Page 46 of Unseen Lord

I hold nothing back. Everything I am, all my power, all my belief, it all goes into her.

But what I call forth is not what I expect.

Her body does not rise, but a shadow of her does, her soul or spirit, perhaps.

She is luminous, glowing with my power, or maybe her own, as she smiles at me. "Thank you for the chance to say goodbye."

She turns to her parents, holding out her hands. They both sob and embrace her.

I would have thought with spirits, they would be intangible, but they are able to touch her, even as she hovers over her body. They speak in whispers, but I catch a few words. They are telling her of an afterlife where she will be loved and happy and safe and free. Where ancestors will guide her and look over her, where they join themselves will join her one day.

I don't know what I believe about the afterlife. Never dying means never thinking of it. But I like to imagine that there's something out there. That we don't just cease to be. That feels a bit too depressing.

The girl turns to me at the end, as her spirit is fading, and touches my cheek. "You have everything you need," she says.

And then she is gone.

I leave the parents to grieve, hoping my unintentional act brought more healing than harm. Overcome with emotion I can't define, I escape down the winding caves until I am alone.

But Elias followed me. And relief floods me as he pulls me into his arms and lets me cry out everything building up in me.

I'm the most powerful Hunter in the worlds. The youngest Watcher. I don't cry.

But today. I cry. It is all too much to keep inside.

We stay that way for so long I lose track of time. My tears dry. My body folds into Elias's, a man I hunted for years. A man I haven't been able to stop thinking about. A man I might be falling in love with.

And then, the mood changes. The hug for comfort becomes something else. The fire of rage in me turns into a fire of need. Of desire.

There's so much death. Suffering. Pain. We are facing insurmountable odds. We might not survive. There's every possibility that I could die too many times in the war to come, and I will not come back. That Elias could die even once, and that would be the end.

But we are here now. Safe for now. Alone, for now. And I want him like I've never wanted anything.

My lips find his, and the kiss I pull from us both is filled with all the passion I've been keeping at bay. His strong arms tighten around me, his hand on my hips, fingers digging into me as I reach around his neck and pull him closer.

I feel his need growing, pushing against me, and I want to meet it. Want to take it all in. To feel something other than dire doom.

We are both still wet. Our clothes sticky and our attempt to release them clumsy, but it doesn't matter. We need this. When we are both naked, our bodies pressed against each other, we slow down, savoring the touch, the contact, the feeling. Against a stone wall, in a damp cave, everything else disappears.

My hands explore his chest, his abs, all of him, as his lips explore me, tracing lines of fire down my body, making promises as he goes.

The need rises, stoked by the movement of his hands, his tongue, his body. Until neither of us can resist anymore. He pushes me against the wall and lifts me onto his hips. We hold each other's eyes as he enters me, filling me, and then we are lost in each other.

The world seems to explode within us, a tide of magic pulling us into one. And when the need is satiated, and our bodies are spent, we stay connected, kissing, touching, memorizing each other. We may not have many more tomorrows, but we have tonight.

* * *

Everything has changedand yet nothing has when we return to the cavern and to our friends who are waiting. If they know where we've been—what we've been doing—they give no indication. But Elias and I stand closer. Touch more often. Our bodies seem to be magnetically drawn together, even as we plan what to do next.

"I can fix the sword," Kayla says, resolving that problem. "I did make it, after all."

I like her confidence. And then an idea occurs to me. "I hate to sound like a diva, but… would it be possible tonotmake a sword? I mean, since it's already broken?"

Her lips twitch. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm more of a dagger kinda girl, to be honest. Swords are so clunky. Daggers can get the job done like no other."

Arias smirks. "It's true. She has a special magic with those things. Especially when they're pointed at you."