Page 13 of A Lost Light

I could feel Andy and the others around us, their eyes following our every movement. They were afraid of losing the ghost. Idiots. As if I'd ever let that happen. Moving around Elijah, I slipped an arm between his angelic wings and rested my hand on top of his shoulder, well aware of the odd pair we must make—him the embodiment of light and life, and me the gaunt reminder of darkness and death.

I didn'tneedto touch him to monitor the magic inside him. The bond between us let me know how my creation fared. But I sensed that he would benefit from the physical show of support. Somehow. It was all very strange.

And you are absolutelynotenjoying it at all, Sunshine commented.

Shut up,I shot back.I'm concentrating.

Elijah reached for his magic, for the fullness of who he had once been. At first, it was a slow trickle. He was still afraid of what it might do to this new form. But I squeezed his shoulder, and leaned in to speak softly next to his ear. “More,” I demanded. “The old soul will simply be freed. Stop being afraid, Elijah. We're here if anything goes wrong. I'll sense it. You're safe.” I gave a little mental tug at our bond. “Let go.”

That little shudder again. Nearly imperceptible if you weren't paying attention. But Iwaspaying attention, and I felt him lean into my touch. Then, angelic power flooded our bond.

Elijah sucked in a surprised breath. And somewhere behind me I dimly registered Andy shooting to her feet in concern. But I was grinning like a madman as I felt things settle into place. Elijah had just put himself back together, recalled the lost, worn-away remnants of his soul. And it wasbeautiful.

I was bathed in light as his wings lengthened, glowing brighter, the floating tendrils of energy arching around me. The bond between us hummed as his aura grew, as his angelic soul filled in every last nook and cranny of its new home. Now.Nowthe connection was solid. Elijah was irrevocably woven into this body. He was as alive as a revenant could possibly be. And no trace of the body's previous soul remained.

“Perfect,” I murmured near his ear, delighted when he shivered again, those strange wings brushing my cold skin and leaving behind a faint tingle of warmth.

I was so blinded by what I was sensing, that it took a moment for my eyes to register what I was actuallyseeing.Elijah turned to face me, but my hand rested forgotten on his shoulder as I peered into the glowing blue eyes that had been brown just moments before.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice richer and deeper than it had been since his resurrection. “I can never repay what you've done for me, Dyre.”

I dropped my hand from his shoulder and cleared my throat, stepping back as the others moved closer. “It's nothing,” I muttered, like an ass.

Oh, no,Sunshine complained inside my skull.Not another one. How many of these strange infatuations can you have?

I ground my teeth together as I silently snapped at the wraith.I'm notinfatuatedwith anyone. Especially not the corpse I just reanimated. For fuck's sake, Sunny. You suck at reading emotions.

All I got in reply was a mental snort of disbelief.

I ignored him and focused on what was going on around me. Elijah's thread was still humming in my consciousness. Andy rushed him, reaching for his hands as she raked her eyes over him, probably assessing his aura and looking for damage. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. I could see the state of Elijah's health far more accurately than any earth witch. But of course Andy would fuss over him.

I felt one corner of my lips turn upward at the thought.Fine, so Iaminfatuated withher. I told the wraith in my head.And this means so much to her. That's why it's so important to me.

He didn't comment.

“You look different,” Andy was saying to the angel. “That's so weird. How is your physical body changing? Is it an illusion?” She turned to me for answers.

I looked Elijah over once more. It was subtle. The eyes were most obvious. They had changed color completely and were now a glowing, ethereal blue that matched the flavor of the angel's power. But I thought his hair might be just ashadelighter than it had been. And I was fairly certain that gaze had been even with my collar earlier, not in line with my chin….

I shrugged, feeling everyone's eyes on me and hating that I owed them a truthful explanation. Because they were going to hate how I knew the answers.

“I expected that might happen,” I said evenly, glancing at Andy to meet her curious gray eyes. “It's not an illusion. Some beings… alter the body of their host when their soul takes over.” Sunshine had been nice enough to leave my physical appearance mostly unchanged, but wraiths weren't exactly keen on physical forms.

I had seen and heard of other instances where that wasn't the case.

I could sense the curiosity and horrified questions as the others stared at me. “Wendigo,” Hasumi murmured, their light voice taking some of the heaviness from the moment. “I've encountered a few over the years. Their emotions consume them. Their emptiness and desperation becomes a hunger they can't control. And it… shapes them. Molds them into the monster they become.”

I nodded. “Yeah, there are a few creatures like that in nature. And… I've read a few accounts of necromancers and other powerful witch-descendants creating monsters when they attempt to reanimate things they shouldn't be reanimating in ways that aren't exactly savory. Either accidentally or on purpose.”

Silence reigned. But as usual, Andy wasn't afraid to break it with a blunt question. “Are you saying Elijah is going to turn into some kind of monster now?”

I could feel the tension in the angel, through our bond. I turned to him, meeting his newly compelling blue gaze. “No. You won't. Your connection to your new body isn't charged with the same sort of motivations as those others.” Malevolence, greed, hatred, hunger for power… there were a lot of ways to create a monster. “And your soul… your energy, is different.” I shook myhead. “It's morepure,I suppose. Though I hate admitting that to an angel. Don't let it go to your head.”

He pressed his lips together for a moment as he considered. And… had his mouth shape changed as well? Had those lips always been that chiseled? With that rather fascinating little upward tilt at the edges?

“What will happen to me?” He asked me, open and unflinching. Trusting as always. How could hebeso trusting, after all the shit he'd seen?

I turned inward to confer with Sunshine, but he only agreed with my assessment of the situation. “Your soul and your magic will probably continue to slowly reshape that form. To make it into something more familiar.” I shrugged. “Kind of like… restoring equilibrium. Making itself more at home.”

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