Page 8 of Kissed By the Sun

Wyn kept mouthing words I couldn’t make out, though even if I could I probably wouldn’t understand them, and her hands began to move faster, all of which seemed to increase the green magic in the air until it turned from wisps to ribbons to thick ropes and finally seemed to cover the cocoon I felt like I’d been in the whole time. The ropes layered themselves over and over again, slowly starting to block out all light.

Unlike last time, there wasn’t the rush of magic. Instead, it felt like it was slowly seeping into me, or like I was gently sliding into a tub of warm water. The warmth of it filled me up, spreading from my fingertips and my toes to the center of my chest.

It all seemed to be focused on coalescing in a single point. Just behind my ribs, but lower than my heart, it was almost like the center of my torso. It was the point in my chest that always felt tight right before battle. Wyn had always said it was nerves or anticipation, but it certainly didn’t feel like that now.

As her magic poured into me, it felt like I was staring up into the night sky, the dark, endless void of a new moon night. Stars might have twinkled here and there, but overall there was nothing, just a massive darkness waiting to swallow me whole. It wasn’t cold, though; there was a warmth to the darkness that was unexpected.

The strange thing was as I looked at the darkness surrounding me I didn’t feel alone. My rational mind said that was because Wyn, Thorn, and Volker were in the room with me, but I wasn’t actually conscious of their presence. In fact, it didn’t even feel like I was in the room anymore at all.

The dark part of my mind wondered if I was still in the glass orb that I’d been trapped in by Fenvalur, if my presentation and everything that had happened, since it was all just a dream I’d concocted to make myself feel better and escape what he’d been putting me through.

I had to remind myself that it wasn’t true.

Why would I dream up being so sick I was on the verge of death and only Thorn’s presence could bring me back? That made no sense, in reality, or in this possible fiction my mind was trying to convince me of.

Thorn was just across the room, sitting on my bed.

If I focused on him. I could sense him, feel his soul brushing against my own in a way I’d only ever experienced with him. It was oddly reassuring. I had never been especially creative, so I knew that there was no way my mind could have come up with this.

The more the heat pushed against me, the more I felt like something was stirring within me, something ancient and yet new at the same time. It was just as I tried to figure out what that was that the heat stopped.

I found myself on the floor, unsure when that had happened, breathing hard and having soaked my tunic in sweat. With more than a little effort, I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around the room.

Wyn sat opposite me, eyes still closed with sweat soaking her as well, making her red curls stick to her forehead and the nape of her neck.

Volker was sitting across the room, seemingly meditating or something, and Thorn was in the exact same position except now he was staring at me with a hunger I recognized all too well.

It made my core tighten with need. As I pushed myself up into a sitting position, everything seemed off; there was a very noticeable difference in terms of the distance from my head to the floor, and even to Wyn as well.

Everything around me seemed more…normal sized. Wyn was the only thing that seemed small.

“Wyn?” I asked, my throat drier than I expected, causing me to half choke on my own tongue.

Her eyes snapped open, and I was thrown off for a moment as I forgot about the color change that had happened when we went through the Veil. Ever since we’d gone through that wall of magic they’d been the same milky white, but now they were shot through with veins of green. It was enough to make my breath catch in my throat, causing another coughing fit.

Thorn was by my side a moment later with a glass of water that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

I nodded my thanks and gratefully took it, sipping on the contents.

It was fresh and clean and everything I needed, but more than that the taste was richer and more layered than I’d ever noticed before as well. I looked at it again, for all intents and purposes it looked like regular water. Nothing special. But it tasted amazing.

The more I thought about it, the more I became aware of other things that were different. If I focused I could see out of the window at the end of the room and clearly make out the leaves on the trees in the valley below. Not only that, but the scent of the flowers that hung from the ceiling of the room was more complex than ever before as well. My gaze latched onto Thorn and I became acutely aware of his closeness and my attraction to him.

“You okay?” Wyn asked, pulling my attention away from the dangerous fae that was still squatting next to me.

I nodded, not trusting my voice and pointed at her.

She smiled gently before stretching and saying, “I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“Your eyes are different.” Thorn grunted.

Not exactly how I would have brought that up, but I had wanted to mention it.

Volker was there a second later, gingerly reaching for Wyn so he could look at her eyes. His shoulders relaxed slightly. “She’s overextended her magic, but that’s not all that unusual for her, is it?”

I chuckled in spite of myself. I knew he was trying to scold her, but the reality was Wyn would do what she wanted when she wanted. She was free in the fae lands and no one was going to take that from her. If I hadn’t known her as well as I didI might not have understood that, but we’d grown up together, been through unspeakable things together, and finally she was finding a glimmer of happiness so I wasn’t surprised that she was pushing herself beyond her limits.

“I may have gone a little overboard that time, but I didn’t know when I’d have the opportunity again with everything that’s going on,” Wyn mumbled, sounding ever so slightly abashed.