we are even. Tell your little Witch to enjoy her life. Not all of us get so lucky to spend eternity with their mates.”
Ames disappears, and if I’m not mistaken, sadness lingers in his gaze as he does.
My father, Viros, and Elion are the only ones left in the room. We all look at each other before settling our gazes on Alanis.
“Now what?” Elion whispers, as if he is scared to ask.
“Now, we wait,” I say.
- ALANIS -
My body aches and throbs, as if it has been through Hell and back. Which, in a way, I suppose it has. When the Gods and Goddesses removed my soul, I hovered over my body for a minute or two. Malakai’s agonizing screams were more torturous than actually dying. Elion stood utterly still, but I swear I could hear his heart break a little more. And then there was Kailu. The male who rarely showed emotion, brought to his knees as his tears fell like rain. I was there for every second. I saw my friends and family look upon my body, each second harder to bear knowing what I was losing.
I watched Malakai and Kailu hold me, my soul not departing until they stood to take my body home. Something funny happened, then. I flew through the air. I thought I might get to see the Eternal Vale, but instead found myself trapped in a dank, dark dungeon. Throughout the time my soul was trapped, I was able to gather a sense of what the hell was going on. Iclas made sure to gloat quite often, my soul rolling her eyes at him frequently.
Now, my brain scrambles to catch up. My body is sore. My heart pounds an erratic rhythm.
My body. Holy shit. They did it. I’m back in my body.
My fingers twitch against cool sheets. The heavy scent of rain lingers in the room.
“Come on, sunshine. Open those big blue eyes.” Kailu’s soft voice washes over me.
My brain replays everything that’s happened. Watching my grandmother die. My surprise that not only were the Gods and Goddesses there to help me, but the Fates themselves. The anger at what Iclas has done not only to those I love but to the world. The fear my soul felt as it watched Iclas come so close to destroying everything.
Something in me shifts at hearing Kai beg for me to wake up. My body trembles, Malakai’s grasp on my hand tightens. I hear a gasp, or maybe a few.
“What the hell is going on?” I try to pinpoint whose voice I hear, but can’t quite tell over the sound of a freezing cold breeze. The bed beneath me shakes, wetness falling to my skin while heat surrounds me.
“Her powers,” Malakai whispers.
“Her full powers.” I recognize my father’s voice instantly.
My soul finally snaps into place, my body tensing and shooting upright. My eyes are wide as I take in the scene around me. Wind whips the hair of the people in the bedroom I recognize well, while snowflakes drift out of the left corner and icicles protrude from the ceiling. A light rain falls in the opposite corner while flames encircle me. The ground shakes, as if an earthquake were hitting only this room. I close my eyes, focusing on the roiling emotions inside me.
I focus on Elion. The brother who may not be blood but who has stood by me no matter what.
I focus on Hannah. The friend who, even through her own pain and suffering, always held me steady through my own.
I focus on my father. The man who lost his mate and his daughter, but still protected me and loved me from a distance.
I focus on my grandmother. The woman who realized that family means more than anything.
The king who has given me the support of a father, who has welcomed me as one of his own.
My eyes land on Malakai and Kailu. I focus on them last. The bad boy Fae and the Fae who was scared to love. My mates. The ones the Fates knew I needed. The males who have fought for me and with me since I first laid eyes on them. The ones my soul responds to and knows better than I even know myself.
I focus on my family.
I focus on love.
My body slowly calms. A wave of power pulses from my body, creating a glowing golden light.
As the light fades, my eyes latch onto the liquid silver eyes that I have gone too long without seeing.
“Firecracker,” Malakai breathes out. His voice breaks on emotion. He slowly walks towards me, as if he is scared that I’m a flight risk. My hands still glow with whatever power I just unlocked. I give him a questioning look and he smiles.
“Your father said it seems you got your mother’s power of photokinesis. Lucky. I would love to be able to manipulate light.”
I roll my eyes, missing his attitude and the large smile that shows those dimples I love so much. He stands a foot away, looking at me as if I might disappear in an instant.
I slowly twist my body and rise from the bed. I look down to see someone has dressed me in a modest nightgown. Thank the Gods for that or this would be embarrassing.
Everyone in the room shifts closer to me. They seem worried that I might fall over at any second. Shit, maybe I will.
I take a tentative step towards Kailu who stands at my bedside, reaching out my hand to caress his cheek, his stubble scratchy against my palm. He nuzzles his face into my hand and covers it with his own, closing his eyes to savor the feel of my skin on his, a tear slipping down his cheek.
I hear more than see the others in the room quietly leave, my eyes refusing to stray from his face. Malakai comes and wraps his arms around me, and I turn to him.
“I will love you in this life and the next, too. Both of you,” I whisper.
When their eyes lock on mine, I feel everything they do. An overwhelming sense of joy and longing flow through our bodies. I wrap my hands around Kailu’s neck, kissing him with everything I have, unwilling to take even a second for granted. He kisses me back like I’m the air he needs to breathe. His hands roam over my body, as if trying to make sure I am real.
“I’m here, Kai. I’m all right.”
I kiss him one more time before I lean my forehead against his. Our hearts beat in sync. His presence alone calming the chaos.
He glances at Malakai. “Marry me. Marry us,” he whispers.
My body stills, my heart doing an odd pitter-patter in my chest. I look at Malakai and find his eyes shimmering with tears and longing.
“Yes.”
When Kailu kisses me again, I know that I won’t be leaving this bedroom anytime soon. He tears my night clothes from my body, licking and sucking every inch of my skin. The mating bond has been freed, and now more than ever I want to solidify it. Malakai leans me back against his chest, pulling my legs wide as Kailu settles between them.
Kailu stares into my eyes for a moment, the air around us drawing tight, and I kiss him and nod, feeling Malakai’s teeth sink into my neck. Kailu takes me with such force I’m sure I won’t be able to walk in the morning—I can’t wait. Our souls connect, and my eyes grow wide. Malakai reaches down, flicking my clit while Kailu pounds into my body, and my hands trace every inch of his skin I can reach. My body craves them. The bond glows brightly in the same way it did with Mal, and when it finally connects, everything in me settles. Kailu stares into my eyes, love radiating from him.
He thrusts two more times before spilling inside me. Malakai growls as Kailu pulls out. Malakai quickly flips me over, slamming home and making me see stars. They make me come so many times I think I actually black out.
By the time we finish, it is pitch-black outside. We are dripping sweat, but I have never been so content in my entire life.
I curl up between them, soaking in their beauty and basking in the overwhelming sense of love.
“I love you, firecracker.”
I smile, running my fingers over his swollen lips. “I love you more.”
“I love you, sunshine.” Kailu presses a kiss behind my ear.
“And I love you, lollipop.”
Kailu’s chest shakes in laughter.
So many lives were ruined because of Iclas’s greed. He never truly loved Paliri. Truly loving someone means you would do anything to make them happy, even if that meant letting them go.
The bones of the cursed still remain littered throughout the Isle of Rimoldi. The Gods and Goddesses never bothered to give them a proper burial because of the sins they committed while alive. My grandmother taught me something, though, in the short time I knew her. Forgiveness is a powerful thing. One cannot fully move on until you let the past go. Without forgiveness there is no healing, and without healing we are all just lost souls.
“I want to burn the bones of the cursed,” I say as I run my fingers through Kailu’s soft hair, his head resting on my stomach while mine rests in the crook of Malakai’s arm.
Malakai’s jolts, and I turn to look at him, his brows raised to his hairline. “Why?”
I shrug nonchalantly. “We set Leena free. What if those bones could set other souls free? They might not all deserve the Eternal Vale—some might even go straight to Hell—but I don’t think this realm can move forward until we set the cursed free. If I use my powers from a distance and we keep everyone away from the Isle, the curses will have no one else to latch onto. It’s time to close this chapter so we can start a more beautiful one.”
Malakai tilts my face toward his, gently kissing the corners of my mouth. “You are going to make an amazing queen one day.”
I giggle. “Only with you both by my side.”
“Always. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“Sunshine, there is nowhere else I want to be,” Kailu says at the same time.
Family.
Love.
Gods, that’s all anyone really wants, just someone to know them for who they really are and love them anyway.
When I fall asleep in their arms, I no longer have nightmares. Instead I dream of a future. One that is filled with family, love and laughter, and a better world.