Page 45 of A Waltz with Lord Death
But first she needed to grow accustomed to her new power.
He slid his hand into hers, and with a playful grin, he transported them somewhere far away from watchful, cautious, and adoring eyes, inside a forest with the snow crunching beneath their feet. He opened his mouth with the intention of guiding her through Life’s power, but his words died as he gazed into her beautiful eyes.
“Dorian,” she whispered.
Hearing his name on her tongue undid him. With gentle hands, he pulled her into another kiss, breathing in the sweetness of her. Their powers mingled together like a graceful, choreographed dance. His burned and scorched while hers cooled and relieved. His heart thrummed with uncontainable happiness. They were to be married. Soon if he had his way.
“Mmm,” he murmured against her lips. “I could kiss you all day if you would let me.”
Her laughter brought a smile to his face. Such a beautiful, pure sound. She pulled away, leaving only a few tantalizing inches between them. “Thank you, Dorian. For giving me yet another chance. I will not waste this opportunity. I swear.”
This time, she kissed him. A fire burned bright between them, scorching and cooling at the same time. A tinge of salt mingled with the kiss, and he broke away from her to find tears trailing down her face.
“I am so happy,” she said, swiping her tears away.
“I am, too.” He kissed her forehead, each cheek, and this time bestowed a quick peck on her lips. “I apologize. There are more important things to do right now than kiss you. You need to become accustomed to your new power. How do you feel?”
She flexed her fingers and then touched a hand to her heart. “Different. Lighter. I can feel the power flowing through me. It feels so natural. Intuitive.” She stopped suddenly and gasped, her eyes wide.
“What is it?” he asked, looking over her. Was something wrong? Did the power exchange not work? Had something happened?
“I know how to do it. I know how to save my father.”
Chapter 19
Meira stared down at her unconscious father with trepidation rising in her heart. He looked just as young as he had when he’d first left her and her mother to fend for themselves. Although she knew him to be hundreds of years old, he didn’t appear to be any older than herself.
A second wave of uncertainty passed through her as she gazed at his face through the barrier of time. What would happen if this worked? Would he go back to Betha? What about her mother? Did he still care for her at all? She likely lived somewhere in the otherworld, a realm she had yet to explore. But as soon as possible, she wanted to visit her mother as well as Elise.
“Meira.” Betha lightly touched her elbow as if sensing her hesitancy. “Please. I beg you. I cannot hold him for much longer.”
“But…what will happen to my mother?”
Dorian’s mouth twitched in amusement from where he stood on the other side of Barret. “I visited your mother on the same day you told me Barret was your father. When I mentioned the nameReeve, she threw a fit. Turns out when she died and learned Barret was Lord Life, she refused to speak to him. She is…seeing someone else now.”
“Someone else?” she murmured. Well, that took care of one problem. She wanted to see her mother happy. She didn’t particularly want to let Barret back into their family of two. Yet, who was this other man in her mother’s life?
The white and black walls of the circular structure swirled alive with power, the life within them moving faster as if joyous to have Life and Death in the same room. It gave her the strength to set her hand on the crystal-like case of time.
“Betha, let me in slowly. Dorian, be prepared to extract his soul as I heal his body from the immortal wound.”
“You can save his body?” Betha asked with hopeful eyes ringed with dark, weary circles.
She shook her head. “No, but what I have learned from Dorian of immortal weapons, is they cleave the soul from the body. If I can heal his body just enough for us to retrieve his soul safely, I think this might work.”
Then again, she sounded more confident than she felt. She had done very little with this new power thus far. What if she accidentally doomed Barret to oblivion?
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no more time to practice. She would do this for Betha. For Dorian. But certainly not for herself. She had no interest in forming a relationship with the man.
“I am ready.”
The hard surface of the time coffin caved in slowly as if her hand sank through mud, and then her palm touched Barret’s chest. Unmoving. Not breathing. His body was done. There was no saving it, not even for a life of mortality.
A white light slithered down her arm and encompassed her hand, cool like a ribbon of moonlight, like a strand of midnight water.
“There you go,” Dorian murmured while watching with transfixed eyes. “You can put more power into it. Once Time lets go of her power, we’ll have to catch him quickly.”
With a nod, she concentrated harder and urged more power into her fingertips. The white tendrils entered Barret’s body, seeking to heal. Yet, there was nothing to heal. Not until Betha released her hold on him.
