The pain in Forest’s hand generated all the way up her arm so terribly, she was on the verge of dementia. Her vision blurred around the edges. Cold sweat ran down her face and back. It would be many hours yet before the sunrise when she would actually die, but these were her last moments of lucidity. She wished she’d had the chance to see Syrus’ eyes healed, to tell him all that was in her heart, and say goodbye. She closed her eyes as a shadow slithered up behind her, wrapping its black hands around her, pulling her down. She sighed, leaning back into it, letting it take her.
“Forest? Forest! Wake up!” his voice alarmed her, loosening the shadow’s hold.
Then the shadow ripped away along with all the pain, waking her completely with a burst of adrenaline. Forest opened her eyes and looked down at her hand. The collar was gone.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Oh!” she said breathlessly. “Yes.” A laugh burst out of her. She was alive! This was not the end of her life. “Where is the collar?”
“The wizard took it. Stand up, Forest.” Syrus ordered rather rudely. He took both her hands and pulled her up.
With a nasty jolt, she saw his eyes were the same. “Your eyes?” she asked desperately.
“Yes. My eyes, let’s talk about my eyes, Forest.” He took a few steps back from her and squared his shoulder, his face taut and somber. “I need to tell you a little story, and I need you to not interrupt me.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
He gave a deep sigh, pulled out the little flask he always carried, and began turning it in his hands. “Back when I was a terrible person, before I lost my sight, I was addicted to human blood. I never went to Earth, but I made Redge get it for me. I never asked him how he acquired it. I didn’t care. I was the worst blood junkie ever, or so many told me. For an entire year, I gave myself to it without the slightest restraint. My parents finally intervened. I mean, really, what kind of a king would I be if I didn’t kick the habit? Getting clean was…difficult.”
He drew a deep breath. “But I got clean, and I stayed clean. Then I lost my sight, and I told you how broken I was at that time, before I took the Kata back up. In a moment of weakness, when I felt I had nothing left to loose and longing to anesthetize my pain, I drank human blood again. It had a strange and different effect on me…It opened my eyes.”
“What?”
“Shh!”
Syrus took another deep breath continuing to twist the flask in his hands. “One drink of human blood restores my vision perfectly for a short period of time; only a matter of minutes. And naturally you’re wondering why I don’t drink it all the time. Because having my eyes opened by human blood is painful. It's painful in a way there are no words strong enough to describe the excruciating tearing of it, and it leaves me physically weakened.”
He paused for a long, thoughtful moment. “So that’s what’s in this flask. I always keep some human blood with me in case the need arises that I must have my sight. I don’t have to worry about falling back into addiction because the pain is too great to tempt me in the slightest. And I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t use it before we had that battle with those werewolves who came to our camp.”
She was indeed wondering just that.
“Because I needed my strength more than my sight right then. But more importantly, I never wanted to confess to you that I had ever been an addict. It’s something I’m ashamed of, and I didn’t want it to taint your opinion of me. But now here we are, and it’s time for confessions. Mine and yours.”
Forest gulped hard.
“Aside from human blood, I have developed my own way of seeing for a short burst of time. I use my mage powers and an incantation I designed, but the vision I get from that is weak and blurry. I have used it twice since you and I have been together. I went to the falls alone and looked at them and…and once when we were back at your house. I came into your room at night while you were sleeping to look at you.”
"Really? You snuck into my room?" She chuckled. "Perv."
“I just wanted a mental picture of you, even if that picture was not your true form. And what I saw, well, it knocked me to my knees, literally. I couldn’t breathe. I kissed your hair, and then I ran away, fearing I’d lost my heart completely. It has tortured me, thinking that all I saw was some random shift you had created. But now I know, weak and blurry as it might have been, I saw your true face.”
Forest’s chest tightened. He knew.
“I think I understand why you didn’t tell me we were life mates when you discovered it. Your own prejudice against me, the difference in our stations, the racial bigotry you’ve suffered your whole life, and Leith. Am I right?”
“Yes, but there is more.”
“What?”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t want me.”
“Oh, Forest,” he said sadly shaking his head.
“I have endured all these years being tied to Leith and having my emotions scrambled by the lovers mark he forced on me. The last thing I wanted was to end up finding my life mate and always questioning my feelings for him and his feelings for me. Was it real love or just the unbreakable connection? And would I end up torn in two? How could I be mated to one and forever tied to Leith? I thought it would be better to leave our connection incomplete.”
Syrus nodded gravely. “I, stupidly, just discovered that you are my destined life mate. I didn’t know before now. What I did know was that I wanted you more than I have ever wanted any woman. I knew your friendship had become more important to me than even Redge’s. I knew I respected your skills as a warrior. You are a badass with that sword, baby.”
Forest giggled like a little girl.
“And now,” he continued. “I know that I need you. I don’t have to think about needing you. Just like I don’t have to think about my need for the air. The knowledge is innate and primal. The need just is, and it’s too vast for me to question. I asked you earlier today for your heart. I meant it then. I mean it now.”
“You know I want my freedom.”
“I know. I want my freedom as well. I only want you if you come freely, just as I come to you. That’s why I’ve told you all this.” He unscrewed the cap on his flask. “I’m going to drink this. It’s your last chance to turn away from me.”
Syrus put the flask to his lips. Forest had only a second to decide. Instinct stomped reason into the ground. He asked for it, she thought. She would be his Cinderella, and his Juliet, but she would be much more than that. She would be a raging forest fire, an all-consuming crisis, too big to be ignored, too powerful to stop, and too hot to put out. She would be herself, and she would be his. It might be surrendering one desire for another, but life was far from perfect. You can’t have everything.
Forest held herself still as she heard him swallow. Then she gasped and made to go to him, but he held out a hand to stop her. He’d said the pain was excruciating, it certainly looked like it. He doubled over, his eyes shut tight. His whole face clenched, and a cry of pain escaped his lips. It was torture for her to watch him going through such pain while she was unable to stop or soothe it.
Then all of his muscles relaxed while all of hers seemed to tense. His straightened up, his eyes closed. “I love you, Forest,” he whispered.
He opened his eyes.
All the breath was pulled from her lungs as their first eye contact was made. The fiery whip of pain that she had lived with ever since their first kiss, uncoiled and exploded through her whole body. They came together without seeming to have moved their feet. Looking into each other’s eyes, their foreheads pressed together. There would be no more questions of turning away or choosing. A spiritual bridge formed between her irises and his; a bond that only death could break. But this bridge was only the first of many. His eyes, her eyes. His lungs, her lungs. His heart, her heart. His hands, her hands. It was done. The power that tied the knots between them and had taken control of their bodies now relinquished control back to them.
Forest and Syrus stum
bled backward gasping. There was no more pain, and they looked openly at each other. Finally looking into Syrus’ eyes and him looking back into hers was one of the most amazing moments of Forest’s whole life. All of the attraction she felt for him before now seemed weak in comparison. As if those small black dots in his eyes magnified his beauty one hundred times.
Syrus could feel the seconds ticking before his sight would be lost again. His eyes devoured Forest. Never, never had he seen or imagined anyone as beautiful as her. And he felt the rush of this virgin moment. No one could see her the way he could! This beauty was his private possession, his alone. He would never treat her as though he owned her, but the vision of her true form was his to own.
When he had looked at her sleeping, he had only gotten part of the whole picture, and he hadn’t seen her eyes at all which were devastating in the extreme. He didn’t know how he held himself still as he looked at her full mouth, realizing that he had kissed it many times without knowing how exquisite it was and how it begged for his. Her curly chestnut hair hung long in a riot down her back. And her body, oh how he was blessed! His hands throbbed as he looked at her body.
Forest smiled at his obvious pleasure. “Like it, do you?”
Syrus couldn’t even articulate an answer. His mouth opened to reply, but nothing came out. Forest’s smile turned wicked, and she turned in a slow seductive circle.
Syrus moaned and then turned demanding, “Come here! Now!”
She rushed into his arms, but as she did, the hateful sound of approaching wolves registered in her brain. Syrus swore elegantly.
“I’m really beginning to think we’re cursed here,” he said.
“I’ve always been cursed, and now you’ve inherited it, being mated with me.”
They both listened. They were more than a little outnumbered. Wolves in wolf form, man form, and beast form were closing in on them.
“What do we do?” she asked. “They’ll chase if we run.”
“Yes, and I’m too weak to run very fast. I’m too weak to fight, and I don’t have my swords anyway.”
“Maybe Maxcarion will hide us,” Forest suggested.
They approached the tree, but before Forest could touch it, she knew it was no good. The optical illusion had changed, and she could feel new defensive magic blocking them.
“Well, I guess this is my last night after all.” She looked tearfully into Syrus’ eyes. Tears surfaced in his as well.
He folded her into his arms and rested his cheek on top of her head. “I couldn’t have chosen a better end than with you,” he said.
“I love you.” Her voice trembled. “I’ve never said that before. Not to anyone.”
The wolves were closing in, bringing death with them. And in this moment of would-be terror, Syrus held her face gently in his hands and gazed into her eyes. Everything around them faded away. A lifetime of tenderness, and passion, and I love yous, were concentrated into that moment. The world was nothing but the two of them, and it was full of peace.
A crash of metal made both of them jump. Redge in the lead, the troop of royal vampires charged into the graveyard and formed a protective circle around them.
“Protect the prince!” Redge ordered.
The approaching wolves roared and charged faster through the trees. They were still outnumbered. The vampire’s swords flashed through the air, hacking the wolves in front to death. Syrus’ arms tightened around Forest. In the noise and movement, Redge came to the center to Forest and Syrus.
“I’ve got the end of the bridge!” he shouted. “I’m going to open it!”
Redge pulled the ball from the chain around his neck and smashed it between his hands. A glowing portal opened, and a fierce wind kicked up, pulling all of them into it. Forest closed her eyes and held onto Syrus as tightly as she could. The wind rushing around them was deafening. Something crashed into the back of Forest’s head. Everything went black as the portal dumped them, and the entire vampire troop, unceremoniously in the throne room of the Onyx castle.
All Forest knew was gleaned from the blurry snatches of things going on around her. She didn’t care about anything except that she could still feel Syrus’ arms around her. Heated arguing filled her ears like water, thick and muffled. She was trying to come back when Syrus tensed around her.
“NO!” he shouted.
Something was wrong. She was trying so hard to come back. Then she was covered with hands. Harsh strong hands pulled her from Syrus. She tried to hold on, but her arms were useless. His voice resounded in her ears, moving further and further away from her, and she couldn’t answer.
“Forest! Forest!”
She could feel the stone floor beneath her, about to regain consciousness, when someone lifted her shoulders and brought her head back down on the floor with a crack. Blackness enveloped.
****
Unfamiliar voices talked in hushed tones above her. She was no longer on the floor but in a bed. She could feel the smallness of the room around her. Pain spiked in the back of her skull, bringing back the memory of being smashed on the floor. Oh, if she ever found out who did that to her!
“Is she dead?” a soft female voice asked.
“No, my queen.”
“Then kill her.”
“I cannot. The king gave orders that she was not to be harmed.”
“So? Pretend that you did not hear the orders. I’ll get you out of any trouble.”
Forest decided this was a good moment to open her eyes. Her would-be killers both gasped at her sudden awakening. One was an ogre the other was Queen Christiana. She’d heard of bad mother-in-laws, but this seemed a little extreme. Forest considered for a second before she thought, To hell with it.
“SYRUS!” she screamed. “SYRU—”
Christiana clamped a hand over her mouth. “I’ve heard the whole story, you grasping little Halfling! I won’t rest until you’re dead. You will never see my son again. And you will never sit on the throne!”
Damn the consequences, Forest was going to kick her royal ass, with all due respect, of course. Unfortunately, she was tied down.
“You really won’t kill her?” she asked the ogre.
He shook his head severely.
Christiana huffed in exasperation. “Fine!" she spat. "Open a portal!"
“To where, my queen?”
“Earth.”
“To the place where she lives there?” the ogre asked.
“Whatever! I don’t care.”
The ogre struck the air, and a swirling black portal opened next to him.
“I, Queen Christiana, speak into law, that Forest, the Halfling, is banished from Regia, forbidden to ever return.”
She kept her hand over Forest’s mouth as the ogre untied her. Then Christiana stepped back and the ogre scooped her off the bed and threw her into the portal. Forest screamed for Syrus as she fell through the black hole that pulled her back to Austin. It dumped her on her bed, back in her condo, and closed behind her.
Forest drowned in sorrow marbled with rage. This wasn’t the end. Her stomach twisted with nausea at being separated from Syrus. It was as though her heart had been cut from her chest and she was kept alive on bypass. She could almost hear him calling for her. Almost feel him reaching for her across the universe. She knew he would never stop reaching until he held her in his arms again.
The End
Don't miss FOREST FIRE
The spellbinding sequel in Tenaya Jayne's all-new fantasy
Series, The Legends of Regia.
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