Page 71 of Resurrection
Seiran’s heart stuttered. Too much blood loss. The injury and now a vampire feeding, sounded like a good way to speed up his death. But Gabe’s long gulps of blood felt like it was coating their bond, which absorbed it, expanding, sponge-like. It brought rise to more power, a cool and soothing glide, not unlike water. Though Seiran recognized it for what it was, the true touch of death. Not that ripped from the worlds darkness he’d experienced too many times. But a gentle cradle of soothing peace.
When Sam had first gone to ground, he’d been terrified. Seiran had been with him, watched his fear, and also thought to be afraid. Death meant an end to things for most everyone. Not for vampires, and not for Seiran, but he’d feared it just the same. Now Sam looked forward to his week of rest like it was a vacation.
You should try it, Ronnie,Sam often told him.Best sleep I ever get.
The delicate touch of the cool fingers of death were soothing. Even as the darkness rose up over his vision, leaving him with little more than a vague tunnel of light. He felt boneless in Gabe’s arms. Even while the fire in his chest still burned with pain. Waves of magic pooled outward, beginning with their bond, and spreading into the distance, dampening the fire. He could feel Gabe in his head, speaking, but couldn’t make out the words.
The Goddess’s power met that cool breeze and seemed to calm. Like lava hitting the shore on a beach, stinging at first, then sizzling as it cooled to solid rock. His chest burned, and Gabe pressed his hand hard against the wound, seeming to spread the cool waves over the heat, drawing out some of the sharpness.
“If I die,” Seiran slurred, “Get Page to my house. Jamie will protect him.”
“You’re not dying,” Gabe’s whispered in his ear, face pressed to Seiran’s cheek. Seiran felt like a limp doll in his arms, weak, though calming, the rage not gone, but edges soothed. “We are immortal.”
“What are you doing?” Seiran wondered as he tried to remain conscious. The cool power spread the heat and fire outward, a tide of rolling gentle pulses quenching the flames. He sucked in a deep breath, surprised to find his lungs full, both of them with cool and refreshing air.
“The world underestimates you,” Gabe said, his lips finding Seiran’s again for the briefest kiss, a brush of lips more than a taste. “And me.”
“I don’t…” Seiran began, trying to sort through the swells of cooling heat to find something solid to hold on to other than Gabe. He was there, everywhere, in Seiran’s mind, pressed against his body, holding him up in a thousand ways. It felt like a dream, or a distant memory.
“And I’m sorry for that,” Gabe said. “My fault. It should have always been this way. You and me, united in the bond, inseparable. Your power mine, and mine yours.”
The layers of magic continued to flow between them until Seiran felt full, sleepy, and calm, the last of the rage trickling away. He breathed deeply, feeling safe for the first time he could remember in over a decade, and warm. Bits of memories took root in his mind. Moments with Gabe in the past. The good times rather than the bad. The way he’d kept close and worked hard not to push. Seiran had been hesitant to begin their relationship back then. Sex had been one thing; relationships were where the abuse began. He’d been so broken.
Had been. Ha. As though that had changed. The trauma didn’t fade, only how he dealt with it changed. Bury it? Bask in it? Or learn from it? Wasn’t that what Gabe had been pushing for all those years ago? Seiran didn’t linger over those memories, the arguments, or his constant battle to find himself. He wasn’t that kid anymore.
“No,” Gabe agreed. The memories shifted to the past few days, of Seiran holding Kaine, protecting Page, and even investigating with everyone around him jumping at his command. “You are so fucking beautiful. Strong. Independent. But you don’t have to hold up the world by yourself anymore. Let me help.”
“If you leave me again, I will kill you myself,” Seiran said, his head swirling.
“Threat received,” Gabe said, sounding amused. “You’ll have to deal with me going to ground semi-regularly. But it won’t be years at a time.”
That he could live with. Seiran sighed, relaxing into the arms that surrounded him, and letting the bond open completely. It felt saturated in power now, both the heat of life, Seiran’s power, and the cool essence of death, Gabe’s power. He could have basked in the sensation, a feeling of completeness he couldn’t recall ever experiencing.
Balance, he realized. For so long he’d been holding back the Goddess’s power on his own, not realizing that it should have balance.
“I feel light-headed,” Seiran muttered.
“It’s the bond settling,” Gabe agreed. “And a bit of blood loss. Your body trying to catch up.”
Seiran looked upward at the withering barrier above. He was going to pass out. The combination of the bond, healing, and the cooling of the rage sucked the energy out of him. That wasn’t good. Not dying was good, but the barrier failing when there were witches waiting to kill them outside?
He muttered a handful of words, pressing the power not into this world, but the veil between. A request, not a demand. He prayed someone on the other side heard. Would Bryar be listening?
“I’m going to pass out soon,” Seiran muttered.
“Okay,” Gabe agreed, not letting go.
Seiran could bask in this feeling forever—safe and loved—like a dream. “Barrier will fall,” were the last words he got out before that final tunnel of light vanished and he fell into oblivion.
Chapter 24
Seiran went limp in Gabe’s arms. At least his heartbeat was strong. Their bond pulsed and grew in strength with each beat. Every nerve and cell of Gabe’s body was on fire. He was going to need a lot more practice if he had to regularly diffuse the power of the earth elemental Herself. Seiran might call her a Goddess, but Gabe had met plenty of Her kind before. Powerful, yes. But also, very shortsighted and destructive.
The barrier overhead was failing fast, dark lines of rot and disintegration beginning to thread its way down the sides like fingers of death. They didn’t have much time before it crumbled and whatever madness the witches had planned rained down on them.
Gabe tried to grasp at the power of the barrier, but couldn’t hold it. Too much for him without some substantial training. It felt a bit like trying to hold back the ocean with a fishing net, and Gabe’s power sliding right through the holes. Without some tie to Seiran, or a ward renewed regularly by blood and magic, it was a temporary thing. And he knew that outside waited death for all of them.
He carefully lowered Seiran to the ground. If the barrier crashed and the witches came in shooting, he’d need to try to keep Seiran from being hit again. It was his fault Seiran had been hit to begin with. Gabe had moved without thinking. He should have blocked the shot all together, and taken the bullet himself, rather than let it go wild. He hadn’t expected the trees to act like some sort of impenetrable force for the bullet to bounce off of.