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But… wait. Her hands are rough, pressing with rhythm.
Finally, her wild eyes flick toward me, her hair still haloed by power. “Help me save him, Ren.” She begs, her wet eyes pleading.
My heart shatters and strengthens for her at the same time. I cross the room, taking a seat beside my mate. The male is immobile, but to my utter surprise, his eyes are aware and blinking. The wild madness has vacated them, but the message conveyed in the intent stare is still one of death.
His gaze focuses on Thea, and as if dreaming, his blackened lips form a dazed smile.
Savior.
It’s his last thought before the brightness of his eyes dim.
Thea is still pressing the entirety of her body weight onto the male's chest, heaving as she pushes her strength to its threshold. My hands, still covering hers, squeeze. “Thea, he’s gone.”
Her chin jerks upward. “But I saved him. I cleansed him like your dark Queen did for you.”
I trail my hands upward until they’re wrapped around her wrists, lifting them off the dead male's flesh. “You did, my love.”
13
Thea
Thesunlightisbrighterthan it was yesterday, and even though I know staring at it is harmful to my retinas, I do so anyway. Something about the ombre of yellows and oranges reminds me of home. Although lacking excitement, my crystal cave was calm. There, I didn’t have to worry about working through feelings.
Here, on Earth, things are a complicated web of rights and wrongs.
My pace is slow as I tread through the woods, both because I’m focused above and continue to trip on roots, and because I’m avoiding the sight of Ren as he treads in front of me. Slung over his shoulder is the corpse of the dhampir I failed to save last night.
I’ve talked Ren into giving him a proper burial, dirt and all.
He insisted he’d walk me back to our campsite first, meaning I have the luxury of being reminded of my faults as I join him and the body through the forest.
“We’re almost there, my light,” Ren says.
I keep my eyes on the tree’s canopies. “Okay.”
My pace slows until I’m at a near stop. My senses are on high alert, focusing on the sounds and sights around us. The wind rustles the leaves, sending a wave of melodies through the woodland. Somewhere in the distance a bird chirps, its song being answered by a faraway caw.
My foot snags on a branch, and after I’ve righted myself, I realize Ren and I are so far apart I can barely see him through the trees. Perhaps it was an intentional separation, and he wants to keep me away from the corpse.
I guess I haven’t been shielding my emotions as well as I thought.
My sights land on my feet and the moss beneath my toes. The plush foliage is a stranger in the crisp landscape, covered on all sides by composing leaves and dark branches. Like me, as I silk my way through the new world with death covering my hands.
You’re throwing a pity party, Thea,my inner voice complains.
It is what it is.
I bend, snagging a pinch of the moss. I stick it into the front of my dress, placing it between my skin and the tightened fabric.
Before I continue onward, an unfamiliar noise captures my attention. It isn’t the mating calls of a bird or the hooves of deer. It’s a chime, strong and bellowing somewhere in the distance. The melody is low, and at first, I’m not sure it's even real. But alas, the rhythm repeats for a second time.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
It’s a church bell.
“Thea? Are you coming?” Ren calls, his figure silhouetted in the distance.
“Yes.” I reply, not bothering to raise my voice. With his senses, he can hear me either way. “I’m right behind you.”
