The pain was beginning to ebb, or maybe I was just getting used to it. Either way, I was beginning to think more clearly now.
My vampire strength and healing was gone, replaced by ordinary human limitations. My enhanced senses had dulled to mortal levels. The bloodlust that had driven me for over a century had nearly vanished completely.
But my bond with Talin remained. I could still feel her heartbeat as clearly as my own. Feel her magic humming just beneath her skin. Feel every surge of emotion that crashed through her.
I would do it again. I sent the thought through our connection, bypassing speech entirely.
Her eyes widened and I knew she could hear me.
Whatever I am now. Whatever happens… it doesn't matter. I'm yours.
Chapter 23
Talin
I couldn't stop touching him.
Every few seconds, my fingers found Elias's face, his chest, his hands, reassuring myself he was real and alive and here. The sun was rising over New Orleans, painting my bedroom in soft gold, and for the first time ever, Elias didn't have to hide from it.
He sat on the edge of my bed, still wearing the blood-stained shirt from last night. Judy had insisted we take him to a human hospital after stabilizing him with her magic and Killian agreed, if for no other reason than he wanted to know what Elias was now. The ER doctor had been baffled by Elias's vitals. His heartbeat was too slow, his temperature was too low, and his pupils dilated strangely. But he found nothing broken. Just severe shock and exhaustion.
"He'll heal," the doctor had said, puzzled. "Give it time and rest."
Dae swiftly wiped his memory and we left the hospital. Time and rest. Two things Elias hadn't needed in over a century.
I traced the line of his jaw, my thumb brushing over his short beard. His skin felt warmer than before, but his dark eyes tracked my movements like the predator he used to be, and maybe still was, patient despite the clear exhaustion lining his face.
"You should sleep," I whispered.
"Can't." His voice sounded like he'd gargled with shards of glass, but that would heal too. "I keep thinking I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream. And my real life is the nightmare."
"Which part? Coming back human or?—"
"You being gone." His hand caught mine, pressing my palm against his chest where his heart beat steady and strong. "That part was the nightmare, little witch. This?" He gestured to his transformed body. "This is just... different."
Different didn't begin to cover it.
Indirect sunlight streamed through my bedroom window, the morning rays not quite reaching where Elias sat. I watched him stare at the golden light pooling on my hardwood floor with an expression of wonder so raw it made my throat tight.
Slowly, carefully, he stood and moved toward the window, stopping just before the light touched his bare feet, hesitating.
"We don't know if it's safe for you to be in the sun," I reminded him.
"Only one way to find out."
He extended his hand into the golden stream.
I held my breath, every muscle tensing, ready to yank him back if his skin started smoking. But… nothing happened. The sunlight painted his olive skin in warm tones, highlighting the dark hair on his forearms. Elias's breath hitched.
Then he stepped fully into the light.
It illuminated him like a god, touching his face, his shoulders, soaking into his dark hair. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, and the look on his face was so transcendent I had to look away, feeling like I was witnessing something intimate. Something that wasn't meant to be shared.
"It's been over a hundred years since I've felt the sun," he whispered.
Tears burned behind my eyelids, overflowing onto my cheeks as I turned back to him. I'd spent the past few hours terrified, angry, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what Elias had sacrificed. But watching him stand in sunlight for the first time in over a century...
"Come here," he said softly.
