I catch my breath, and it lifts its head at the sound.
“Roman?” I ask.
“I’m here.”
I roll the other way to find the demon kneeling on my other side, his eyes opening as if he’d been in a contemplative state—just like when he conjured his wolf in the Scourge. His hair is once again dark blond and swept back, his skin bronzed to perfection, and his green eyes are shadowed like they were the first time I saw him.
I launch myself upward. “You’re okay—”
That’s all he allows me to say before his arms close around me and he hauls me up against him. His mouth claims mine and the rest of the room fades as he takes possession of my lips as if I’m the damn air he needs to breathe.
I’m vaguely aware that, other than his wolf, we’re alone. My family and my wolves are no longer lying around me, but I have faith that Roman would have told me immediately if anything was wrong or if any of them needed help.
Trusting him, I fall into his scent and power.
Roman tastes like all of the strength of Pyra-Mortem, and the nightmare energy within me swirls to meet his darker soul. I never imagined I could feel this way about anyone, but Roman has completely captured me. Every part of me.
“Nova,” he murmurs against my lips. “I’m not sure how many times I can watch you nearly die and not lose my fucking mind.”
I press my lips to his again, curling my hands around his shoulders and settling my legs around his hips where we remain on the ground. I’m certain we’ve dislodged some of the stones surrounding me, but I can’t worry about that in this moment.
“Same, Rune,” I whisper.
His eyes darken at the use of his other name, which I usually reserve for our time in the bedroom.
“Your wolf?” I ask after I press another kiss to his lips, softer but no less heated.
“Another conjuring, but it helped me while you were sleeping. I woke up before anyone else, and I wanted to wrap you up in healing runes, but Athella wouldn’t let me interfere.” His brow furrows, a dark expression falling across his face.
I press my lips together, hiding my smile as I imagine the stand-off that must have occurred between them. A glance at my arms tells me that the burns and wounds from the battle are healed. On the inside, I feel whole and healed. My energy is restored, although not completely, but already, I sense my natural healing strength kicking in again to do the rest.
“Using a conjuring of my wolf allowed me to senseyourwolf’s energy levels,” Roman says. “I could feel your wolf coming back to life and it kept me sane.”
As he speaks, his bronze-furred beast trots around to my side and I sense the buzz of its energy again. I want to reach out and run my fingers through its fur, but I feel like that would only cause more pain since it would only confirm that this wolf isn’t flesh and blood.
The wolf’s form vanishes before my eyes, slowly disappearing into the air.
“My family?” I ask.
Roman nods against my neck, where he presses kisses. “Your mother is with Jareth and Koda. Your brother has some catching up to do with your father—and your mom seems to be a good mediator in that respect.”
“A mediator?” My worry grows. “Is there an argument between Koda and Jareth?”
Roman grimaces. “Koda has a few things to say about how much freedom your father gave his brothers and sisters.”
“That’s fair.” I relax a little. “What about Taniya?”
“She’s with Dastian.” Roman grins against my neck. “Don’t ask me where they are. They took off together as soon as Taniya woke up. Just know that she’s recovered, and she seemed happy.”
“What about Malia? And my wolves?”
Roman hesitates a little, but before I can worry again, he says, “Malia is with Adriel and Athella. It seems that Malia is struggling to access her power here, but Athella thinks it’s because Malia needs to understand how much her power changed on Stella-Astrum. She needs to draw on it differently here.” He pulls back and continues firmly. “She’ll be fine.”
“And my wolves?” I persist.
He presses a kiss to my lips, slow and tantalizing. “They’re playing with the eagle children.”
I’m instantly alarmed. “But they’re hungry.”
