“You separated her soul from her body,” Rangar said tensely. “You should be able to put it back in!”
“I don’t know how!” Illiana sputtered. “I thought it would be like tucking a bookmark into a book, but it’s more like water spilled from a glass. Once it’s out, it can’t be put back in!”
“What are you saying?” Rangar growled, dropping his hands from the amplifier group. The others fell silent, their eyes wide. “You can’t put her soul back in her body?”
“I’m trying!” Tears welled in Illiana’s eyes. “I’ve done all I know how to!” She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing as she admitted, “Rangar, I don’t know what else to do.”
Chapter 41
TRUE LOVE'S KISS . . . real magic . . . sun and moon and stars . . . bound forever
“Move aside,” Rangar ordered as he waved his hand at Illiana and the casters. “All of you, get out. Now. Leave me with Bryn.”
Despite his sharp command, no one in the room moved. With Bryn’s lifeless body face-down on the bed, she looked as good as dead.
That’s what I’ll be if I can’t get back into my body.
Existing in her spirit form no longer felt fascinating and ethereal; now, it was terrifying. She felt hollow, like a leaf tossed in the wind. There was no way for her to communicate to the others that she was right there, over their heads, watching everything happening.
“Rangar,” Elysander said softly. “I know this is painful—”
“Leave us!” he ordered again. “Illiana’s not the only one who knows something of magic. I was raised on hexes. I have the scars cut into my chest to prove it.”
His voice was so forceful that the others finally complied. Though they seemed hesitant, Queen Karin and the Jarkkinens left, taking care to avoid the guards in the halls.
Illiana started to pack up her supplies, but Rangar said softer, “Leave your things, Illiana. Go to Mars. Should I need you, I’ll come to find you.”
Illiana nodded as she wiped away some tears. She spared a moment to briefly touch Bryn’s bare back with the carved hexmarks, then left.
“You, too, Elysander,” Rangar said.
Elysander folded her arms. “She’s my sister. I won’t leave her side.”
“You have done much for Bryn,” Rangar conceded. “And for that, I owe you deeply. But she is my Saved. Since we were children, her soul has been bound to mine. Bryn shall belong to me for all eternity, as I shall belong to her.”
Taking a deep breath, Elysander finally relented. “I wish you luck, then, Rangar. But should you be unsuccessful, know that my sister loved you deeply. What the two of you shared is rare in this world. Many would be lucky to know a love like yours even for so brief a time.”
Rangar’s jaw clenched hard at the insinuation that Bryn might never return to her body. He didn’t look at Elysander as she slipped from the room, leaving him alone. He drew in a deep breath, then huffed out an exhalation. Leaning over the bed, he hovered his hand an inch above Bryn’s exposed back, almost as though he was afraid he might hurt her by touching her.
“My love,” he whispered. “My Saved. My soulbound. I know you are here. I can feel your presence. The room smells like maiden roses when you are near.”
Bryn gasped slightly, reaching out her ghostly hand, wishing nothing more than to touch him. Rangar gently rolled Bryn’s body over, so she was face up. He stroked the hair away from her face.
“Ten years ago, I followed a girl into the woods on a whim,” he murmured while gently running his hands through her hair. “Something about her boldness caught my attention. I saw her plunge into the forest at an hour when only predators should be about, and sure enough, I soon saw the wolves’ tracks in the mud.”
Taking a deep breath, he hung his head. “I should have moved faster. I should have gotten to you before they did.”
Bryn wanted desperately to cling to Rangar and kiss away all his unfounded guilt.You saved my life, she wanted to say.What are a few scars?
“When I carried you back to Castle Mir after the attack,” Rangar continued in a whisper, “I wasn’t thinking of thefralenbond. I was thinking only of getting you to safety. And yet, even at that moment, a piece of me felt bound to you. Your brother had to pry you out of my arms. You felt so slight and delicate, and yet I could sense your toughness. As they laid you out on the table to tend to your wounds, I saw the gashes across your chest, and then later that night, as I was cleaning my cuts, I realized they were the exact same scars. The same wolf claws. And that’s when I knew that you and I would always be in each other’s lives.”
Rangar’s hand cupped Bryn’s near-lifeless face. It was rare for him to display the measure of vulnerability that his voice carried. He drew in an unsteady breath.
“I never stopped wondering about you. At night, I would dream of that glen and the wolves and the fair-haired princess with the scars that matched my own. When I grew older, I started to think of you differently. I was so curious to know the young woman you’d grown into, if there was a lover in your life, or if perhaps you . . . you ever thought of me.”
His voice broke on the final words as he swiped a hand over his damp eyes.
“I finally saw you again when my brothers and I snuck to the Mir Harvest Gathering. You were even more radiant than in my dreams. You’d grown into a young woman as luminous as the sun, as beguiling as the moon, as graceful as a midnight stream. I knew then and there that I wanted you. That I loved you. That I would do anything in my power to protect you. And I tried, Bryn. The gods know how I tried. And yet, I failed.”
