Page 81 of Treasured

After the longest second of my life, his tongue darted out, and he licked the blood. “More,” he rasped.

“Take it all.” I moved, placing my wrist in his mouth.

The pull of his lips against my skin was desperate, almost feverish. He drank and drank and drank. All I could do was stare at him as the color slowly returned to his face.

How many times could one cheat Death before it claimed its prize?

Even as the question appeared in my mind, the answer swiftly followed. I would never let death win. If it stole Sebastian from me, I would follow him into death’s dark embrace and wrench him back. We were a pair, the two of us. Where he went, I would follow. Nothing, not even the end of life, could pull us apart.

Only once Sebastian pulled his fangs out of my wrist did he look at me. My skin didn’t heal, but that was the least of my worries.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I need to heal,” he groaned. “The prohiberis… it’s blocking everything but the summons.”

As if confirming his statement, an all-too-familiar pulse ran through my head.

“Once the sun goes down—”

“We can’t wait for sunset,” he said. “We need to get out of here.”

“What?” I shook my head, gripping his hand. “We can’t! The sun will kill you.”

He shook his head weakly. “I won’t make it, Luna.”

“Don’t say that!”

How could he say that? Didn’t he know how much he meant to me—how much I needed him to live?

“It’s time.” He coughed. “You’ll have to shadow us through the Void the moment we are out of the cave.”

My heart raced. What he was asking me to do would hurt him, and he was already in pain.

“But even in that time, the light will burn you,” I argued desperately. There had to be another way. I was a scientist. Why couldn’t I think of something?

“It doesn’t matter.” Pain-filled eyes met mine. “We have to go.”

My heart raced as I desperately ran through various scenarios in my head. The problem was, I couldn’t think of a single thing we could do that wouldn’t hurt him.

In the end, I was forced to admit he was right.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, already anticipating the pain he would endure.

“It’ll just be a moment.”

A very painful moment.

Hating every single thing about this horrible plan, I pushed myself onto shaky legs and picked up the satchel. Making sure we had the three items, I offered him my hand and helped him to his feet.

“Alright, but I’m going first.” That way I could summon the shadows and attempt to block the sun before he moved into it.

“Taking charge, are you darling?” His voice was jesting, but he winced as more blood soaked through his tunic.

“Yes,” I said firmly.

Part of me wondered if we should try soul sharing again. Maybe that magic would be enough to help Sebastian heal. I didn’t want to take the risk. What if it hurt him? I would never forgive myself.

No, the best thing to do was to get him back to Lightriver Abbey.

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