Page 89 of Treasured

“Alright.” I turned, kissing Luna softly. It was a kiss of strength, of hope, of ardor. If this was our last moment, I wanted it to be good—audience be damned.

She squeezed my hand. “I’ll be here the whole time. Once this works—”

“If it works,” I corrected. There was a chance it didn’t, and I didn’t want her to get her hopes up.

It seemed it was too late for that, though. She shook her head, placing her finger on my lips and quieting me. “Once it works, we’ll wake Marius. Then we can plan out our next steps.”

Killing the queen.

I never would’ve imagined this would be my future. A year ago, a decade ago, a century ago, I was living in darkness. Now, my entire life was different. Luna was my light, my jewel, my everything. She was a lantern in the darkness, illuminating everything she touched.

And she was mine.

“Okay,” I said around her finger. “Once the bond is broken, we’ll start thinking about what comes next.”

Stealing one final kiss, Luna moved a few feet away.

Beaufort stepped forward and canted his head. “Last chance to sit down, Prince. This is probably going to hurt.”

I clenched my jaw. “I can take the pain. Do whatever it takes, I want this bond gone.”

After that, things moved quickly. Soon, I stood in the middle of a salt circle while Beaufort strode around me three times. He held his hands out at his sides, and blue ribbons streamed out of him, swirling around me.

“Breaking the bond will not be easy,” the witch warned. “We may be here for a while.”

“Understood,” I replied.

Luna pulled over a crate to the edge of the salt circle, and she sat. Her wings burst from her back. She held my gaze.

I’m here, Sebastian, she whispered through the bond. I’m not going anywhere.

“Isvana, Mother of vampires, Goddess of the Moon, Keeper of Health and Healing, we come to you today,” Beaufort intoned. “In the beginning, bonds were formed. Blood sustained. It provided. It was your gift to vampire-kind. Today, we ask that a bond be broken.”

He chanted, switching to another tongue as he pleaded with the goddess. His voice swelled, until his words were the only thing I could hear. The blue ribbons were a tornado, swirling around me and making it hard to see out.

The witch held out a hand in silent request, and Genevieve gave him the sunfire owl’s feather. His fingers wrapped around it. His voice deepened. “Blood was spilled. Sacrifices were made. We beg you, Isvana, break the bond.” He drew in a deep breath and began the refrain again. “Blood was spilled…”

The air thickened like soup. Breathing was nearly impossible. Seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness. I was about to lose hope when the feather burst into flame.

“Fire!” Luna yelped. “Is that—”

“It’s normal,” Genevieve assured her. “Beaufort knows what he’s doing.”

A huff, then Luna mumbled, “Alright.”

Beaufort continued. With a swirl of his hand, he summoned an unseen wind into the room. Now nothing but ash, the feather rose in the wind, forming a spinning gray sphere.

The vial of wolf’s blood followed suit. It, too, burst into flame, turned into ash, and spun next to the first sphere.

When Genevieve handed Beaufort the moonstone, something shifted in the room. Like the calm before a storm, a silent heaviness settled over us all.

The center of my chest tingled, the sensation spreading rapidly through my torso. At first, it was just uncomfortable. I could do this. I could stand strong while the bond was broken.

Beaufort’s voice crested. Echoes of ancient power ran through his words, and those tingles exploded into something more. Something painful. Magic crawled through me, touching every single part of my body. My lungs tightened, my heart raced in an effort to escape my chest, and my skin burned.

“Sebastian, are you okay?” Luna’s voice broke through the fog of hurt clouding my mind.

“I’m… fine,” I said through clenched teeth. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I furled my fists. “Keep going.”

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