Page 134 of Cursed Evermore
Wait, not just any moon. It was the Phantom Moon—the eclipse of souls.
The very same moon that set me on this path. It was just as eerie and enchanting as it had been on the night I saw it, with its gun metal and silver hue and haunting faces.
In the mortal realm, there were certain times when you could see the normal moon and the sun at the same time. But never so vividly as this.
“The Phantom Moon,” I whispered. “I thought it was gone.”
“Not here.” Wolfe's answer brushed against my ear, his breath stirring loose strands of my hair. “Things look different here. They stay longer. The Phantom Moon will be visible for at least another two weeks. Night and day, no matter how bright the sun.”
“That’s so fascinating.” I couldn’t imagine such a thing, but it deeply intrigued me.
“Wait until you see it at night.”
A thrill of anticipation ran through me. I found myself genuinely eager to witness such a sight. If it was this beautiful during the day, what would it look like when darkness fell?
Wolfe carried me over to the railings. I was glad we were on the other side of the ship, far from the section where the Ruskiel had attacked. I had no desire to see that place again.
Wolfe closed his eyes and took the deepest breath, holding it for several heartbeats before exhaling. The moment he did, the cut skin on his cheek began weaving back together, healing itself.
I gasped, realizing this was what Arielle and Sirril had been talking about. The healing magic in the air was working.
Wolfe's skin glowed with a subtle crystalline tone that spread across his wounds until they were fully healed and sparkling. Sparkling as if his skin had been infused with reams of starlight.
Mesmerized, I reached out and touched his cheek, feeling the smooth skin there, checking that what I’d seen was real. It was.
Slowly, his eyes opened, and he faced me, our noses brushing. The intimacy of being cradled against him with his lips so close to mine again made my chest tight.
“Your face has healed,” I muttered, my fingers still pressed to his cheek.
He tilted his head toward the horizon, where the sea met the sky in a clash of impossible colors.
A dangerous smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Breathe the air, Ziyka. Breathe the air and heal, too.”
“Will it really work on me?”
“No reason it shouldn’t. You’re just like me. Magic born.”
Those simple words gripped me. I was neverlikeanyone. Even in my own home, it always felt like me and everyone else.
I breathed the air, inhaling as if taking my first breath in life.
It filled my lungs like liquid oxygen, pure, ancient, alive. It tasted of power that had existed long before time itself. Each second that passed drew more of it into me, threading through my veins, seeking out every ache, every wound, every hollow space that needed healing.
My skin tingled, and I held up my hand, watching it take on a similar crystalline glow to Wolfe’s. Mine was fainter but still there, a shimmer that made my mage blood hum beneath my skin. It felt like the realm recognized what I was never allowed to understand.
The pain that had wrapped around my ribs began to dissolve, replaced by a sensation of warmth that spread through my chest like honey.
“It's working on me. I feel like I'm finally...whole.” And like pieces of me I didn't know were missing just slotted back into place.
Wolfe held me closer. “Because this is where you belong.”
Belonging.
I'd never experienced anything like it.
The magic here recognized something in me, whispering to me that I didn’t have to be different here. Back home, my abilities felt like a burden, something to hide. The idea of existing in a place that didn't just tolerate what I was, but embraced it, appealed to me more than it should. Even if that place came with a dangerous keeper.
A stronger wave of healing breeze swept over us, and my wounds eased further, leaving a tingling awareness of Wolfe's body pressed against mine.
