41. CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 41

DANIELLA

My strength was dwindling, and the light I’d sent out across the clearing was growing dimmer and dimmer by the second. It would not last. I knew that much. This last-ditch effort to save Kalyll had a fast expiration date.

Kalyll, I called him.

Only silence.

Please, you have to come back. You can’t leave me.

—I… can’t,he answered, sounding like the echo of a vanishing thought.

Yes, you can.

—I’m too w-weak.

Damn it. I don’t care. You’re my mate and without you, what kind of life will I lead? You have to get your ass back here.

—But I’m… so far gone.

See my light? See me? All you have to do is follow me.

I sensed the moment he gathered the last dregs of his strength and started following me. My light, even weak as it was, made the trees, the rocks, my body cast stronger versions of themselves onto the ground, and wherever those deeper shadows touched, Kalyll’s scattered fragments grew stronger, denser.

Bit by bit, they drifted closer to each other, forming bigger pieces, bigger shadows. Then those pieces joined others and grew in turn.

Soon, the ground seemed alive, shifting and changing like the surface of a gloomy lake. I sensed Kryn standing next to me, still as a statue, his body casting its own shadow.

My light grew softer, and the world around us dimmer.

I panicked for an instant, then realized that the newly assembled pieces were quickly coming closer to my dying light and dimming shadow.

A thought occurred to me.

“Kryn, get down here. Next to me!”

Without asking questions, he knelt by my side.

“Put your hand next to mine.” I shook my left hand up and down to indicate where to set his up.

Quickly, he aligned his arm with mine from the tip of our pinkies through the length of our forearms.

With that done, I slowly let my light dim further, guiding the shadows inward, then I channeled all the remnants of my energy through my right hand, positioning it right about our lined-up arms.

Together, we cast a smaller, yet more concentrated shadow, a shadow under which all the scattered pieces convened, joining like drops of water that soon became a small puddle.

“This way. I see a light.” Someone called through the trees.

“More guards are here,” Kryn hissed.

Kalyll, hurry!

To my relief, the puddle doubled, tripled, quadrupled in an instant. Then, all at once, the shadows elongated, stretching up into the air. Kryn and I reared back, watching eagerly.

The shape solidified, then Kalyll stood there. He placed a hand on his chest as if to feel he was real.

Joy and relief filled me, then what little strength had been holding me upright leaked out of me, and my entire body unhinged.

Before I hit the ground, Kalyll scooped me up and cradled me in his arms.

“Melynthi, you saved me.” He buried his face in my hair, and I weakly wrapped an arm around his neck.

“I hate to interrupt this tender moment,” Kryn said, “but we have to get out of here. Here.” He pushed his open hand in front of Kalyll’s face. It held the transfer token. “Take her to safety.”

“There they are,” someone screamed, then the light of torches and the beat of hooves filled the clearing.

“Go!” Kryn pressed the token into one of Kalyll’s hands. “Now!”

“Wait, no. Larina. Put me down.” I pushed against Kalyll’s chest.

Kalyll didn’t argue and set my feet on the ground. I stumbled in Larina’s direction and fell to my knees. Gently, I scooped her in my hands and cradled her close to my chest. Glancing at Kalyll, I nodded. A thousand questions brimmed in his eyes, but he only wrapped an arm around me and looked over at Kryn.

“I’ll be right back for you,” he said.

We dematerialized in an instant. That familiar feeling of nausea assaulted me, and as our surroundings washed away in bleeding colors, I nearly lost consciousness. We reappeared at the prearranged spot, a patch of forest outside of Imbermore.

“Where is Kryn?!” Arabis demanded.

“I’m going back for him.” Kalyll quickly deposited me on the ground and was gone.

“No.” I reached out, batting at the air.

“I got to go back. Give me the token.” Arabis reached out for Cylea’s hand.

“Kalyll has gone back for him.” Cylea pulled her hand away. “You don’t have to go.”

We waited, holding our breaths. Seconds ticked by, then a whole minute. Wobbling, I tried to get on my feet. Jeondar came to my side and helped me up the rest of the way as we stared at the empty air, waiting for Kalyll to reappear with his brother.

“Where are they?” Arabis demanded. “It’s taking too long. Give me that token.” She reached for Cylea once more.

“No use in risking your life too.” Cylea pushed Arabis, whose face turned bright red with anger.

Jeondar stepped forward. “I think we all need to go back.”

“Looks that way.” Silver took his spot next to Jeondar, looking ready for a fight. Blood covered one side of his head, turning his platinum hair crimson and smudging the front of his pointed ear and sharp jaw.

In fact, everyone seemed to have some sort of injury. How could they fight again?

“Don’t make me use my power on you,” Arabis growled.

Cylea shook her head. “They’ll be back any second. They know what they’re doing.” She didn’t sound so certain.

Arabis put her hand out, an intense glare in her blue eyes.

Cylea hesitated only for an instant, then tipped her hand over Arabis’s. The transfer token dropped, and the instant it hit her palm, two shapes materialized behind her.

I whimpered in relief. Arabis turned very slowly and took in Kryn and Kalyll standing there, the former slumping—one hand pressed to his stomach and the other holding on to Kalyll—who slowly eased him to the ground.

A trail of blood stained Kryn’s tunic and leggings. Arabis’s face crumpled and she fell to her knees next to Kryn. She took his free hand in hers, then looked at me. Can you heal him? her desperate eyes asked.

I inched closer on shaky legs, Jeondar helping me forward.

“Take energy from me.” Kalyll stepped forward.

“Are you strong enough?” I asked.

“I am. You just put me back together, remember?” He offered me both hands.

I pulled my cupped hand away from my chest and held Larina forward. Cylea gasped and blinking rapidly took the pixie from me and held her reverently and tenderly.

“Just hold on,” Arabis told Kryn.

“A-re you worried… about me?” Kryn coughed.

“Shut up!” Arabis snapped.

He groaned and winced, shrinking into himself.

“Please, hurry. He’s so pale,” Arabis urged.

Quickly, I took Kalyll’s hand, found his life force, and drew on it, careful not to take too much. In an instant, strength flooded me. My knees straightened from their bent position, the wound in the back of my head healed. My lungs drew in a deep breath, and the fog that seemed to have fallen over my eyes cleared.

“A-rabis,” Kryn mumbled, his voice a fading light that despite its dimness demanded to be heard.

“Save your breath,” she ordered him.

“I’m tired… of doing that. Al-ways holding back. I love you. Forever. Even if you… never… forgive me. I won’t stop. I—”

“You will stop now.” She shushed him with a kiss, her lips upon his as she clenched her eyes shut and a tear slid down her cheek.

With my strength restored, I kneeled by his side, pulled his bloody hand away from his wound, and got to work, repairing his injuries. With my skill, I sensed his punctured liver and heavy internal bleeding.

I knitted his vital organs and torn veins first. When that was done, I focused on the wide wound, which had pierced him almost all the way through, surely the vicious stab from a broadsword. As the gash sealed, he gasped in a breath, then let it go in relief.

Arabis pulled away and peered into my face. I nodded to reassure her he would be all right. Color returned to Kryn’s face, and when she noticed it, she started to pull away. Kryn grabbed her wrist.

“Oh, no, you don’t. Not again,” he said. “You deserve to be happy. And I promise you that nothing will ever get in the way again. Not in a million years.”

Arabis seemed uncertain.

I pulled away from them and went to Kalyll. He was reclining against a tree, taking deep deliberate breaths.

“Did I take too much?” I asked.

He shook his head and gestured toward Kryn and Arabis. “I’ll say it was all worth it.”

I glanced back to find Arabis’s arms wrapped tightly around Kryn’s neck, holding on as if she would never, ever, let him go again.

Turning to my mate, I did the same.