Remiel

Darkness masked all but the faintest lines of Morana's slumbering form, but I could not bring myself to stop looking at her. She had fought to stay awake to listen to stories of Araphel, but I knew the moment sleep claimed her. Had felt her hand relax in mine.

The moon had crossed the sky's peak since then, settling closer to the eastern horizon, where it would trade places with the morning sun in a few hours. I should get some rest because who knew what horrors awaited us tomorrow, but every time I closed my eyes, they sprung back open. Starving for proof that she was here. Alive and well.

"Fool," I whispered.

She was never supposed to be more than a means to an end. It was something I'd told myself often since that night I'd stormed through the dungeons in Edresh to rescue her, and when I saw the collar around her neck, the rage it sparked was for what it represented. Not because it was around her neck, specifically.

I risked life and limb in Friedesh to save her life because we could find no other Deathsingers to lift the veil off immortal souls. It certainly wasn't because I'd seen how deep the terror etched in her face as monsters she could not see stalked her, or because I wanted to know what it felt like to have her soft curves pressed against my body.

And that icy burn that went through my bones whenever Tievel touched her... Well, it was disgust, not jealousy. That she could be so love struck to not see the darkness in him still baffled me.

Any chance I had of continuing to lie to myself was gone the day the prince took her from me in Jorridor's capital city. The moment the shadows burst out of my skin, I fucking knew I was doomed, and by the time the Shadow Brothers found me, I was half mad.

"Mara," Morana whimpered, drawing me out of the bleak memories. Her grip on my hand tightened.

Frowning, I inched closer to her and ran my free hand over her face. Gods, she was warm. Feverish, almost. And had she said the name Mara? Perhaps she was dreaming of Lake Mara since I'd mentioned it before she fell asleep, but I doubted it. A place so serene could never cause such torment, and that left only one other option.

A bit of black hair had come loose from her braids, and I brushed it away from her face, letting my knuckles graze across her high cheekbone. How many times had I imagined touching her like this? Sliding my hand across her face and down to the base of her skull. So much lush midnight hair to bury my fingers into and pull tight.

I banished the lewd thoughts. Though they plagued me almost constantly, I would not think of them while I touched her. At least not while she slept, and not until she was a willing participant. An ache pulsed through me at that thought. Would she ever burn for me the way I burned for her?

"Mara, please!"

Blisters formed on my knuckles, and I jerked my hand away, holding it against my chest. Horror seized me, freezing the breath in my lungs as a bright orange glow spread beneath her skin.

"Morana!"

She was a beacon of light. The darkness bolted, and I had to shield my eyes against the glare. Her back arched on her bedroll, setting it ablaze. It was almost unbearable to be so close to her.

Black shadows surged from my body. They whipped around her fiery form, choking the flames and protecting me from the heat. I stared in awe. My brothers had not told me the shadows held that kind of power.

Morana shot upright, gasping. A faint glow remained in her cheeks, and somehow, her clothes had not burned. With a groan, she turned to the side and vomited.

"You're okay," I told her, moving my hand in circles over her back as she heaved.

"Thank you, Remiel."

Gods, she sounded so hoarse. "You're welcome."

She coughed once more and wiped her mouth. Then she tensed and looked over her shoulder, eyes wild as if she was searching for something, and whatever she found sent her scrambling backward, hands splashing in the puddles of sick on the ground.

"Mara, no!"

"Morana, it's me. Remiel." I crouched in front of her, hands raised in what I hoped was a non-threatening stance. "You're not awake. You're dreaming. You need to wake up."

She leapt to her feet and bolted. Cursing, I ran after her, my heavy footsteps sending up puffs of ash that stayed suspended in the air like gray phantoms. I prayed we were wrong about Seraphina, and that she was truly unaware as she regenerated. Otherwise, she certainly knew someone was here now.

Without Morana's fire and this deep into the woods, I lost the help of the little bit of moonlight that had penetrated the stifling darkness at our campsite. Every so often I glimpsed orange through the spindly trees whenever she paused to look back, but I followed her mostly by sound. First by her footsteps on the ground, and then by heartrending screams.

"No," I hissed, increasing my speed and ignoring the pain whenever stray branches ripped through my skin. "Morana!"

I burst out of the trees and found myself standing on a cliff jutting out over the Crystal Sea. Vaguely, I recalled my father telling me about a point like this near the coast. Renowned for its views and perfect for defense. But I saw none of its qualities as I walked slowly toward its point. I only saw the beautiful woman wailing on her knees, far too close to the edge.

"Morana..."

She raised her head. She panted around her words as she spoke. "There's nowhere else to run."

"You don't have to keep running." I paused, afraid if I came too close, it might spook her back into whatever visions she'd been having.

"R-remy?"

"Hey." My heart swelled to near bursting just like it did every other time she said my name like that. I held out my hand. "Come back with me."

"Mara wants me to run. She told me to run. She hurt me." Morana grasped her scarred shoulder, eyes squinching shut as if she was experiencing the burning again.

"Mara?"

I knew the answer before she said it. Had known since the moment I heard her speak her name, but I prayed to the gods I was wrong. I needed to be wrong.

"My sister."

The glow in her face flared, and she whimpered. She was being pulled back in. I was going to lose her, because this time, she would run right off the cliff.

"I-I met her once. Your sister."

That caught her attention, but when she swung her eyes to me, all hints of amethyst were gone. Only the fire remained.

"I told you I'd been to the coast when I was a young boy?" She nodded slowly. "We came for the queen's birthday celebration. I was twelve, and my father told me I was old enough to join them in the capital."

Calm washed over Morana. She eased off her knees and leaned so she sat on her outer thigh. Her head cocked to the side.

"It was a spectacular party. Firestars went off the entire night and turned everything red and violet and gold when they exploded. They made the palace of ravenstone. It's a stone that is native to Araphel and is white despite its name. It absorbs light, and when night fell, it always continued to glow for hours. A beacon for its people."

Her lips parted. "I remember that. And...and it held onto the firestar light, too. It sparkled that night."

"Yes, it did." I crept closer. With just a little effort, I could touch her. "But for all the beauty, I was still just a boy, and I was bored. There were no other children there, so I snuck off to the east tower."

"To get a better view of the firestars?"

"Yes." She really did remember. "But when I got there, it was already occupied. I recognized Princess Mara at once. Everyone said she was Queen Seraphina's twin, but it took me a moment to realize who you were."

A tremor went through me as the memory grew more vivid. I'd lingered in the shadows to watch the girls interact. The other Reapers had spoken of Mara's quick temper and sharp tongue, but she had been so gentle with her little sister. A beautiful child of no more than five or six.

As heir of the kingdom and her mother's power, Mara was always meant for the public, but the royal family had kept their youngest daughter out of the spotlight. They'd announced her birth: Her Royal Highness Moranthia Rhiannon Bedisa. And then no one outside of the palace heard much else. Not even a whisper of what powers she held. Until the fateful day they announced her death. Another victim of the war.

"We met before?"

"No. I was not brave enough to approach you."

"Because of Mara?" Her tone grew cold and dark and distant. "She is frightening. S-sh-she....Ahh!"

Cursing, I lunged forward and grabbed Morana before she could throw herself off the cliff. She writhed in my arms, and I gritted my teeth against the pain as the first flames formed. In a few moments, she would be consumed again, and we would both be lost.

"Stay with me," I demanded, releasing the hold on my shadows and wrapping us both in black ribbon. The fires lessened, and the pain vanished. "She's not real. She's not here. This is a magical attack."

Morana sobbed. "It feels real. She won't let me go."

Desperate to anchor her in reality, I blurted out, "You asked me if the Shadows were something all Reapers could do."

Another whimper. She pressed her head on my shoulder and nodded. Good. She was trying to stay.

"You asked if it was something all Reapers could do, and I told you the short answer was no. But that's only because not all Reapers have found their soul bound. I suspected that's what you were to me for a long time, but I refused to accept it. Then there was the day Tievel took you from me...it was too much. I'd almost lost you before, and then you vanished before my eyes. I couldn't fight the truth anymore."

Morana had gone completely still. I risked looking down and found her watching me with those fire-lit eyes. Almost like she was caught in a place between.

"I won't lose you again," I told her.

And then I kissed her.