AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Finally, after what seems like centuries, the large door opens, grating across the floor with an awful squeak. It is dark outside, and I cannot see who enters.
I raise my hand, ready to blast whoever it is, but then I hear a familiar voice. “Penny?” says Raúl, walking into the tomb.
“Raúl? What are you doing here?” I stand up, gaping at him. I left no note, no direction to where I was going.
In an instant, he’s in front of me, his arms wrapped around me. “Penny. Thank the abyss you’re safe. I was afraid Julian had gotten you.”
He moves his head, planting his lips on mine, moving softly against me. My body responds willingly until I break contact and gently push him away. “Raúl, I’ve just learned some things. I don’t believe it’s safe for us to be together. Airalin won’t stop coming for me. I’m the seventh child three times over.”
Raúl takes my hands, holding them in his own, staring into my eyes. “Airalin has been our enemy for years, always a threat lurking from the forest, causing death if we get too close. You being with us may fuel her attacks more, but it won’t change her view of us. Trust me.”
“You don’t understand,” I say, the desperation creeping into my voice. “I can’t watch you die.”
Raúl growls and pulls me into his arms, holding me against his hard body. “You’ll never have to.”
I shake my head adamantly. “She will kill you. Helena. Everyone. To get to me. I can’t watch that. Raúl, I can’t do it.”
He threads his hands into my hair, tilting my head back. “Oh, Penny. I will never let that happen.”
“You can’t guarantee that,” I say.
There is one way, says Nava.
Her cryptic words send a shock through my system. “What, Nava?”
“What did she say?” asks Raúl.
I tell him and he shakes his head, unsure of what she means.
There is a way. An ancient ritual, one older than even I. It shares the life force between two people.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “How will that prevent him from dying?”
If he is injured, he will use your life force to survive. If you are injured, you will use his to survive.
I tell Raúl, and his eyebrows draw together. “Won’t that simply kill both of us?”
No. The ritual will not allow it. But you can still die of natural causes.
Excitement fills my heart, a strange giddiness at the possibility. “There must be something horrible about it.”
To some, yes. You can never be more than a certain distance from each other, or pain will pierce your heart.
“How far?” asks Raúl after I translate for him.
One league for the first century of time together. Additional leagues for additional centuries.
Raúl looks at me. “You will only ever live far less than a century as a human. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
I nod my head emphatically. “Yes, it is a good idea. I want to do it.”
A flash of uncertainty covers his face. “Penny. You will have to be around me for the rest of your life. What if you tire of me and want to settle down on a farm on the outskirts of the realm?”
“No,” I say, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek. “I will never tire of you. Haven’t you realized yet, Raúl? I love you.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Raúl’s face splits into a massive grin, and he lifts me off the ground, whirling me around in a circle. As soon as my feet hit the floor, his lips are on mine. His hands travel down my body as he deepens the kiss. I moan softly, and he draws back, stroking a hand down my hair. “Oh, Penny. I have loved you the moment I saw you sitting at your window, staring at the sky. You were, at once, the single most beautiful and mournful person I had ever seen.”
