"Sweet words, big guy," I murmur. "Fuck, is it ever dusty in this temple. I'm not crying."
"You're totally crying," Yaelyn says, rolling his eyes. But he's smiling.
"And you're so getting spanked."
"Let us take you home, Spark."
"There's something I need to do first."
Reznik helps me to my feet and I'm shaky, but I'm slowly getting my strength back. I wonder if I need to sun myself like a lizard to recharge the sun shards. This 'Light Bearer without a fucking instruction manual' thing is a bit bullshit, but I trust that Reznik and Yaelyn will help me figure it out.That, together, we’ll help drive back the darkness taking over the shadow realm. One step at a time. After my week-long nap.
"Can we put the draugrs to rest? They deserve peace now that their duty is done."
Yaelyn drops a soft kiss on my forehead. "Of course, love."
And so we do. I bestow a blessing of light on each soldier, sort of making up the words on the fly, but the effect is just as I had hoped: the undead become dead once more, finally able to rest.
Reznik scoops me into his arms when I've completed the rites, and after stepping out into the snowy countryside, I'm dragged into a world of shadow.
The moment we emerge from the shadow walk, I race to the kitchen sink and vomit up the marranitos I snacked on while waiting for my death.
"Never fucking do that to me again!" I moan, shaking as I heave. "Fucccck. We're going to have to do that loads when we save the shadow realm, aren't we?"
Yaelyn rubs my back and draws some of the nausea from my body with his magic. "You'll get used to it after a few times."
"I don't know how to save the shadow realm," I admit in a murmur.
"We'll figure it out, Luce. The three of us. We'll be by your side no matter what. I'll teach you to properly fight with that lightsaber of yours, we can refine your pocket light technique, and we'll beat back the darkness."
I make a few sleepy lightsaber sounds and Reznik strokes my hair.
"But for now, you sleep for a week. Yuletide was always our time of rest, and you've earned it, little thief," my demon says, pressing a kiss to my temple.
"Not a whole week," I mumble, then yawn. "I seem to remember a promise of tying and feasting..."
"Our pleasure is to serve you," Yaelyn purrs, his voice silky, and I wish I wasn't so exhausted, because I do so love the promise in his words.
"Save that thought," I say, blinking my heavy eyelids.
And then I swoon into their arms
* * *
I wakeup in the pickup truck, groggy and confused, curled half on the seat and half in Yaelyn's lap.
"Morning, sunshine," he says, pushing a thermos of his makeshift cocoa-and-coffee mocha into my hands.
"Where are we going?" I ask, sitting up to survey the world whizzing by around us.
"I broke one of your ornaments," Yaelyn confesses. "So Reznik decided you need a hundred more."
"Only a hundred new shinies?" I ask with a pout.
"Menace," Reznik rumbles.“Beloved.”
"Love you more," I tease, poking him in the side with my booted toe.
He cuts a glance in my direction and doesn't try to hide his smile. "Impossible."
