Page 129 of Treasured

Every night, he lobbed shadows at me until my clothes were in tatters, tears streaked my face, and exhaustion was all I knew. No matter how much I protested his attacks, he did not stop until I woke the Tether between us and pulled magic from him.

No longer was he satisfied just by a simple wall of shadows. Each night, he pushed me further and further. We soul shared, the Tether’s scarlet glow filling the abandoned storage room as power flowed between us.

His attacks were relentless.

This was a side of my husband I had glimpsed in the past but hadn’t seen in its full glory. Sebastian was a predator, a master of his craft, and a skilled warrior. He had centuries of experience over me and knew how to use his skills to his advantage. Not that he needed one because, again, I was not an excellent fighter. But at least I was getting better.

Slowly but surely, I was getting faster and defending myself against his attacks.

The second night, Sebastian fed as well. Since then, we’d both taken to eating before falling into an exhausted slumber.

Now, only seven days remained. It was such a short amount of time. So much could be done in a week, yet it felt like nothing more than the blink of an eye.

“Luna!” Sebastian barked. “Pay attention.”

I snapped back to the present, ducking just as a sphere of shadows exploded in the space where my head had been moments before. Damn. We’d done this so many times that I knew what came next.

Attack. Duck. Turn. Shadows. Move.

It was a tuneless dance, spurred on by the pounding of our feet and the beatings of our hearts, and it was wearing me out. On and on, we fought.

After barely avoiding the shadow-spear Sebastian threw at me, I huffed. I needed something more. It wasn’t fair that I was the one constantly being hit.

Sebastian goaded me. He pushed and needled and growled until anger flooded through my veins.

I’d had enough of this. Enough of not being the best. Enough of being sore and hurting and a failure.

Rage coursed through me, and my shadows writhed, encouraging me forward. I reached within myself and pulled on the Tether. Darkness rushed to my hands, and I threw a massive wall of shadows at Sebastian. He turned, but he wasn’t fast enough. It slammed into him, shoving him back a few feet.

Finally!

Approval pulsed through the bond. “Good job,” he said.

I didn’t speak. Instead, I reached within myself and opened our connection. Crimson light shone from our wrists, as bright as any Light Elf orb. I pulled as much power as I could before heaving it towards Sebastian in a never-ending flood of darkness. On and on, the shadows poured out of me until I had nothing left. Slowly, I allowed the link between us to fizzle out before my legs gave out, and I slumped to the floor.

Sebastian clapped, slowly at first, but then more quickly.

“Well done, Luna,” he said, pushing away from the wall where I’d sent him. “We’ll make a warrior out of you, darling.”

His hair was disheveled, and his tunic was torn, but the grin on his face said it all. He was proud of me. After an entire week of practically being tortured by his non-stop attacks, it felt good to get him back.

Sebastian came over and offered me his hand. He helped me to my feet, holding me against his side. “You did so well,” he praised. “How would you feel about a break?”

I blinked. This was an unexpected but welcome turn of events. “You mean an actual reprieve from this torture?”

“Training,” he corrected, his lips twitching.

“I’m well-versed in dictionary definitions, and this absolutely can be categorized as torture,” I informed him.

Sebastian laughed. “Fine. How would you like a break from this so-called torture?”

“I’d love one,” I told him. Just because I’d made progress didn’t mean I was immune to the aches and pains brought on by these relentless attacks.

“I was hoping you would say that.” Sebastian held me against his chest as shadows swirled around him. First, we returned to our room, changing quickly into fresh clothes and washing up.

“Hold on.” He slipped something into his pocket before retaking my hand. “This journey may take a minute or two. We’re going a little further than normal.”

I swallowed, tightening my grip. The longer we were in the Void, the more time the voices had to find me. I might no longer have been physically sick when we shadowed from one place to another, but the strange things I heard made this type of transportation over long distances unpleasant.