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She was sound asleep in my arms. She looked so pale and drawn, her breathing shallow, so shallow that at one point, I thought she’d died. I wondered whether she’d heard me say that I loved her after we’d completed the ritual. The emotion was so strong, overwhelming, that I had to tell her. Even if she didn’t feel the same about me, I wanted her to know how much she meant to me.
A whimper came from her, and she cracked open her eyes. Thank fuck.
“Hey, sleepyhead. How are you doing?”
She grimaced, licking her dry lips. “I feel like a train ran over me. Multiple times. Don’t look at me.” She tried to push me away.
“Why not? You’re so beautiful.”
“I am not. I’ve got dragon breath and must look like something out of a horror movie.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, but I guessed some of that was relief.
“Nope. Still beautiful, babe.”
“Then there’s something wrong with your eyesight. Go get them checked out by an optician.”
“How does a bath sound?”
“Like heaven.”
“Okay, so here’s the plan. I run a bath, contact Jeanie to let her know you’re through the worst and need some of her healing chicken noodle soup, then I help you bathe. Afterwards, I’ll go get the soup and spoon feed you.”
A small smile lit up her face. Then she bit back a sob as tears fell.
“Hey, it’s all over. You’re immortal now.”
“I know,” she said in a low voice. “I can’t believe it.”
I kissed her on the lips, even as she tried to push me away.
“Dragon breath, remember?”
I laughed and kissed her deeper. “I love your dragon breath,” I said against her lips.
“Go. Just run my bath already!”
I saluted and hopped off the bed. “Yes ma’am.”
* * *
Donna
I’d survived. I still couldn’t believe it. There were points between sweating and puking that I really thought I was going to die. And knowing that Antoine, Jeanie, and Mac were safe too settled me. Next on my agenda was to learn how to kill that dick demon, Gustav. And boy, would I make him pay. Not just for what he’d done to me and my loved ones, but everyone else he’d hurt along the way.
While Antoine ran my bath, I managed to get myself to the edge of the bed in a sitting position. I still had his T-shirt on, but it smelled rancid, so I took it off. My back felt itchy, so I scratched at it. But it didn’t alleviate it. Then I felt what I could only describe as movement beneath my skin. What kind of hell was this? Did it mean that I hadn’t survived the bonding after all? Was I going to be deformed somehow? It got worse and I began to panic.
“Antoine,” I called out. “Something’s wrong with my back.”
“What do you… oh. Wow.”
I turned to look at him. He’d been drying his hands on a towel, which fell to the floor. His eyes were wide, and so was his mouth. He stared at me in adoration. Then I felt it, a slight fluttering. I reached back to feel feathers.
“Have I got my wings?”
He nodded, tears in his eyes. “Beautiful,” was all he could say.
He walked towards me and helped me to stand. Then he led me to the middle of the room and faced me towards the mirrored glass on his wardrobes. My eyes bugged as I took in my gorgeous wings for the first time. They were the same colour as my hair. I cried. Antoine cried. I turned around to face him.
