Page 65 of The Illuminated
If only to see Daelon’s face one more time.
Chapter21
Icame back to life abruptly, sucking in air like I’d been drowning for days on end. My heart began to beat, slowly at first and then all too fast. Like the start of a race car, my blood, muscles, organs, and everything else roared to life. Beautiful, sorrowful, inexplicable life.
I coughed and looked around. The first thing I saw was Daelon scrambling to me as I lay on his bed, looking very much like he hadn’t eaten, slept, or showered since I’d died.
“Hey. Uh… what’s up?” I said, because I had no idea what else to say to the man who thought he’d lost the love of his life, forever.
“Please, Goddess, tell me I’m not hallucinating again,” he whispered, stopping just before the bed as his eyes searched mine.
“Again?” I asked, sitting up and clearing out the cobwebbed hoarseness from my voice. He just stared at me in a heartbreaking blend of shock, horror, andlove. “But no, you’re not hallucinating, I’m back. I don’t have time to explain much because Lucius is alive again too. But I went to the Akashic Records and broke his binding spell over history. Now… you and I need to leave. Immediately. And we’re taking Taryn with us.”
Daelon blinked, standing in stunned silence for three long seconds. Then he was pulling me up and into his arms, kissing my hair and the side of my face. “I knew you weren’t dead. I knew it. We could still feel you, everywhere, so you couldn’t be gone. Your power was still so bright. But I saw you die.”
A second voice shrieked behind him. “She better be alive. Because if you’re hugging and talking to a corpse again, I think I’ll pull an Áine and kill myself.”
Daelon held me in a death grip, but I could just barely see Taryn standing in the doorway from where my face was squished up against his chest.
“I’m alive,” I said, muffled. “Daelon, you can do this all you want once we are out of this castle, but for right now, you need to let go.”
“Never,” he said, but he did, then he held my shoulders firmly. “Please don’t ever make me let go again.” Emotion racked his features, which looked older with worry and grief. I’d pushed him away, just like his parents had before they were each slaughtered. Even through his shield, I knew his agony was as deep as an ocean.
“I won’t,” I promised. And soon Taryn was pulling me in for a hug too, though Daelon’s hand refused to budge from mine.
“We’re sort of… barricaded in here. With Amos too,” she explained. “It all happened so fast, and we weren’t sure what the rest of the guard was going to do. We don’t even know where they took Lucius’s body.”
“We need to leave,” I repeated, stronger this time. “Likenow.” I paused. “And Amos needs to come with us. Lucius will probably kill him.”
Amos appeared, as if on cue. “No, no. He won’t come after me, not yet. I need to stay here.” He smiled. “Welcome back, Áine. The binds over the truth have finally been broken. I see everything clearly again.”
“I do as well,” Daelon echoed with a slight frown.
I probed Amos’s eyes. “Are you sure? We—”
“I’m not going either, Áine,” Taryn said slowly. “My purpose is best served here, with the coven. We know you’ll come back for us when you’re ready to end all of this. Once and for all.” She nodded, the words leaving her lips as if of their own accord. I could feel the certainty like an unmovable brick wall in her aura.
“But Taryn… you won’t be with the coven. You’ll be in the dungeons. Or worse. He could kill you for your association with us—with me,” I pleaded, knowing my words were meaningless to her now. Her aura glowed bright white.
She just nodded. “I love you. Both of you. This isn’t goodbye. I know it isn’t,” she said, and her nods became more emphatic. A tear slid down her cheek, and she rolled her eyes and swiped it away as if annoyed with her own show of emotion.
“I love you too. And you’re right. I will come back for you, no matter what. We will all be free from this, very soon.”
Daelon hugged Taryn, whispering something in her ear that sounded like a thank-you. We each hugged Amos.
“It has been a pleasure and a delight to see you grow into the witches you both are,” Amos said. “Your strength, courage, and love continue to astound and humble me. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been alive for a very, very long time. Call on me in the astrals whenever you need. I will help you restore this land until my final breath.”
“Thank you,” I said, and I watched Daelon’s face fall as he said the same. Amos and Taryn were the only family he’d known since his parents sent him away, just like my friends from Earth. I knew how painful it was to say goodbye.
But as my and Daelon’s eyes met, I knew we were going to be okay. We had each other and that was everything we needed. It had to be.
“Be forewarned—you will be hunted to the ends of the realm. Not until you are actually inside Iciera’s borders will you be safe, and even then, he will not stop. Know when it’s time to move on,” Amos instructed. “You are still bound from teleporting beyond the castle grounds, but once you reach the King’s City you will be able to jump to wherever you desire. Teleport to the gardens, but then go on foot through the forest of Thora that you restored. The land will protect you.”
I nodded. I looked to both of them—Taryn and Amos—and before I could say anything further, I heard commotion outside the room.
“Both of you hide,” I said. “Stay out of harm’s way for as long as possible. Promise me.”
They nodded, and Daelon and I gripped our hands together. I stared into his dark brown eyes, and I whisperedgardensinto the air. As soon as our feet touched down on the cobblestone path in front of Katherine’s cherry blossom tree, I reached out to everyone connected to my power—Santana, Amaya, Callum and the rest of the coven, and even to my insider allies, including Abraham, Serena, and Clarice.
