I’m still touching Kane, gripping his shoulder desperately, even after all remnants of darkness have gone. I need to make sure he’s here with me, that we’ve completely emerged.
He’s still on his knees.
Why is he still on his knees?
“Can you stand?” I murmur, and he flinches.
Did I… was that me? Did I cause him to flinch?
I stare down at my hand—at my fingers coated in darkness. Am I hurting him?
I instantly recoil, stepping back as I stare at both hands.
We’re healing him.
Healing him? He’s on his knees? I can feel his pain!
Touch him. Help him.
Kane still hasn’t spoken, eyes on the ground, hands on his thighs, grasping at nothing. I glance back at my fingers, at the inky tips already turning a lighter grey.
Was I… taking his darkness?
I kneel, almost touching his knees with mine, and place both hands on top of his.
He tries to look up, the tendons in his neck straining, but he doesn’t manage it. I concentrate, staring at my hands, my fingers, the darkness coating them, willing them to take, remove, heal.
Heal him.
My fingers begin to burn, darkness seeping in from the very tips before slowly sliding down, bit by bit, until my veins darken into inky blue. The coolness is instant, delving into me and threading through my body.
There’s pain but there’s also… comfort. Peace.
My eyes close as I remember the first time Kane ever touched me. The cold calm it brought, the silence. I’d never felt anything like it.
“Stop.”The word pulses through my head—rough, pained, and his.
I jerk my gaze up, my eyes locking with his.
Dark, but not entirely. There’s a crack, something lighter trying to pierce through.
And his voice, hearing it inside my mind…. after so long, it felt—
“Stop, Jasmine.”
But why?This is working.The black lines marking his skin are turning grey, the jagged edges smoothing.
“But this is helping. I’m helping you—”
“No more. You’re hurting yourself.”
He lies. Keep touching him—
“Don’t listen to it,”he urges, the pure black of his eyes igniting with more flickers of grey.“You’ve done enough. Stop. Please.”
Cold fingers land on my face.
I don’t know when he moved his hand. But I feel it—goddesses, I feel it—and worse than that… I lean into it. I push my cheek into his touch like I’ve been starving for it.
