Page 121 of Queen of Thorns
Rev
All of the weight andpain drop back into me at once, and I gasp as air rushes into my lungs.
Then, she is on me. Her arms are around my neck, her chest against mine. For one moment, all I feel is the absolute bliss ofCaelynn, and I breathe it in. But then, I notice she’s sobbing.
I return the embrace, wrapping her up in my arms and squeezing tighter than I probably should.
“Rev,” she cries against my neck.
“I’m here,” I tell her. “I’m here.”
“You left me,” she whimpers. “You were gone.”
“Not by choice, Angel.” I chuckle lightly. “I’m pretty sure I was in heaven.”
Caelynn pulls back suddenly, her bloodshot eyes wide in shock.
“Don’t worry, I’d rather be here any day.” I pull her down to meet me for a sloppy kiss, but I don’t care, any touch from her is perfect. “This is my heaven, Angel.”
She chokes on a desperate laugh. I wipe the tears from her cheeks.
“What happened?” a deep voice whispers. A voice I’ve never heard so soft, so pained.
“Ty?” I ask, looking over Caelynn’s shoulder. She leans back and reveals the dwarfish fae smiling through tear filled eyes, kneeling right next to me.
“I don’t know what happened exactly,” I say. “I feel awful.” My whole body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. My head is throbbing.
“What did... the afterlife feel like?” Kari whispers. I turn to her. She’s standing a few feet away, arms wrapped tightly around her middle.
“Much better than this,” I chuckle, trying to force my body up into sitting position.
“Facing death is the easy part,” Caelynn whispers. “Facing life—that’s the struggle.”
I press my cheek against her chest. “Life might be hard, Angel. But it’s so, so worth it.”
“We should go,” a low voice says. I blink, looking up to the being made up of pure light towering over us. My eyebrows shoot up. Right, the battle of ancient evils continues on.
“You brought me back?” I ask.
The Light King nods.
“Thank you, maybe you’re not such an asshole after all.”
The Light King chuckles.
“Where are we supposed to go?” I ask, as Caelynn helps pull me to my feet. My body feels heavy and strange, my legs wobbly, but the wounds beneath my ragged clothing are healed. “What happened?”
“Well, we have some things to discuss,” Caelynn says slowly, sniffing back the rest of her tears.
“By giving you life,” the ancient made light says, “I released some of my magic that I cannot get back. Between that and my injuries...”
I frown.
“He doesn’t the power to kill the Night Bringer anymore,” Caelynn explains.
My stomach twists. “Then, you shouldn’t have brought me back,” I say quickly. I shake my head trying to wrap it around the current situation. We can’t win. The Night Bringer remains and not only can our current ally not win in a fight against him... there’s no one else. No other ancients. They’re all gone.
Caelynn grips my chin, forcing me to face her. I blink rapidly.
