“How can I help you, Amouré? What can I do?”
“The sound of your voice is salvation enough, my Everheart.”
From the darkness within, a wall of evil surged, creating a veil down the center of my bond to Nahomie, cutting off her access to my spirit and soul.
“Nahomie!”
I screamed her name in the metaphysical void, pounding against that wall of wickedness. No matter how much I slammed into it, how much I unleashed my souls against it, it wouldn’t come down. The monster within blocked out Nahomie and trapped me on the other side. I was powerless to do anything. I could hear Nahomie calling my name. It was like listening to a song while under water. Her voice faded. Zemshaza’s cruel laughter bounced around the halls of my mind.
“You will pay for disobeying me, Slave.“
My body contorted. A fresh wave of excruciating pain burned through my limbs. I gagged, choking back a scream. Zemshaza’s torment was relentless.
“Twinight sharpens, with every new sensation. Darkness bows to the light of your possession.”
A sweet, sweet lullaby surfaced deep in the recesses of my mind. I choked on a breath as the melodic song felt like cooling rain simmering the inferno beneath my skin. It was some time before I registered that the voice belonged to Nahomie. Fresh tears streamed down my face in the woods. Her words couldn’t tear down Zemshaza’s hèllish partition as it tried to break our bond. But her song could.
“Let our souls be twined, let our fantasies unwind. In this darkness that we both must brave and fight.”
Her sweet voice grew louder in my head until it was all I could hear. The more she sang, the easier it became to breathe. I lay on the ground, my wings caught on one of the gnarled roots of the nearby tree, inhaling gulps of air until my lungs were no longer constricting. I wept as the Seraphim of my hearts sang to me.
“May we bask within the music of the night.”
Eight centuries of hardness, of barricading my hearts and shielding my soul from emotion, fromfeeling, unraveled, coming completely undone. Zemshaza had once threatened to break me to such a degree I’d learn what it was like to beunmade. How ironic he never got the chance, but the Phantimèssa of Edenael finished the job for him.
Her voice filled every crevice of my mind. Body. Spirit. Soul. Emotionally laid bare before her as she removed stone atop stone that made up the impenetrable fence around my hearts, I let myself desire. Crave.Long. Nahomie sang her hearts out, refusing to stop. I knew she felt my pain the same way I tasted her fear of never being safe. I knew she would sing until she was satisfied that I was all right. That I would have enough strength to make it home.
Rot.
“Everheart.”
“Mi Amouré, have you returned to me?”
“Awoui, heart of all my hearts. I am here.”
A sensual caress of blackfire down our bond was enough to fuel me to get up. I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened. Since my escape from the Underrealm, I had never conquered the crippling power of the curse. I was always brought to my knees by Zemshaza, never able to fully break free. Until Nahomie.
“You’d better be. You’re stuck with me unless I decide otherwise.”She kissed her teeth.“I’m really annoyed that you’re not here. Vivienne is an absolute treasure. All the Esprit and Nanmiess simply adore her.”
I smiled so wide I could feel the gesture lifting my face.
What prayer had I prayed for the Infinite to smile on me like this?
“I’ll be home soon, my possessive phantom.”
Her laughter tumbled down the bond, flooding my chest with light. With life.
I pushed to my knees, then my feet, unwinding my limbs as if I’d just been mended by a Raephim. I felt incredible.Lighter.
Realization dawned.
My pain was gone. All of it. And the darkness... I couldn’t feel any trace of it. Nahomie sang to me, and her songhealedme. I sat up abruptly, shaking with the truth. Zemshaza had sworn only the bond of a Nebulari, and her blood, could break this rotting curse.
The Fallen King lied.
I blinked, adjusting to the growing twilight of the Beauradèl Wood, unable to fully process what my brain was unraveling. Had the cure to the curse been something else entirely, and I hadn’t known? Voices in the distance stole my attention.
“Everheart, I have to go. I’ll dote on you properly when I come home. I promise.”
