The Deathsinger: Book 2

Ch. 26: The Other Half

Every nightmare I'd ever had about burning paled in comparison to this one. Back arching, I screamed and drummed my heels on the stones until the skin broke and blood filled my shoes. Remiel cursed and straddled me. His hips drove mine down while he grabbed my face with both hands.

"Morana, please. Cosona biacti me, hyrat ti coleo. Cosona biacti me!"

He wasn't Singing, but the old tongue was a Song of its own. Every word hung in the air like the sweetest note, and it reached beyond my pain.

'Come back to me, my other half. Come back to me!'

Remiel's amber eyes locked onto mine. The pain eased. My lungs expanded with the first full breath in what felt like an eternity. The weight of his body on mine increased as he sagged in relief. He choked back a sob before he slid his arms around my body and held me tightly against his chest.

"Is this going to be your new thing?" he demanded, pulling back suddenly. His jaw flexed. "Because I'm going to tell you right now. I can't fucking take it anymore."

"Be careful, Remy," I said, my voice a weak whisper as he shifted, so I sat in his lap instead of beneath him. "You might make me think you like me a little."

A strangled sound escaped him. I didn't have the strength to lift my head, but I could feel his eyes burning into my skull. That was okay. I had suffered greater fires before and survived.

"You're going to be the death of me, Morana."

That jolted me. Pushing against him, I leaned back to look at him. His arms cradled my back, keeping me upright.

"Don't say things like that. I couldn't–"

Couldn't live without you.

I snapped my mouth closed to swallow the confession. Where had such a thought come from? He had admitted to kissing me to save me from the nightmares. What followed was a result of the rush created by being in danger. That didn't make us more than friends.

'Come back to me, my other half.'

"Morana, you couldn't what?"

Remiel tipped my chin up and leaned in close. Another inch and I could kiss him. Oh, how much I wanted to kiss him, but—

"Mara," I blurted out.

Confusion clouded his eyes. Then panic. "Was that another nightmare? Did she take you again?"

"No. It was a memory." I gripped his shoulders, excitement pushing away the awkwardness between us. "Of the night Mara burned me."

A feather light touch on my shoulder drew my attention to it, and I held my breath as he pushed down the neck of my tunic to reveal the scars. Beneath his gentle caress, they didn't seem so ugly.

"So, she really did this to you." Anger grated the words together. "Why?"

"She didn't do it on purpose. The memory was of the night of the siege on the capital. She took me to the dungeons beneath the palace."

"There's no exit from there," he said, his fingers still making slow loops on my skin.

My skin pebbled as his touch drifted lower, moving down my back. It made it hard to concentrate, and I didn't think he realized what he was doing. And in no world would I tell him to stop.

"There was a break in the memory. I don't know how we even got down there, but then we were at the portal. We were at Dycidium, and Mother was trapped behind it."

Remiel almost seemed to stop breathing as he listened to me talk. My heart raced as I processed what I'd seen.

"Mara said something about it not being enough to hide Mother in the portal. She drew the flames into herself. Mother begged her to stop. She told her it was too much, and I reached out to grab Mara's hand. And..."