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A heart-wrenching sob rips free of my throat, and I scream all of my frustration and fear and regret into the night sky. The sound reverberates around me, echoing my anguish. A wild rage consumes me, and I feel the intensity of my emotions turning me savage with the need to exact revenge.
I sink to my knees beside Reef’s motionless body, the sand cool and sticky beneath me. It’s black.Why is the sand black and sticky?
My hands tremble as I reach out, unable to resist the urge to touch him, to feel any sign of life. But his skin is cold, and the realisation settles like a heavy weight upon my chest.
“No,” I whisper, my voice barely a breath, as if denying the truth will somehow change it. “Please, Reef, you can’t leave us like this. I can’t lose you.”
My fingers brush against his cheek, and my feelings for him pour out of me like a living, tangible thing. It’s a mixture of love, regret, and desperation, intertwining with the raw energy coursing through my veins. In that moment, the boundaries of my magic blur, fueled by my love and anguish.
Unconsciously, my powers surge forth, an untamed force responding to the depth of my emotions. The air crackles with an otherworldly energy, and a surge of power emanates from within me, radiating through my fingertips, hot enough to scorch.
Suddenly, there’s a flicker. A subtle shift. As if the universe itself is responding to my plea. And then, against all odds, I feel it—a faint, almost imperceptible beat beneath my trembling hand.
Hope flares within me like a blazing fire, my disbelief warring with the undeniable truth of what I sense. Reef’s heart is stirring, reawakening in response to the raw power of my love. It’s as if my unleashed emotional outburst has jump-started the dormant spark within him.
Tears of disbelief mix with tears of gratitude as I press my ear against his chest, listening intently. With each passing moment, his heartbeat grows stronger, more pronounced. It’s a melody of life that had been silenced, now finding its rhythm once more.
“Malia, he’s gone,” a gentle but firm voice says from behind me. I hold up an urgent hand to silence them. I need to listen. I need to be sure.
It’s there. It’s faint, but it’s definitely there. I can hear it. I can feel it. I cansenseit.
Reef’s eyelids flutter and I gasp.
“Malia, what is it?” Cove urges, a mixture of confusion and hope in his gaze. But I can’t speak, because doing so might break the spell of the moment. Might break my hope.
Reef is alive.
I know he is.
“Malia?” he murmurs – weak but filled with a glimmer of hope. There’s gasps of shock from behind me, but I can’t draw my eyes away from Reef to acknowledge them.
A surge of relief courses through me, tears streaming unabated down my cheeks. I gather Reef in my arms, holding him close as if I could shield him from all harm.
“Reef, you’re here. You’re alive,” I whisper, my voice trembling with the weight of the emotions I’ve just experienced.
“Impossible,” someone whispers, awe-struck and disbelieving.
But my full attention is on Reef as his gaze meets mine. He’s pale, but his colour is slowly returning. His eyes are glassy, lacking their usual sparkle, but the verdant vibrancy hasn’t changed. He’s stillmyReef.
In this shared moment of disbelief and gratitude, we both understand the extraordinary power of love and the unbreakable bond that exists between us.
“Reef, can you heal yourself?” Bhodi asks urgently.
“Y-yeah. I should be able to. Just…give me a minute.”
“Rest,” I urge him.
“We need to move. It’s not safe here,” the professor says sharply, his voice snapping us out of our momentary respite.
I nod, my worry deepening. “Can we help him move to the house?” I ask, biting my lip as I fret about the fragility of his condition. A second ago, he was dead. Now, he isn’t. It’s almost too much to comprehend, but I can feel the delicate nature of his recovery within my soul, and I know that we need to be careful.
The professor and Bhodi step forward, their expressions a mix of concern, exhaustion, and determination. Together, we carefully lift Reef, supporting him as we make our way off the beach, but not in the direction I was expecting.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“We have a safe house,” the professor replies. “If we can help Reef to my car, we can drive to the broken lighthouse at Land’s End.”
“That’s a long way, right?” I frown.
