Page 129 of Autumn Queens & Shadows

Malik faded right on top of the veil, holding his Adriatian steel now dressed in black burning flames. When the shadows tackled the veil again, he pierced the word right through it, surprising the Crafter who dropped on his backside.

Holding the hilt sideways, Malik pulled on the sword and then dragged it through the layer of the veil as if he was slicing a very large vegetable.

The red cocoon faltered and then disappeared altogether.

Malik's back was still to me, rising and falling fast, his breaths misting the air. In one swing, the Crafter was no more, his head rolling in the pale white snow.

He had found me.

Still breathing hard, he turned to me and pointed a finger to my necklace. “Never take that off.”

Don’t know how fast I ran, but when I flew onto his arms, he almost landed on his very pretty buttocks. “I thought something happened to you,” I breathed, pressing my face on his warm neck.

“I’m bound to you, my liege,” he said, hugging me tightly.

“What sort of punishment is that?”

“My liege needs to tell me that.”

“And how is my king finding it?”

“Satisfactory,” he murmured in my ear, his warm breath sending a trail of shivers down my spine.

I flinched when a fat drop of water landed on my forehead.

Then another.

And another.

We both looked up at the grey clouds gathering overhead that were now groaning with a sudden approaching storm.

Rain?

Did it even rain in the Islines?

The three drops of rain suddenly turned into a drizzle and thickened until we were caught in the middle of a rainstorm.

“It’s raining,” I said, reaching out my palms to catch the drops as he carried me under the tall tree of life to keep us from getting wet.

Somewhere under the downpour, I caught sight of the small figure who was still watching over me. Lifting a hand, I waved to Lilith, forgetting that she couldn’t see it. But then she waved back, wearing a smile before her astral form dissolved into the rain.

I didn’t even get to thank her.

“How is your wound?” I asked, trying to pull back and look at him, but he held me too tightly, face pressed to my shoulder.

“Fantastic.”

I glanced at the dead remains of the Crafter. “You did magic.”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“The spiritual mana was cut off, but not my physical one. At least what the infection spared.”

“Kilian told me that is dangerous for you.”

“I would have had a heart attack if something had happened to you so there wasn’t much of a choice.”