Page 140 of Treasured

I did as he asked.

He bent, kissing me slowly, before pulling away. My heart skipped a beat at the depth of adoration in his eyes. It was an endless ocean, a starry night, a beautiful sunset casting the world in an orange glow.

“I know it’s difficult,” he murmured.

I nodded, forcing myself to breathe and stop the flow of tears. “It really hurts,” I admitted.

He kissed me again. “You can do this.”

Could I, though? I’d continued to try, of course. But I wasn’t blind to the truth. I’d be dead if I didn’t miraculously become a better fighter in the next three days.

With that gloomy thought, I sighed and rolled my shoulders. “All right. Let’s keep going.”

A flicker of pride ran through the Binding Mark, and he squeezed my shoulders. “That’s my girl.”

Farewells and Other Things

SEBASTIAN

Phyrra remained in the abbey, helping me with Luna’s training. Her timing could not have been better. Not only was she a worthy opponent, but she’d slipped me a note detailing Queen Marguerite’s plans for the night of the red moon.

Though Isvana had not blessed my spymaster with wings, Phyrra was incredibly strong and a gifted warrior. Not only that, but she was able to fight Luna more easily than me. Every time one of my shadows hit my wife, a part of me broke. I hated seeing her hurting, even if it was to make her stronger. I doubly hated that I was the cause of her pain.

This was easier… for me.

Not for Luna.

She was struggling, but she wasn’t giving up. I could not have been prouder of her. We fought together against Phyrra, working as one until opening the Tether and sharing our power was as easy as drawing breath. Every time Luna fell to the ground, she got back up. When shadows came barreling at her, she fought with darkness of her own.

Though she was smaller than most vampires, Luna had an admirable inner strength. From the first moment she came at me with a candelabra on the night of our wedding to finding Julieta’s murderer and growing into her own as a Fledgling vampire, Luna tackled challenges head-on. This was no different.

Every night, she was getting stronger. Faster. Better.

By the end of our session last night, she’d caught Phyrra by surprise and thrown the spy on her ass.

Maybe, just maybe, we would be able to kill the queen.

I held onto the thought as Luna and I descended the stairs toward the underground laboratory. We weren’t training tonight. Luna needed to save her energy for the red moon tomorrow. Besides, there were things we had to take care of.

“Are you ready?” I asked her quietly.

Wide, black eyes met mine. “To kill the queen? No. But it’s going to happen whether I’m ready or not. I’ll do my best.”

I squeezed her hand, pushing open the door to the laboratory.

Marius and Odette were tinkering away, which wasn’t a surprise. The witch seemed to have taken a liking to the halfling. What did surprise me, though, was the presence of my spymaster. Phyrra was perched on one of the wooden tables, her legs dangling as she smiled in Marius’s direction.

“Have you really been all over the Four Kingdoms?” the halfling asked, his back to us as we entered the room on silent feet.

Phyrra looked up, dipping her head in acknowledgment of our presence. “I have.”

“Even Ithenmyr?” Marius asked.

“It has been quite some time since I was there,” she replied.

“Because of the evil king? He didn’t like spies, did he?”

“He hated females,” Phyrra said. “And spies. But mostly females.”