Page 59 of Treasured

He leaned in. His fangs grazed over my neck, and I shivered.

I love you, he whispered in my mind.

I returned the sentiment, and then, he bit me. I gasped, my eyes falling closed and my head resting against the stones as he drank.

There was nothing like this in the entire world. Nothing else in this world came close to the way Sebastian made me feel. We were two parts of the same whole.

Nothing could come between us. Nothing could pull us apart. Nothing else even mattered. Not the howling wind or the snow or the quest.

Not even the queen.

When he pulled away and licked my neck, my skin prickled as it stitched itself back together.

“Let me see your shoulder,” I requested.

Sebastian’s movements were fluid as he shifted, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the gods, my blood worked quickly in his system. Vampiric healing was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Already, the harsh lines of the owl’s talons were fading.

Scooping up a handful of snow, I wiped away the last bit of blood until only a few faint pink lines remained. Soon, even those disappeared, leaving flawless skin behind.

“There.” I kissed his shoulder. “Good as new.” Except for his tunic, which was, unfortunately, in a rather sad state.

He smiled, his hands landing on my hips. He drew me onto his lap and shuffled us as far back from the cave entrance as we could go. “Thank you, Luna.”

I brushed my lips against his. “Anytime.”

There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.

We remained against the stones, protected by the shadows, as the hours wore on. To say the sun rose would be inaccurate because the snowfall was so heavy the light simply illuminated the blizzard outside.

The day slipped by in a flurry of naps and kisses, interspersed with quiet conversations about everything and nothing. I woke several times to fleeting touches and the graze of fangs against my flesh. Using our clothes as blankets, we lay on the frigid shale. I rested my head on Sebastian’s bare chest, tracing designs on his skin as he told me story after story about his adventures in Eleyta.

Sebastian was my life. My world. Every breath I took, every word I spoke, everything I did was for him.

He was mine.

* * *

When the moon rose, Sebastian took one of the summons-muting tonics. It was still snowing, and we had gotten dressed a few minutes ago. As much as I wanted to enjoy the quiet privacy this cave had unexpectedly afforded us, we couldn’t remain here forever. We had the feather, but it was only one of the three ingredients required to break the bond.

“Ready?” Sebastian asked. “The wolves live in the White Forest. We’ll have to shadow there.”

Was I ready? No. But could one ever truly be prepared to hunt an elusive wolf intending to collect their blood? I thought not.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said, avoiding the question of preparedness entirely.

Sebastian nodded, holding out his arms in invitation. I stepped into his embrace, and he hugged me. His shadows swarmed out of him, surrounding us both.

“Hold on,” he said.

The darkness of the Void was on us in an instant. Even with my vampiric sight, I couldn’t see a single thing. It was like someone had painted black over my eyelids.

And the voices.

They were back. Louder, this time. More urgent.

Goosebumps ran up and down my arms as we traveled through this unearthly place. I pressed my free hand against my ear, the other gripping Sebastian tightly, but it did nothing to drown out the persistent voices.

“The Sunwalker is here.”

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