The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 48

Emily's POV

I had my back to the door when Cal walked in. I didn't spare him a glance as I aimed another kick at my training dummy. The dummy shot backwards, the reinforced chains preventing it from shooting across the room. I spun into a roundhouse kick, my hair fanning out around me. I followed it up with a series of punches, each one causing my fists to ache and my ring on my left hand to dig into my finger. I welcomed the pain. Welcomed any distraction from my disastrous life. Even if it was only temporary. Even though tears continued to pour down my cheeks.

I shook my head miserably as I caught the training dummy. I leaned my head against it as hiccuping sobs wracked my body. All I needed was my mate. If he would only wake up, everything would be okay again. 

A hand rested on my shoulder before Cal pulled me into a gentle embrace. His strong arms wrapped around me as I buried my face in his shoulder. "It's okay, Emily."

I shook my head as another hiccuping sob escaped my throat. 

"Yes-" 

I shook my head violently in response.

He sighed, pulling away from me so that he could look into my eyes. "Emily. He's awake. It's okay."

I hiccuped as my eyes widened. "Re-really?" My voice came out far squeakier than I would've liked.

He smiled sadly. "I- He didn't say anything. But he's awake."

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. It wasn't ideal, but awake. Awake we could work with. 

It didn't take long for us to return to the healer's wing. I frowned at the healers surrounding my mate's bed while Elentiya stood anxiously at the door. Her gaze met mine as the door clicked shut behind us. "We were too late," she murmured.

My eyes widened. "What- what do you mean! He- he was- he's fine! They- they said he would make a- a- a full recovery!" I demanded frantically as I searched her face. Tears began to well in my eyes again as I stared at her. "And- and he woke up! Cal just said so!" I was grasping at straws now.

Elentiya choked on a sob as she gripped my shoulders. "He broke."

The words had a ring of finality to them that snapped through me as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on me. I found myself unable to move as I realized that my mate, my wonderful, glorious mate, was gone. I fell to my knees, a high-pitched wail escaping my throat as I buried my face in my hands. Dying wouldn't be as terrible as this feeling. I had failed, failed to save him when he needed it the most, and now. Now I would never hear his laugh again. Never see him smile. Never dance with him. Now... I had nothing.

I dragged my hands through my hair roughly, my nails digging into my scalp. I needed to feel something, anything, to distract me from this numbness. 

Gentle hands pealed my nails away from my head. A warm tingling sensation flooded my exhausted body as I looked up into blue and gold eyes. They watched me carefully while smoothing out my balled fists.

I looked down, distantly aware that someone was calling out to me. Something tilted my chin up so that I was looking into the blue and gold eyes again. "Emily?" 

I blinked once, unsure how and what to say.

"I have an idea. It's crazy and probably won't work, but... it's worth a shot."

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I stared at my mate's body, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. I could almost pretend that he was just asleep and not- I brushed a strand of his hair away from his face, not that there was a lot of hair to brush away. After all, Vincent had trimmed his hair short. I sighed. 

"How sure are you that this will work?" I demanded as I turned away from him to face Elentiya.

"What part of 'it probably won't work' don't you understand?"

I sighed turning back to him. "What if it doesn't work?" I asked as my hand hovered over his shoulder.

"What if it does?" she challenged.

I swallowed before sitting down, burying my head in my hands. "I can't."

"I know. I don't want this to amount to nothing either. Because... because that means that it was all for nothing, and-" She stopped abruptly. "But what if it does work and we never tried?"

I paused, tilting my head up to look at her. Tears rolled down her face as our eyes locked. "Please." 

The single word broke the dam holding back my tears. I nodded, knowing that I would never come to terms with myself if I never tried. And maybe that last shred of hope would be forever ruined. And maybe I fail. But the least I could do was try.

Breathing slowly and deeply, I turned back to Mal. I held him firmly in my mind as I gathered all of the magic I had before plunging into his mind.

My eyes flew open as darkness greeted me. I swallowed thickly. This was far from the welcome I received last time I had entered Mal's mind. I felt uneasy as I stood in the dark. But the scariest part was the intense silence. No thoughts crossed his mind. Just pure... emptiness.

Forcing myself to walk forward on the cracked ground, I started counting my steps to calm myself. Sighing, I threw my magic in every direction. If there was anything here worthwhile, my magic would find it.

Surprisingly, it only took a few seconds before a ripple returned to me. Hope flared in my chest as I sprinted in the direction of the ripple. Only to come across a... box? Why, in the name of all the Gods, was there a box?

I circled it slowly, seeing no visible way in. I scowled. I had come all this way, and for what! A fucking BOX! "Aaaaaaaaaaagh!" I screamed in frustration before running at the cube. 

I blinked in confusion when I opened my eyes. But instead of darkness, I was in a fully lit room filled to the brim with... books?

"Where the hell am I?"

A/N

GUYS!!! I'm so proud of myself! I managed to post two weeks in a row! Go me!!! 

Anyway... There is little to no chance of me posting next week because of how busy I'll be, just a head's up. Sorry in advance.

Also, I want to thank all of my readers. First of all, thank you for being patient with me! And secondly, thank you for reading this! I never in a million years that this book (or really any of my books) would be this popular!!! It really means the world to me!!!

Luna (August 9), 216

Elentiya & Cal (May 1), 201

Lyria (September 9), 186

Malatyr (March 20), 170

Emily (July 15), 169

Sam (February 27), 74

Connall (December 2), 72

Ladon (September 13), 20