Page 19 of Awakened Light

“Catrain! Please!” Thorne shouted again.

“Don’t do it!” Alpia reached for me again, but I turned on my heel and sprinted across the sand. It flew up behind me as I bolted down the beach, my powerful strides driving me closer and closer to the voice I never thought I’d hear again.

When I reached the beach where we’d first met, my breath hitched in my chest when I saw him. The protective fog visible from the outside of our island concealed me from him, but I could see him floating in his boat; the moonlight illuminated his beautiful eyes searching the emptiness while he called my name.

“Please, Catrain! I need you!”

I didn’t care that my mother would be furious with me when she found out.

I didn’t care that it was forbidden to let him in.

All I cared about was helping him... seeing him again. At that moment, nothing else in the world mattered to me but Thorne. I lifted my hands while I closed my eyes. Concentrating hard, I chanted the words my mother had taught me, and I used my powers to lift the fog keeping him at bay.

I opened my eyes and watched his face as he looked around him, and I knew my chant had worked. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew the fog was disappearing. A moment later, his searching eyes slid to a stop when he saw me.

“Thorne,” I whispered. “You came back.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Thorne

WHEN THE FOG PARTED, and I saw Catrain standing on the beach, I struggled to take my next breath. Not just from the shock that she’d actually answered my call, but because even my most vivid memories hadn’t retained just how beautiful she was.

She looked exactly like she had the first time I’d seen her on this beach. She looked powerful, confident, and wild. Her leather clothes left most of her tattooed skin exposed, giving me unchecked views of her muscular legs and tanned, toned abs. The breeze lifted her long blonde hair and the braided knots keeping it out of her face.

But her eyes drew my attention the most. They were a blue so light they almost appeared translucent, and the contrast of the black paint surrounding them made them look even lighter.

She was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen in my six hundred years on this earth.

The last of the fog drifted away as I tried to regain my senses. After what felt like an eternity floating in my boat staring at her, I finally grabbed my paddle and pushed my boat across the water and onto the sand beach. Catrain stood unmoving while I climbed out.

As I approached, my heart pounded so hard in my chest I was certain she could hear it. “You said you wouldn’t let me back in.” I smiled. “Liar.”

“Thorne. You shouldn’t be here,” she said with her thick accent.

“I know.” I reached out for her hands, but she stepped back and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I had to come back.”

“If my mother finds you here, she’ll kill you.”

“She can’t. I’m immortal.” I grinned wider.

“Thorne.” Worried eyes searched mine. “She’ll find a way. You really shouldn’t have come back.”

“I know,” I said, exhaling a sigh as I remembered the reason I was here. “And even though I intended on breaking your rule and coming back to see you anyway, this isn’t a social call. It’s an emergency. Annella’s been kidnaped, and I need your magic to locate her. Please, Cat. They’re going to kill her.”

“Annella? Your vampire friend?”

“Yes. And she’s more than a friend, she’s my family. Will you help me find her?”

She pursed her lips tight, and after a few moments, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I can’t get involved in vampire affairs. My mother would forbid it. You really should go.”

“Catrain, it’s Annella. You met her. She’s kind and sweet, and she really liked you. And she needs your help.”

“I can’t.”

Even while she said no, I could see the conflict brewing in her eyes. It wasn’t her saying no; it was her loyalty to her mother controlling her decision.

“They’ll kill her if Lothaire doesn’t kill himself, so I need you to help me find her. Please, Cat. I can’t lose either of them. And Lothaire will sacrifice himself for Annella in a heartbeat.”