Page 80 of Treasured

Warmth blanketed me as the sunlight welcomed me into its embrace. My skin heated, and a smile crept onto my face. At the same time, the song of my shadows returned. It was a dark symphony, a low, steady hum, a welcome tune filling my soul.

The prohiberis was gone.

My magic was back, and already, I felt stronger than before.

“Thank Isvana.” Making the same religious gesture across my chest that I’d seen others make, I turned in a slow circle.

The last time I’d Sunwalked, there hadn’t been time to appreciate the sunshine. I’d been so focused on planting the seed that I hadn’t realized Sebastian had followed me until it was too late. His agony-filled cries as the sun burned the flesh off his bones were forever seared in my mind.

He’d explained that sun-burnings were the worst way for vampires to die, but I hadn’t truly realized the depth of how bad it was until I witnessed it with my eyes. Now, I understood.

But Sebastian had survived. I got to him in time, and my blood had revived him, even though he’d been moments away from death. That was one of the first times the Tether had been a blessing between us. Again, when Queen Marguerite had incapacitated me during the fight with Bertrand, the Tether saved us.

Even though it had been forced upon us, it was no longer a burden or something to be feared. Instead, the Tether was a connection that strengthened us. A special kind of power came from working within the bonds others placed upon us, a strength I had never before known.

And now, as I stood beneath the sun, I tilted up my head and let the light warm my skin. Like a lover, its touches danced across my face, leaving heated tingles in its wake. Had the sun always felt this good? Had anyone ever appreciated its golden touch as much as I did right now?

I would argue that no one in the history of the world understood my joy. I was a flower blooming in the spring, bursting through the snow after a long, endless winter.

When I’d been sold into marriage, I had thought my life was over. I thought I’d be living in the dark forever and never see the sun again.

I’d never been so happy to be proven wrong.

Basking in the sunshine, I extended my hand and unfurled my fingers. The moonstone was light in my palm, the size of a quail egg, and as bright as the queen’s ruby. As soon as I exposed it to the light, a scintillating scarlet flash erupted. My shadows sang, and a rightness filled me.

Sending a prayer of thanks to the moon goddess that this task was done and could be crossed off the list, I turned around. “Let’s…”

My voice trailed off, and my eyes widened.

“Sebastian!” I yelled.

He was slumped over, his eyes shut as he gripped the satchel to his chest. Blood soaked through his tunic onto the ice beneath him. The Binding Mark between us burned. Another scream ripped out of me as I ran toward him.

As soon as I stepped back into the cave, my magic disappeared. I didn’t have time to worry about that, though. Sebastian was the only thing on my mind.

Dropping to my knees in front of him, I shook his shoulders. “Sebastian!”

There was no response. Nothing at all. He was unconscious.

Tears pricked at my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “No, you can’t do this to me. You can’t leave me here.”

I pulled up his shirt, a strangled cry filling the otherwise silent cave. A wound several inches long stretched across his side, where a piece of ice had lodged itself in his flesh.

How had he hidden this from me?

I went to pull out the ice before I realized he must have left it in for fear of not healing fast enough.

“Damn it, you stubborn vampire!” We could have talked about this and made a plan. I could have helped him.

It was too late for plans now, though. The lub-dub of his heart was so faint that I almost missed it.

I had to act quickly.

Pulling up my sleeve, I raised my wrist to my mouth and bit. The burn of my fangs breaking flesh barely registered through the fog of panic, and the moment blood hit my tongue, I lowered my wrist to his mouth.

The first red drop landed on his lip, hovering there for a moment.

“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t die on me.”

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