Chapter 23

23

L ugh sucked in a sudden breath and lurched up from the ground. My hand flew to my chest, my heart restarting after what felt like years. He'd laid there like that for seemingly endless hours, his pulse gone, his breath still in his lungs.

"Lugh?" My hands found the ground, my fingernails digging deep into the dirt. "Is it you or is it the nightmare?"

His eyes flew open. A deep, deep black stared back at me, but not the dark pit that the wraith's eyes had been. Recognition flickered through his irises, chasing away the pain written on each and every line of his face. "Moira? Is...oh my god, are you okay?"

"What?"

He reached out and pressed his hand against my face, and then dropped his gaze to my hand. "You're crying and bleeding everywhere. What the hell happened to you? "

I glanced down at my hand, and pain suddenly blindsided me. He was right. Blood smeared across my palm as the wound bubbled with a fresh stream of it. The spear had cut deeper than I'd realised. I'd been so distracted by Lugh's collapse that I hadn't realised how badly I'd been hurt.

"Don't worry about me," I said sniffling. "Are you okay? Is the...is he gone?"

Lugh shook his head in confusion. "Is who gone?"

"You don't remember," I whispered.

"Remember what?" Lugh frowned, and then his eyes snagged on the weapon lying only inches away from his feet. Realisation dawned on his face, quickly followed by horror. He stared at the spear, and then jerked up his eyes to meet mine. "Blimey, Moira. Please tell me that what I think happened didn't really happen. Tell me it was all a terrible dream."

"A nightmare." Sighing, I collapsed back onto my heels. Finally, I could relax. It was all over. The terrible nightmare was done. Lugh was back. He was here, safe and alive, and I would never let him be taken from me again. Instinctively, I reached out toward him, desperate to bury myself in his chest. I wanted him near me. This time, I wouldn't run. I would never let go.

"Moira?" Lugh's voice sounded tinny, and I realised my eyes were shut. "Moira. Talk to me. You're bleeding terribly. We have to close the wound.

Distantly, everything came rushing back to me. Everything I'd heard about lives and sacrifices. The cauldron and the spear. Nemain and Lugh's soul. It was all dark magic, the kind that took lives just as readily as it gave them. To save Lugh, I'd sacrificed my own blood.

And the magic would take it all.

Darkness surrounded me like a blanket, and a strange peace filled my soul. I wasn't ready to leave this world, but at least I didn't have to go alone. I had found my soulmate. And he had found me. Maybe in another life, we'd have more time than this.

My lips parted, and I breathed my last breath.