Vameer
It’s so dark I cannot see.
I look left and right. But there is nothing.
No color.
No light.
I lift my hand to my chest.
It is still. Silent.
Mon Coeur.
Mon Amour.
I pull air into my lungs. But my heart still does not beat.
My senses focus on the air.
It’s subtle.
Barely there.
Apples.
I turn all the way around.
Behind me is a soft red glow.
And it smells like apples.
I take a step toward it.
But then the glow starts to dim.
“No.”
I push my legs to run.
“Wait.”
I run faster.
The glow gets farther away.
She is leaving without me.
I call for my gravito, but it’s not here.
I cannot jump.
My pulse remains silent.
My chest burns.
My throat burns.
I sprint harder.
Faster.
“Prinsessa!” I reach my arms out. “You cannot go!”
The glow collapses into a pinprick of light.
Then it flares out in a blinding wave of heat.
My body combusts.
And my lungs fill as my heart crashes to life.
Red gravito bursts around me. Around us. Like fireworks.
My heart beats.
We are alive.
She is alive.
I keep my arms around Rune as I sit up. Adjusting her so she’s cradled in my arms, I hug her to my chest. And I stare at her throat.
At the smooth, unmarred flesh.
I lower my eyes to her chest. And I watch it rise and fall.
I blink, releasing tears that are just tears onto her bloody shirt.
My gaze lifts.
Over her face.
To her eyes that are still closed.
Up… to her horns.
I close my eyes and hold her tighter.
Lightning still dripping from my eyes.
She cannot be hurt like that again.
I press my lips to her forehead, pushing out a small, controlled purr.
My mate will not ever be hurt like that again.
Opening my eyes, I turn my head to look at my brother. Sitting by my side.
The corner of his mouth pulls up. But I see it all on his face.
The worry. The pain. The toll of waiting.
Finally, I look at Dread, sitting across from us, a few feet away, back against a tree.
The druid who does things that should not be possible.
I hold his gaze. “You have my trust. Until the end.”
He dips his chin.