I swear under my breath, hugging her tightly to my chest. She feels so small and light and fragile there in the heavy dark. And I never knew I could feel this relieved.
Not for a human.
“You’re alive,” I mutter as I force myself to pull back. Swearing again, I ask, “How the hell did you get in here?”
“You didn’t put me here?” She asks, those wide eyes glinting in the soft light of our magic.
I laugh. She’s got to be kidding.
“No. I need you alive, remember? This is no place for a human. Any longer and you’d be dead.”
She really doesn’t know the first thing about magic.
That must be how she got here.
Whatever she was trying to do, it must have backfired and pulled her into the prison we’re both connected to. I can’t get away from this place. Not fully. Not until she frees me for good.
That thread connecting us limits my magic, tying me to her. Forcing me to abide by the whims of a little human.
She glances around at the dark and asks, “Where exactly is ‘here’?”
“It seems you’ve fallen into the prison meant for me.Howyou managed it, I can’t say for sure.” I tap her forehead, willing extra energy into her. I don’t know how much else I can give, but she still needs it more than I do right now. “Yet here you are, little human.”
Her voice wavers as she asks, “Why is it so heavy?”
“I’ll explain later.” I slide one hand beneath her legs, the other behind her back, lifting her against my chest. “First, we need to get you out of here.”
She doesn’t resist. Just sinks into my embrace, her body far colder than any human should be.
There isn’t much time left.
“Okay, void,” I mutter. “You better let us out.”
This is the part I’ve been dreading. The thought in the back of my mind that’s been nagging at me since I broke in.
What if we can’t get out?
Then we’ll both die.
This is the last place I want to die, trapped and cold as the lifeforce is sucked from my soul. But fate must be on my side today, because as soon as I picture her little apartment, the void vanishes.
I almost don’t believe it.
It was never that easy before. Hell, I spent ages trying to get out before I resigned myself to my fate.
And now I can just leave as I please?
Ha.
What a strange twist. But what matters is that we’re alive.
Even if only barely.
The human shivers in my arms, and I set her in bed, wrapping the covers around her with a grimace.
She’d better wake up from this.
As soon as I stand, lightheadedness hits me so hard, the floor feels like it’s gonna rise up to meet me.The hell. It takes a lot to make me lightheaded.
