Page 123 of Tower of Tempest
I separated myself from Loch, but he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back to him. “What?” I asked Driscoll. “How is that possible?”
“Your lightning,” Driscoll said. “It, like, did something to his heart.”
“I think you made it start beating again,” Leoni said in awe.
I turned wide eyes on Loch, who, even in his weak, dazed form, was able to summon a grin. “Always saving me when I’m trying to save you,” he said. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
I cupped his face with my hands. “No, Prince. This time, I think we saved each other.”
Chapter Fifty-One
LOCHLAN
I’d died. I’d stood before the tall golden gates of Galaysia, the other side an ocean, calm and cerulean, that spread out past a white-sand shore. It had looked beautiful, but something held me back, stopping me from opening that gate and passing through. Her voice. Her voice tethered me to another world, kept me there until she’d used her lightning to make my heart beat again.
Now it thrummed in my chest, for her and her alone. It would never beat for anyone else.
After that harrowing ordeal with Poppy’s gran and the shadows, we’d given her gran the burial she deserved, one worthy of the shadow court, then trekked back to the tower, where we’d likely be safest for the night.
Poppy had gathered different herbs and veggies that were left in the garden. Then Driscoll used his magic to get everyone except Poppy to the top, and we each took turns bathing in the tub on the second level of the tower. The icy water shocked my skin, and I scrubbed my hair and body as fast as I could while the smell of something tangy and salty wafted through the air. I jumped out of the little tub and grabbed one of the towels thatwas hanging, scrubbing it over my skin until I was dry. We’d all packed extra clothes in our satchels, and I tugged on a pair of clean trousers and a tunic, shivering and ready to warm myself by the crackling fire in the hearth.
I emerged, marching down the steps that wound around the side of the stone tower, and I marveled that Poppy and her gran had actually built this. Driscoll sat in the rocking chair, while Leoni and Poppy sat in the two chairs on either side of the small table.
Poppy’s eyes met mine, and she gave me a tentative smile that made all the cold flee from my body. I could live off that smile alone. Drink it in and soak in it. Let it sustain me for all my days.
“After you two are done mooning over each other, could you finally fill us in on what’s going on?” Driscoll asked.
“Just one thing I need to do first,” I said as I marched down the stairs and straight up to Poppy. I lifted her chin and planted a kiss on her mouth, tasting her and reveling in the feel of those soft lips against mine.
Driscoll cleared his throat. “This really seems unnecessary.”
“He’s right,” Leoni said. “We have a lot of questions about what happened in that damn forest.”
Poppy responded, kissing me back before gently pushing me away and giving me a look.
“What?” I asked. “I died. Literally died, and you brought me back to life with a kiss.”
“No I didn’t,” Poppy said, exasperated. “My magic jump-started your heart again, helped it to start beating.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I like the kiss story better. There’s a kind of whimsy to it, don’t you think?”
Driscoll looked over at Leoni. “Are we even here? Or are we just ghosts who can’t be seen or heard?”
I rolled my eyes and sat on the edge of a mattress that lay on the floor. “I hear you, Driscoll.” I took a heavy breath.
Poppy stood, gathering wooden bowls and spoons from a shelf and ladling steaming soup into each one. She passed out the bowls to each of us, and I inhaled the earthy scent.
“So?” Driscoll slurped from his spoon. “What happened? What did you find out from Poppy’s gran? How did she die?”
Poppy winced. I didn’t want her to have to relive any of this, but we needed to tell the others.
“Get comfy,” I said, setting my bowl of soup aside. “It’s a long story.”
Leoni and Driscollsat with their mouths open. Driscoll closed his several times, attempting to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. This might’ve been the first time I’d ever seen him speechless.
Leoni blinked like she was trying to process everything I’d said but couldn’t.
“I know this must be a shock,” Poppy offered, shooting me a concerned glance.
