Page 144 of The Nymph Prince
“Tell me anyway.”
I listened as he spoke of leaving his body and looking down at the battle. He described it in such vivid detail that I could almost imagine it; being weightless above the town. It sounded terrifying, if anything. Lonely.
He seemed just as shocked as me that his soul had found a new body.
“You healed me,” I said, glancing up at him. “But you don’t have your powers. Not in this body.”
“Theron was a mage,” he explained in a sad tone. “He never told anyone but his brother. And his magic is good, Lorcan. Not evil and tainted like mine had been. He didn’t even want to be a warrior, but he joined out of necessity. He and his brother had very little and a warrior’s life was a guaranteed roof over their heads and a warm meal in their bellies.”
I nearly asked how he knew, but then I recalled Haman revealing some of Alek’s thoughts. When a person died, imprints of their memories still lingered in their head.
“Does his brother know?”
“Aye,” Alek answered, holding me just a bit tighter as if he needed the comfort. “He didn’t take the news well. When I told him, he punched me. I let him. He stormed off after that, a prisoner to his grief.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Two days,” he answered. “Your body needed time to heal. I wasn’t powerful enough to heal you completely on my own. Eva helped.”
“Does she know about you?”
Alek nodded. “As do the rest of them.”
“This doesn’t seem real,” I whispered.
“Aye, rosebud.” Alek lightly laughed, and the sound was pleasing to my ears. “I feel much the same. I fear myself slippin’ away. That I’m still floating above the world, instead of bein’ part of it. And at any moment, I’ll be ripped away from you again.”
Where his voice used to be raspy and accented, it was deeper with a smooth edge. I’d miss the accent a bit, but it was never his physical appearance or the sound of his voice that had made me love him.
“If this is a dream, I will kill the man who wakes me.” I nuzzled his neck before placing a kiss there.
There was so much I wanted to ask him, so much to discuss. I wanted to talk about us, about our future. The little boy I’d seen in my mind’s eye…I wished to tell Alek about him, to know if that’s how he’d seen our son, too.
What happened to King James? We were in one of his tents, for we hadn’t brought any with us.
All of that would have to wait until later.
For now, I just wanted to be in his arms.
“I care not how you’re here,” I said, tangling both hands in his hair. “Only that youarehere. My soul missed yours.”
Alek’s soft smile reflected in his brown eyes. He stood from the chair, picking me up with him. I was so much smaller than him, even more so than I’d been in his previous body. He placed me back on the cushion, and I started to panic as he let me go.
I needed him beside me, to feel his heart against mine.
Apparently, he needed the same because he joined me on the cushion, pulling me back into his arms.
“Sleep, my prince.” Alek kissed my forehead. “We travel for Avalontis on the morrow.”
I’d slept for two days and was still tired. My eyelids weighed heavily and fluttered a moment before closing. There was no fighting sleep. Before I drifted off, though, something occurred to me.
“Alek?” I pressed my face against his chest and smiled when his arms tightened around me. “Are we still mated?”
“Aye, I think so,” he answered, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I feel you just as strongly as I did before. Do you not feel me?”
I focused on his heartbeat, one I felt inside my own chest.
“No, I feel you just fine,” I responded. “Stronger now, actually.”
