Page 82 of Sun, Moon & Shadow

“No. You’re not. You’re too weak. We’ll throw him over the horse, and Nox’s healer can tend him.” He tried to pull her from Callan’s side, but she shoved him away.

Laying her hands on Callan’s wounds a second time, Nova closed her eyes and visualized his flesh knitting back together, stemming the rush of blood. Soon, a warm sensation bloomed in her chest and snaked down her arms to her palms, where the heat intensified. Nova grew dizzy, as though she might faint. She breathed deeply through her nose and shook her head against the alluring pull of oblivion.

Her body temperature continued to rise. In her mind’s eye, she saw herself drifting closer and closer to an endless black pool. An all-consuming darkness. It was surprisingly warm and comforting when she began to sink below the surface. Nothing like the dreadful, biting cold she felt when the black mist had swallowed her bit by bit in her dream.

Nova, stop.

Lucan’s voice floated around her, faraway and fading in and out. She blew all the air from her chest as the enveloping darkness reached the hollow beneath her bottom lip.

I said, stop!

The next instant, something hooked under her arms and hauled her back forcefully. The scorching heat on the surface of her skin dissipated, and she drew a ragged, painful breath, as if breathing for the very first time. Nova thrashed wildly, blinking as her vision returned. She found herself on top of Lucan, who lay on the ground, arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

“Let me go!” She tore free from his hold, throwing herself down beside Callan. She scrambled onto her knees, wobbling with the effort, and shoved the hem of his tunic up to his chest.

The flow of blood had stopped.

The straight edges of the wound were red and raw but slightly puckered, the tissue beginning to reach toward itself like a plant reaches toward the sun. Callan groaned, and she gripped the fabric of his tunic, resting her forehead against his and letting out a shuddering breath. He wasn’t fully healed, but she had kept him alive. He curled his fingers around her forearm and squeezed weakly.

“You saved my life,” he whispered. The bluish tinge still clung to his lips.

“I suppose you owe me a debt.”

Nova cupped Callan’s face, her hands sticky with his blood, and pressed her mouth softly against his.

“Hate to interrupt,” Lucan said bitterly, rising onto his feet. “But we need to get going.”

Nova pulled her lips from Callan’s and glanced around, dazed, having forgotten for a moment that anything existed outside the two of them. She stood and, with Lucan’s help, hoisted Callan onto Frost’s back. Nova settled into the saddle behind him. She took the reins in one hand and wrapped her other arm tightly around his waist, determined never to let go. He was weak, but she’d make sure he stayed astride.

“What were you thinking?” Lucan scolded, bringing his horse alongside Frost.

“I wasn’t thinking. I had to save him.”

“You had next to nothing to give, Nova. You’re fucking lucky I was here. You could have drained yourself. You . . .” Teeth bared in a silent snarl, he looked over his shoulder at the hulking black mountain behind them. “Let’s get moving. Try to stay on the horse.”

Lucan took off galloping south, and Nova followed close behind, the three of them racing back to the Silvergard Estate without pausing for rest.

Forty

The journey back to the capital passed in a hazy blur punctuated by the sensation of his insides being ripped apart. Though the pain tearing at Callan’s side was excruciating, it paled in comparison to the uncertainty and fear he had felt not knowing if Nova was alive. He would have died happily, knowing he’d brought her to safety.

Now that he lay convalescing in a comfortable bed within the Silvergard Estate, Callan was very glad he wasn’t dead.

Nova’s uncle kept the territory’s best healer in residence—a short, wizened female with black curls streaked with white and fingers like gnarled tree roots. The crone, called Eir, finished what Nova had started, cleaning Callan’s wound and encouraging the edges to join and scar over. After only a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, he felt much improved, but Eir ordered him to remain in bed and rest for several days more.

Not likely, he thought.

If the general and what remained of his guard were still hiding out near Schadwen Mountain, Callan intended to return and finish what he’d started. To punish them all for what they’d done. He needed only to consult with Lucan to devise a plan. They couldn’t allow Idrian to escape, free to plan another attempt on Nova’s life. Another plot to seize the Lunar Throne.

Callan heaved his legs over the side of the bed, wincing at the twinge of pain in his side. He raised his right arm above his head and looked down, running his fingers along the fresh scar. The healer had washed him with a cloth and a basin of warm water, but he was eager to soak his sore muscles in the bath. Callan limped carefully into the adjoining bathing chamber.

As soon as he entered the room, he was struck with an uncanny sense that he had been there before. He filled the black stone soaking tub with hot water and lowered himself beneath the surface. His sizable frame sent water sloshing over the edge to pool on the polished stone floor, his kneecaps peeking out from underneath the water.

Draping his arms over the sides of the tub, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Despite all that had happened in such a short period of time, the one thing his mind kept returning to again and again was that kiss, soft but crackling with intensity. Had Nova simply gotten carried away in the moment, overcome with relief at saving him? Gods, he hoped not. He hoped she was ready to acknowledge the thread stretching between them. Even if she wasn’t, Callan knew he would wait as long as it took. For the rest of his days if it came to it.

A short time later, he sat on the edge of the bed drying his hair with a soft towel, clad only in a fresh pair of breeches. A quiet knock came at the chamber door an instant before it opened. Callan expected to see the healer coming to check on him, but he found Nova standing in his room instead.

Nova needed to see him.