Page 16 of A Kiss From a Revenant
I’ll beseech this deity for more time with her—to spend as much time with her as I am able. One night in her bed, holding her close, tasting her blood and her decadent mouth changed everything. I had made peace with my end as I had felt it looming for some time. In those dark, starving moments between feedings, I had longed for my undoing to stop this endless nothing.
Now I have a new lust for life brought about by my beautiful human. She is kind—brave—and so many other wonderful things. This cannot be the end of me, not when I’ve barely gotten a chance to explore her. I don’t know how much time I have left, but it is not long. That is why I am here, begging this powerful being to be merciful.
Last night was a revelation. It had awoken something in me I didn’t know I possessed. Feelings of longing and devotion followed me into sleep, where for the first time in centuries I dreamed. Glorious, warm dreams of Nory—of her face, her scent, of our life together, and what that could be. I never would’ve left her bed at the first rays of morning light if it hadn’t been important. I had to find my maker and pay whatever price is necessary to stay my undoing.
With a sigh, I kneel on my cold armour plates before the imposing tree. They dig into my thin flesh, sending icy pricks along my body. Without Nory’s warmth, I will surely freeze to death. Lowering my head and pressing my palms to my thighs, I assume a posture of pure supplication. The air around me goes still, the hum of life falls away.
A soft buzzing rattles my ears as my senses are overwhelmed with the scent of magic. The air thickens as the tree pulses before me. Dazzling white light spills from the broken trunk. It swirls around me—tendrils of power brush against myshoulders, and I suppress my shiver. After a few moments, the light consolidates into a solid form. My maker is made of only power, a being beyond this world that I am about to bargain with.
My plight is a foolish one, but for Nory, I would do anything to keep her at my side.
“My child,” my maker hisses. “Coming before me now, when our eternal reunion is not too far off. Why?”
I swallow, tasting Nory’s sweet blood faintly along my tongue.
“Dear maker—I’ve met someone. I come before you today as your humble servant, and beg you to postpone my undoing to give me more time with her.”
The being glows brighter. The white light is too powerful for even mylifefireto stare at. The silence between us stretches, and unease tickles the back of my neck. Finally, my maker makes a soft chuffing sound. A laugh? Surely not. A being of this power has no use for fickle emotions such as humor.
“Does your human wish the same?”
My nod is emphatic. “Yes—yes, I believe so.”
“Hmm,” they hum. “Curious that. You are a monster—I made you that way.”
“And I’ve felt like one for centuries. All until her. I beg of you, extend my time in this world at least until she reaches her own mortal end. A handful of decades—nothing more. I beseech you, dear maker.”
Humans live such frightfully short lives. Merely blips in time compared to the centuries I’ve wandered. To think of Nory no longer being in this world makes my stomach hollow. Once she is gone, I will long for my undoing, knowing I could no longer roam this world without her in it.
My maker seems to consider my words, their stark light cooling in contemplation. After a moment, their rasping voice breaks the silence.
“Did you ever wonder why you were the last of your kind? My longest wandering creation that’s outlived all the others.”
“Stubbornness,” I reply bitterly.
Again, a soft chuffing comes from them that I am forced to believe is the sound of amusement.
“My child, I made you different from the others. Many thought I was foolish to do so, seeing as you have not lived up to your full potential.”
Their light fades nearly to gray.
“I apologize for displeasing you,” I say. “Whatever it is you wish me to do, I will. So long as I can have more time with her.”
“A lover’s plight,” they purr. “What’s given must be earned, child. Never forget that.”
Their light returns to brilliance as they float down from their perch atop the trunk. Self-preservation silences my tongue as I feel them float towards me. The whisper of warmth ghosts over my cold cheek, but I dare not look up.
“An extension will not be given on this day. In two weeks, you will be undone just like all the other revenants before you.”
My stomach hollows as bile rises in my throat. The world tilts at odd angles around me. Two weeks is nothing. How will I ever?—
“Unless,” my maker sighs, “you do the one thing no one of your kind has done before.”
Their power presses into the side of my face. I grit against the sting of their power cutting into the flesh of my cheek. Their light touches my ear, and in a hushed whisper, their demands are bestowed upon me. My lifeline from them is nothing more than an impossible ultimatum.
The last bit of my hope leaves me as they pull back.
“But how will I?—”
