I leaned over. Pain lanced through my side—vicious, tearing—but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.
Three times. She’d saved me three times. Stopped time for me. Poured out her life force for me. Nearly died for me.
This fierce, stubborn, incredible woman.
And I wanted her. Damn it, I wanted her. Not just her magic. Not just her power. Her.
I needed her.
I brushed a strand of damp hair from her face. Her skin was cold. Too cold.
“Don’t leave me,” I breathed against her lips. “Not now. Not when I just found you.”
And I kissed her.
Chapter Fourteen
Alice
Every muscle ached. Too tired to move. Too tired to think.
I lay on a grassy hill. Or maybe a mountain. I couldn’t tell anymore.
Mist floated above me, cold and heavy. So cold. My blood had turned to ice. I couldn’t stop shivering.
Was this dying? Was this what it felt like to fade away?
Find me.
That voice. Those words.
Warmth spread through me like a blanket wrapping around my frozen body. The shivering slowed.
The mist above me began to clear, parting like curtains. Sunlight broke through—bright, so bright I had to squint.
But something was wrong.
There were two suns. Two burning orbs hanging in the sky.
I blinked. The suns shifted. Changed. The fiery orange cooled, dimming, transforming into glowing silver.
Not suns.
Eyes.
Silver eyes, staring down at me.
Come back to me.
My eyes fluttered open.
Someone was kissing me. Soft. Gentle. Like I was something precious.
I breathed him in—pine and something wild. Something that felt like home.
Darius.
I opened my eyes and there he was. Pale. Tired. Beautiful. My heart cracked open at the sight of him.
