Behind My Shadow - Book Three

69. I Said I'll Never Let You Go

With spirit, I'm able to manipulate the forcefield my mom emits and I manage to move her to the Infirmary where I have the guards bring Vyndren to meet me.

I'm still so shocked at seeing him, it genuinely takes my breath away. I can't believe he's human. I can't believe I did that. Even despite the chains tethered to him as the guards lead him in the room, he still looks as majestic and gorgeous as a prince.

"Adara," his dark blue eyes light up at the sight of me.

I can't help but smile. Just before I can say anything though, one of the guards abruptly slaps him. I flinch.

"Only speak when spoken to," the guard sharply informs him.

Vyndren seems too shocked that he can feel pain again to retort but I hurry over and anxiously push the guards away from him. "There's no need to be so cruel!" I give the soldiers a glare. "I need him to help me but if you're just going to be unreasonable then I'd just as soon you wait outside the Infirmary!" I point dismissively to the doors.

"If you insist, Your Excellence." The guards bow.

"I do!" I huff as I wave them off. The second the doors close behind them, I anxiously turn to face Vyndren. "Are you alright?" I frantically look him over.

"Oh, Adara," he smiles with disbelief and shakes his head. "I have no idea what I am right now."

I gaze at his dazzling smile with enamor, I've never noticed how perfect his teeth are now that they aren't sharpened into lethal fangs anymore. He's so beautiful, it's actually kinda hard to breathe around him.

I throw my arms around him, hugging him as fiercely as I can as I hide my face in his neck. His chains prevent him from embracing me but he bows his head to mine and softly breathes me in.

I'm still so amazed by how warm he is now, how comforting his powerful muscles are now that they don't feel like they're carved from ice anymore. Everything about him truly has me in absolute awe and disbelief.

"I was so afraid that I'd lose you forever," I hoarsely whisper, struggling to keep from crying.

"Adara, my sweet, sweet love..." He gently kisses my temple. "What happened?" He leans back slightly to meet my gaze. "How is this even...possible?"

"You don't remember anything?" My heart skips a beat.

He shakes his head. "Not...exactly. I remember feelin's but... everythin' else is just kinda hazy." His thick, slow southern accent has my heart absolutely melting.

"I'll tell you everything, Chief, I promise," I lovingly caress his face as I search his fantastic eyes. "I love you so much, Vyndren Von Vesymir," I say softly, I can feel tears burning in my eyes. "I love you with all my heart."

"I love you, my sweet Adara," he whispers longingly against my lips. He kisses me fiercely and I achingly kiss him back, I wish for nothing more than to just sink into him and live in this moment forever...but I pull away a breathless moment later.

"I...I'm so sorry about these," I wrap my hands around the cuffs digging into his wrists.

"Yeah," his brow furrows with pain as he glances down at the irons. "I'm used to it..."

My heart twists with pain. "This won't last forever, Vyndren. I swear. I promise you I'll free you."

"I trust you," he says softly, his head still bow.

"Oh, Vyndren," I breathe as I caress his jaw and lift his head to meet his gaze again. "I promise, my love, I promise this won't last forever."

He grimly nods and now tears his eyes off mine. "Is that the Prophetess?" He glances at Mom in her purple bubble hovering between two bay windows. The sun is just starting to rise.

"Yeah," I anxiously wipe my eyes. "Here, this is my mom," I lead him over to her.

"Mira Asteria," he looks her over somewhat warily. She really does look painfully similar to her big sister, Regina. But Mom honestly has so much softness to her features, and her hair is so long and radiantly black, it'd be impossible to mistake the two.

"Michaels, actually," I smile with a shake of my head. "Where I'm from, our name was Michaels."

"Right..." He looks her over again. "Is this a Mind Chamber?"

"Yeah," I grin with relief. "So you know what this is?" He nods. "I'd hoped so! Also...um, do you think your Talent would be able to wake her? I mean, with spirit I can maneuver her chamber but I can't reach through it to wake her." I put my hands against the warm, faintly buzzing forcefield.

"I ain't ever seen anyone in a Mind Chamber before...but I've read about 'em," he shrugs. "I reckon it couldn't hurt anythin' if I tried my Talent."

"Thank you," I feel my heart soar with relief. "Thank you, Vyndren."

"'Course I'll be doin' a whole lot of nothin' as long as I got these chains on," he lifts his tethered hands. The irons clink together. I cringe.

His bonds have been hexed to absorb magic if anyone tries to escape them but luckily there isn't too many spells an Alice's powers can't break.

I put my hands to his chain and summon my magic in a flourish of sparkling white light, the blazing glitter rapidly eats through the chains until they evaporate into fizzling sparks. Vyndren breathes with relief and anxiously rubs his wrists.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"Don't mention it..." My heart aches.

"Now let's see what all I can't do," he summons his own magic to his fingertips and -much to my surprise- I realize his signature magic color has changed. Instead of being scarlet, it's now the same shade of deep blue as his dark eyes.

"Whoa!" I smile with enchantment. "You really have changed."

He studies his fingertips for a moment, seemingly as in disbelief as I am. "It feels like it's been a lifetime ago..."

I smile faintly and shake my head as I look him over. He really has a new lease on life. This human reanimation has resumed exactly where his previous life ended, he's still nineteen, and his powers have returned to their normal magical human limits.

His curse really is broken. I think. I mean, I can still sense some sort of darkness within him. It feels as if a shadow is covering his soul, as if some of the Vampire's demons still haunt him even now... But I try not to let my fears and paranoia manifest, at leastwise not right now.

Right now the only mystery I want to solve is how to save my mom. Everything else can be figured out later.