Page 84 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
The blade swung down, and I screamed Mina’s name, but then a flash of silver fur shot out from the melee. The soldier slashed his dagger clean through the side of the Silver Wolf who yelped and fell backward.
I knew in an instant who it was. Only one Silver Wolf would protect her with his life. A Wolf who had tried so hard to keep his sister from falling in love with a human. A Wolf who clearly loved one himself.
Hector.
Even with blood pouring from his chest, Hector righted himself and launched at the guard, snapping at his legs and toppling him over. He barely paused before tearing out the guard’s throat. And then his body spasmed and he collapsed.
Mina shot forward as he shifted into his human form, so caked in blood and gore I couldn’t see his wounds, but I knew from his gaunt, gray gaze that a shift wouldn’t save him now.
His eyes peeked open, his lashes clumped in congealing burgundy. He lifted a trembling hand to Mina’s cheek, leaving a streak of blood where he swept his thumb across her face.
She let out a silent sob, shaking her head at him. His hand wrapped around the back of her neck, and he pulled her down into a fierce kiss. My vision clouded with tears as motes of golden light started collecting around him, lifting his soul from his body and warping it in a glittering orb.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
I knew that golden light. Felt it stitch me back together with my own dying wish.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as the cloud of sparkling dust collected, and with a flash like rays of sun peeking through the clouds, she appeared. Vellia, beautiful and ethereal as ever. The silver-haired faery floated down to Hector’s side.
Mina sobbed harder, shaking her head. Signing ferociously for Vellia to go away, but Vellia just calmly drifted over to Hector and crouched down so he could whisper in her ear.
Her eyes lightly drifted to Nero, to the blinding battle he was locked in with Maez and Briar, and she nodded. When her hand touched Hector’s chest, his grip on Mina went slack. Mina keeled forward, gathering him into her arms, kissing him, shaking him, but he was gone.
Vellia stretched her glowing golden hands apart, stretching, stretching the final fabric of Hector’s life. She gave me a single look, a stolen glance, the warmth of a mother’s smile telling me everything I knew she wanted to say. I nodded back to her through watery eyes. Her gaze found Briar next, and Briar’s magic sputtered to a stop as she held our faery godmother’s gaze. Despite her distance, I could see the single word being chanted on my twin’s lips. “Please, please, please.”
Vellia nodded to Briar and then clapped the golden threads of Hector’s soul together with Briar’s crimson magic and Maez’s emerald ether and let it fly forward, crashing into Nero and causing him to vault across the room in an arc of rainbow light.
Briar
“BRIAR.”
I heard her voice like the sweetest song.
It was the last sound I wanted to hear as I died, my name on her lips. My name, my body, my soul: hers. Always hers.
My mate called me into the afterlife. I felt her arms around me and drifted further, letting myself melt into her strong hold. I was ready to go, ready for us to finally be together at last, in another life, another world, where Maez and I were at last one and the same again.
“Open your eyes.” The arms held me tighter. “Please, Briar, open your eyes.” The pleading voice was tinged with panic, and I finally acquiesced, squinting open my eyes to see Maez’s blood-streaked face.
Her shoulders slumped, relief flooding her as her lips curved up at the side. Tears welled in her eyes as the last walls around her crumbled.
“Hi,” I whispered, my voice a rasp.
At that she broke, the tears spilling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. “Hi.”
“You came.”
“I did,” she said, swiping my matted hair off my face. “I’m here.” She sniffed and lifted me up to sit, propped up in herstrong arms. “I’m sorry I ever made you doubt it. You made me brave.”
“I...” I realized all at once that I was naked, that my body was wounded in a thousand different ways. The pain flooded me anew as the shock began to ebb. I gritted my teeth as I balled my grip into the leather strap across Maez’s chest. I screwed my eyes shut, willing myself to be healed. Fire burned behind my eyelids. With a flash of bright red sparks, the pain disappeared.
“How?” Maez gasped as I sat up farther.
I looked down at myself to see I wore black battle leathers that matched Maez’s own. My hair was braided off my face, my broken fingers now straight, and my skin freshly washed. I took another deep breath and then another, no stabbing pains as I moved. I’d... I’d healed myself.
“How did you do that?” Maez asked, looking me over in disbelief.
“That thread of moonlight,” I whispered. “The one that tied your soul to mine. I felt it in the forests of Taigos. We are still connected, you and I. One life. One power.” I looked up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “It wasn’t until I saw you on that dais, facing down your fears, that I knew for certain I could summon it,use it. I knew that I could help you win.”
