Page 14 of Urn My Love

I circled back to stand in front of him.

“I wish I’d known so I could have found you sooner.” Reaching up, I brushed my fingers across his jaw. “And I wish I could kill them again. More painfully this time.”

He barked a surprised laugh. “You are an unexpected delight. For such an elegant woman, you are terrifying.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that. Sometimes crap hit the fan in Cucalas and I had to sort it out. I couldn’t be the nice queen all the time.

“What happened to your wings?” I prodded.

His eyes glowed with a mix of fury and pain. “They broke them. It makes it harder to escape if I can’t fly. Thanks to the injections, my magic stays just out of reach and between that and the lack of food, my body can’t heal itself at shifter speeds.”

My stomach pitched violently, and for a moment, I considered reaching out to Hades to see if I could stop by for a visit after this mission was complete, just so I could kill the men again.

Even though my magic reserves were low, I knew I could heal him without harming myself. The thought of him being in pain for another minute longer was more than I could handle.

“Sit down and let me take care of them.” I motioned for him to sit on the ground.

He caught my hand and pressed his lips to the palm. “You’ve done enough. I’ll heal. Right now, I just want to soak in the fact that you’re real and here in front of me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “There will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other later. Right now, you’re going to sit and let me take care of you.”

“Bossy little thing, huh?” he teased, but obediently sat on the moss covered ground, his wings splayed out on either side of him. “What’s your name? I’m Jazriel.”

His name caused butterflies to flutter in my stomach. My mate’s name was Jazriel.

“I’m Iolani.” Kneeling behind him, I ran my hands up his back until I found the junction of his wings and his shoulder blades.

I took a deep breath and called my magic, sending it pouring into him. He gasped as the heat of my magic traveled along the length of every muscle, bone, and tendon in his body, stitching them back together with a bond that would be almost impossible to break.

Many times after a bone was broken, it was more susceptible to future breaks, but that wouldn’t be the case for him. The minutes ticked by as I worked to repair the damage to not only his wings, but also his ribs, arm and ankle.

These injuries were healed, but they weren’t old enough for him to have gotten them as a child. Had they purposely tried to maim him?

There would be time to learn more about what he’d gone through later. Assuming he was willing to stay with me even after learning what my future—and the future of anyone who bonded themself to me—held.

Turning my attention to his skin, I called my magic to my fingertips and traced them along every wound and bruise. I should have focused on the deep, open wounds, instead of burning through most of my energy reserves to heal superficial injuries, but I couldn’t stop. Not until I’d done everything I could to ease the physical pain of what my mate had endured.

When I finished, I was exhausted, and my eyelids seemed to be made of lead.

“What have you done, my flame?” he chided, gathering me into his arms and cradling me against his chest. “I would’ve healed with time, but I’m thankful to be free of the pain for the first time in many years.”

“You’re welcome,” I slurred, blinking hard in an effort to stay awake.

“Sleep. I’ll watch over you.” He whispered something in a language that was lost to the worlds many centuries ago, and it took my sluggish brain several minutes to translate it.

“Beat of my heart, breath of my lungs, keeper of my soul.”

I woke to warm sunshine on my face, and birds chirping in the trees overhead. The crackling of burning wood and the scent of frying fish caused my stomach to rumble.

Arching my back, I stretched my stiff muscles… only to freeze as my breasts brushed against warm skin. Memories of the last few hours rushed through my mind, and my eyes snapped open to find a set of glowing cerulean eyes watching me with amused interest.

“Hi?” I squeaked, surprised to find him so close.

“Good morning, flame.” His eyes glittered.

Sitting up, I finished stretching my sore muscles.

“I love that you aren’t hiding your beautiful body from me,” he purred.

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