Page 41 of Between Soul and Vessel
Weary blue eyes lifted to mine. Tears gathering, she whispered indisbelief—
Sage
“Von?” I breathed his name, my body trembling like a frostbitten leaf, shaken from its branch and captured by his wind.
Real or not real?
Could I believe what my eyes were telling me? Was he truly standing before me?
I wanted to believe it, even if it was just a beautiful, dark lie.
He lookeddifferent. His eyes were an endless onyx, his skin etched with bolts of black—had he gotten more tattoos? And he had . . . horns. They were sinister things, and yet, they sort of suited him.
My beloved Death knelt before me.
“Little Goddess,” he said, gentle hands clasping my cheeks, thumbs brushing away my tears. His masculine scent washed over me, and I breathed him in. I realized inthat moment that I wasn’t just grieving the loss of our child, I was grieving the loss of him.
“I’m going to get you back,” he vowed to me in such a way that I believed him.
“How?” I breathed, placing my hands over his, savoring every second of this moment. His touch. His words. Being near him again. All of it felt so right.Soreal.
I chose to believe it was.
“I’m figuring that out,” he answered, his voice as tender as his touch. “You just stay alive until I can get to you. Okay?”
I nodded, choking back a sob. “Okay.”
He pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “I love you, Sage. We will be together again. I promise you.”
And then he was gone.
But his words remained—You just stay alive until I can get to you.
For the first time since I awoke in these unfamiliar lands, I felt that small, sacred spark within—the one we all had burning inside of us, the one that made life worth living. The one that made it all worth fighting for.
That voice within me said,Get up.
“Let the battle begin!” the blonde woman standing on the balcony announced, and the spectators cheered and clapped.
Get up, that inner voice said again, this time a bit more urgently.
The giant charged at me, and the ground trembled.
Get up!the voice roared, filling my veins withadrenaline.
My heart leapt into my throat, and I spurred into action. I scrambled onto my feet, my muscles firing, trying to recall what they once were capable of. I flung my hand to my side, searching for my powers, but—
Nothing. They didn’t respond.
The giant brought her ax down, and I narrowly missed being cleaved in two as I dove out of the way. I slid across the ground, the sand scrubbing at the top layer of my skin, causing ichor to brim in the small, rash-like wounds.
“Ugh,” I growled as I came to a stop.
Roaring, the giant tugged on her ax stuck in the ground. Freeing it, she spun toward me, coming for me again.
I jerked upright, back onto my feet. I jumped as high as my weary muscles would allow, tucking my feet in. The ax sailed right underneath me, the current so powerful, it nearly sucked me to the side.
Collectively, the audience roared in astonishment, cheering at the blow that nearly chopped my legs off.
