“Come back to me, damn you!” Her arms shook uncontrollably. Orelia turned her screaming mouth up at the sky. She roared, giving all she had left.
Her light may have been brighter than the sun.
It may have covered the entire forest.
It burned inside her as she raged, and dug, and gave.
When she could give no more, Orelia stared at her hands that were almost unrecognizable in the gold glow.
“You’re mine!” she roared.
The light snuffed out, and Vade gasped for air.
“Oh, gods!” Utterly spent, Orelia flung her weak arms around him the best she could. She didn’t let go of him, even as he continued to suck down air. Eventually, she felt an arm wrap around her back.
“Orelia,” Vade whispered in a voice that sounded like he hadn’t had water in years.
She pulled back and looked him over. His face was no longer beaten and bloody. There was no gash in his chest and his wings were intact.
He looked perfect.
“You’re alive. Oh gods, you’re alive!” she said, not quite believing her eyes.
Vade sat up fully, blinking rapidly, looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. When he coughed, she grabbed his waterskin, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to him.
He downed it all, water spilling out of the corners of his mouth. “I heard you,” he said. “I never stopped hearing you, even when I was . . .gone.”
“How?” Her voice shook. “I . . .I don’t even know how I did that."Witches couldn’t bring people back to life, even if that’s what she’d envisioned.“You were—You were dead.”
He cradled her face in his hands. “There was a light above me. Faint at times, but never gone.” He smiled. “Your light, Orelia.”
She burst into a grateful sob and he pulled her into a hug that lasted for minutes. When she finally felt like she could let him go, knowing he was safe, Orelia pulled back.
Vade ran his fingers over her brow. “You’re Marked.”
“What?” She touched her forehead, but all she could feel was sweat.
“And your hands,” he said.
Her healing tattoos had turned permanent, etched in black. “The witch I met in Ricaboro said only witches who were deemed worthy received the Mark. I always thought worthy meant worthy of evil,but she told me she became Marked after saving her niece.” She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She’d been gifted the Mark of the Witch.
Vade brushed away the last of her tears with his thumbs. “No one is more worthy than you. Clearly the gods felt the same way.” He kissed her, and it took everything in her not to start crying again.
“I love you,” he whispered onto her lips.
“I love you, too.”
Orelia hugged him again, afraid he might disappear from her grasp. Only when they finally peeled themselves apart did Vade ask about the dead batalin lying a few feet away.
“You did that?” His eyes went to the seidr dagger sticking out of the guard’s chest.
She nodded.
Vade cocked an impressed brow. “Are you okay, though?” He took his hands in hers and kissed her knuckles with reverence. “I never wanted these beautiful, healing hands to have blood on them.”
“He took you from me. And I could not forgive that.”
Misty eyes met hers. “I owe you everything, Orelia. Everything.” He kissed her forehead. “You are the most important thing in this world to me.”
