Page 125 of Live Like Legends

I felt a knife stab into my side, but I knew it would heal like it did every few minutes. I was tired. So fucking tired.

The demons hissed, glancing at each other and then at something behind me. I couldn’t move my head over my shoulder enough to see much of what it was, but it was bright. This had to be another trick. A ploy to sayoh you’ve gotten out, but actually I’m still here, living in the dark.

I let my head hang down, not wanting to be met with utter disappointment. The light didn’t move or shudder. There was a shift in the space around me. The demons started convulsing and transforming into one form to torture me and then to another. The images I was forced to see started to distort and become nothing at all.

The demons started screeching as shadows flew past them, slicing at their bodies and picking them up just to drop them on the ground. It was hard to keep my eyes open, but I watched, eyeing the shadows and waiting for when they would come for me next. The shadows swayed, whipping around towards me. Instead of cutting my skin or causing me pain, they stroked my skin.

The tension in my body melted and I wanted to lean into the shadows, but they moved behind me flowing into the light that was behind me.

I heard a voice that felt so much like a piece of my heart as the light got closer and shrouded me in its glow.

I love you Nicholas Cassial. Please come home to me.

My whole body was shaking from the amount of energy I was pushing out, but I needed this to work. Ithadto work. I pressed my hand against him, hoping that I wasn’t hurting him. I broke our kiss and my power reeled itself back into me causing my body to be thrown back and I reached for the chair to steady myself.

I don’t know what I tried to do, but if it was a waiting game, that’s what I would do. I would wait for a long time when it came to this man. I settled into the chair, seeing my light and shadows dim over his body and then disappear altogether. My curls fell in my face as I looked at him, feeling myself start to cry just because I hated this. I hated everything about this.

I placed my head in my hands, considering my options. Theonlyoption I had was to permanently live in the infirmary until Nick woke up. I could make this chair comfortable enough, maybe pull a Reese and kick my feet up every now and again. I would make sure Morgan never showed her face in this room or she would see the end of my….

“Dani.” His voice was groggy and a bit confused.

I peered up from my hands to see Nick leaning up on his elbows , looking at me. His eyes were squinted as if he had just woken up from a very good nap. His hair was messy in that boyish way I loved and his lips formed into a lopsided grin that I knew only came out when he didn’t know what kind of expression to use, but he was sure it wasn’t a sad moment.

I bounded up from the chair and launched myself at his bed. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling his hands at my back as he squeezed me. His body was at a normal temperature and he held me like I wasn’t a stranger to him. The idea that he could wake up with some kind of amnesia haunted my thoughts constantly, but I knew that was a long shot. I ran my hands over his body checking for any wounds that could have popped up. I didn’t know how this kind of dark magic worked but I wasn’t about to get blindsided by something. I pulled back, placing my hands at the sides of his face. “I don’t…”

He raised his eyebrows. “Did you…”

“I didn’t know what else to do.” I considered the things Ididknow about hybrid powers and how they had always been known for their ill-intent. I wasn’t sure if anyone had tried to preserve them for things like this.

“Hey, hey, you saved me,” he said this like he was trying to make a point. Even out of a coma he hadn’t changed.

I pressed my forehead to his. “I would burn the world for you. You like saving me so much, I thought maybe it’s high time I save you, hmm?”

He leaned in to kiss me. “You’ve always been my hero. Don’t you know that?” I kissed him back harder, practically jumping onto the bed myself.

“Dani, I know you wanted your alone time...woah!” Reese yelled, holding onto the door frame. “You’re awake!”

Nick yanked his mouth from mine and nodded over to his best friend. “Looks that way.”

“Holy shit! You’re awake!” Reese ducked his head out the door. “Maurice, he’s awake!”

I heard the sound of footsteps as Maurice came into the room. I moved back to give him some space to hold his son. He took his face in his hands, moving his head from side to side, inspecting. “Nicholas, my boy, how are you feeling? Do you remember anything? How did this happen?” He looked from me to Nick, patiently waiting for an explanation.

“Oh pretty boy is awake?” Elise poked her head into the room. “I was wondering what all the commotion was.”

“Yes he is. You can leave now. He doesn’t need any of your negative energy.” Reese rolled his eyes.

“Right and you are such a fucking delight to be around,” Elise stated, scoffing.

“Alright, stop it you two. Any other time, but not now,” Maurice scolded, pointing at both of them. They both mumbled a version ofI’m sorry.

Nick pressed his fingers to the side of his head, rubbing. “I’m feeling okay, for what it's worth. I remember up until the point of getting hit by whatever Dimitri threw at me and nearly everything I was forced to endure while locked away in my head.” He threw a look over to his dad. “No, I don’t want to talk about that. And well, how it happened…” He snuck a glance at me, which caused everyone to look at me.

I ruffled my hair. “Why don’t we get Natalia in here to give him a once over and I’ll explain it to you.”

Reese and Elise had surprisingly been in agreement that Ariel didn’t deserve or need a funeral, but my father had insisted. He didn’t like the guy all that much, but as the highest executive, he had to show his respects regardless of his personal feelings. Xander gave me a thorough once over—again—before I left the infirmary, letting me know I should come to them if I felt off at any time. Natalia had made sure Dani got a thorough check up as well, giving her a clean bill of health. The High Priestess gave both of us a small look of apprehension. She huddled with Xander and a few other healers as they released us, speaking in hushed tones as if there was more going on but she had simply smiled at us with a simple wave.

I chose to believe the weirdness was due to the fact that the amount of times she’s had to check in on us was too many to count. She would likely have to continue doing it if remaining friends with us was on her agenda.

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