A silvery sheen swept over her with his vow.
She reached for his face with a shaky hand. The rage swiftly drained from his gaze as he cupped it against his cheek. He was warm against her icy palm.
His name, what was his name?
His gaze shuttered but his voice was soft, broken. “Have you forgotten me again, songbird?”
Again…?
This beautiful creature of the night looked at her with so much longing and worry, it made her heart ache. She was important to him, and he to her. How unfortunate that she found the source of her breath only to lose it.
Her teary eyes rolled as her strength waned and her vision faded.
“Alora?” He called, frightened, patting her face.
I’m dying…
“No. I refuse to allow that.” His palm gently rested on her chest and warmth filled her brittle bones. Crimson light and shadow flared beneath his hand, sinking into her being. It revived her distant pain, and she cried out. “I know, I know,” he hushed her softly. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed her and more magic poured into her, a lifeline that brought warmth back to her bones.Her heart raced wildly, lungs expanding for air. Whatever he was doing, it was feeding her life. And she needed more.
Take as much as you need.
Instinct reacted and Alora kissed him deeply, clinging to him as if he were the source of life itself. Shadows poured into her, returning strength to her cold body and it was delicious. But he groaned, wincing and she made herself stop before taking more.
Rune panted, resting his forehead against hers. “Look at me, love.”
She tried.
“Look at me.” He lifted her chin, his red eyes holding hers. “Do you remember who I am?” His expression shuttered with hesitation, an ache passing through his eyes.
His name surfaced from the depths of her mind like a leaf in the wind.
Rune.She whispered it through the connection between them.
Alora repeated the name, savoring its familiar shape. Reclaiming a sliver of the knowledge she had lost.
Rune’s shoulders sagged with relief, a faint curve on the edges of his lips. “There you are…”
Crimson light glowed around her body as he continued to work on saving her life. Her wounds knitted together like embers fading. She admired him through her blurred vision, limp and helpless in his arms. But she didn’t care.
“Did you do that?” Rune glanced at the slashed glyph that broke the spell. “My clever girl.”
She managed a weak smile.I had help… my brother…
Rune’s brows rose at that. His gaze returned to the array, and alarm flickered across his face. “Tell me more later,” he murmured.
He ripped his cloak free and wrapped it around her. Lifting her in his arms again, he swept out of the dungeon, quiet as a ghost. Her eyes drifted closed, exhaustion dragging her to sleep. But the scent of fresh blood instantly had her alert.
Bodies littered the passageways, contorted beyond recognition save for the Calveron crest on their breastplates. One torch still burned low, illuminating the dead.
Rune strode past the carnage toward the stairwell ahead and the distant cries and the unmistakable roar of something not-quite-human. Alora shut her eyes, burying her face against his chest. The temperature shifted as he whisked them away in shadow and emerged into the main hall.
Gore painted the floors, entrails marking a path toward the throne room.
The clash of steel led her to spot Caelum. His name she remembered, perhaps because she knew him the longest. He fought like a dance master, evading blades and parrying attacks. Beside him was a massive black Minotaur and a panther with wings. It tore into a Calveron soldier, ripping out its jugular, silencing his screams. Then the creature fixed Alora with constellations in its eyes.
She knew those eyes.
