Marabella
My body feels supercharged yet hollow as Kyan takes Dominic’s magic from me. It is like a void has opened inside me and what was once there is no longer part of me. It feels foreign, and I didn’t realize how much I would miss it, like a piece of me is suddenly stolen. That piece was Dominic.
Kyan, however, gasps, like he is struggling to breathe, and I sit up. The night is silent, so the slightest noise sounds loud as the moon beams down on us. Kyan is jittery, and I know it is from taking on too much power.
Fear courses through me as I feel it tearing into him, and he reaches for me. His body shakes like he is convulsing, his muscles taut, but the tingles from his touch warm the hollow, shivery feeling inside me.
Dazed, I look around before my lips part as I notice the lid on the coffin is wide open. The runes are no longer glowing eerily, and I can’t tear my gaze away. My heart thumps in my chest, the sound is loud in my ears with a thick bump. This is the moment, the moment to see if I am right. But what if I was wrong? Doubt creeps in, and pain pangs and rattles through me, knowing how much that would destroy Kyan.
Kyan sighs beside me, clutching my face in his hands, and presses his forehead against mine. He lets out a shaky breath. “You’re alright,” he whispers. His hands tremble as he tries to contain the magic writhing through him, and I place my hands over his.
“I’m fine, but Kyan,” I whisper, turning my head back to the open coffin. He turns his head, looking in the same direction.
“It worked!” he chokes as his shaking becomes worse. I choke on my laugh. It worked, it worked! We opened the coffin!
Kyan stares at it but doesn’t move like he is too scared to go over there and have his hope crushed into tiny pieces. I swallow, feeling his burning curiosity, yet also his caution. Hope and longing bleed into me through the bond, but also sadness. Sadness for everything his father has missed, but hope that he could have him back and he wouldn’t miss anymore.
Standing, I get to my feet and notice Jonah and Eziah out of the corner of my eye, moving toward us. Kyan shakes his head when I tug on his hand. I smile sadly, and I let his hand go. I wander over to the coffin, and Kyan clears his throat, making me glance back at him to see him finally rise to his feet.
He forces himself to take a step toward me, and I hold my hand out to him. He takes it, and I give it a squeeze. We move toward the coffin, and I hold my breath as I look inside. The moment we do, Kyan croaks on a sob. His knees go weak as he stumbles forward, clutching the suit his father wore. Tears stream down my face as he clutches his father’s body.
We find no bones but a man, a man I have tried to envision for months. Photos did him no justice. He looks peaceful, his eyes are closed. Dominic should have been bones and dust, but inside, his father is perfectly intact. He looks alive, just asleep.
The similarities between Kyan and the man that spent years in my head are uncanny. They could pass as twins. Only his father is a little older. His features are graceful like Kyan’s, his black hair holds no gray, and his skin is smooth and clear. Jonah and Eziah, I notice, edge closer, and I hold up my hand, telling them to stay where they are as Kyan breaks into a million pieces.
His heart and soul cry for the man he thought he would never see again, a little boy crying for his father. Kyan strokes his father’s face, and I step closer, placing my hand on his back as he shakes.
“Now, let’s bring him home,” I whisper, peering up at the moon. It is nearly time. This is our chance, and despite his emotion, he can’t waste it. I won’t let him.
Marabella
Kyan looks at me before looking at the sky and back at his father. Something is flooding through him. It feels like determination as he takes off and runs outside the ruins and grabs the Grimoire. He comes back, flicking through the pages before he looks back inside the coffin, rummaging around before pulling out the talisman from underneath Dominic.
It is like the one in the dagger; it shares the same shape. I glance down at the open grimoire, noticing the drawing inside, a picture of the moon and the two stones. Yet, as I pick up the dagger that holds the other, I notice the differences. The one in the dagger is blood red and sparkles, the one Kyan holds is a crimson color, but dark and shadows make it almost appear smoky.
Eziah comes to stand by me. He pockets the dagger to return it to the Moon Goddess realm while looking over at Kyan and watching him. Kyan finds the spell, making both Eziah and I repeat it before nervously glancing up at the moon, which is directly above us. We recite the spell that should break the stone repeatedly.
Jonah picks up the grimoire and glances at it. Flicking through the pages, Kyan then drops the stone in my hand. It is cold, like holding ice and I fight the urge to drop it. Eziah places his hand over the top of mine and I feel the stone warm, his fingertips brush my wrist and my Gemini power rises to meet his.
Black tendrils move over Eziah’s hand, covering the stone. Turning our hands, gold bleeds up mine, both coexisting as we share power. As we become the Gemini. Warmth spreads up my arm to my elbow and Eziah gasps as the bitter cold touch of mine moves up his.
We start to recite the chant when Jonah speaks. “It seems too simple,” he murmurs. Kyan looks back at him.
“You said they have to break the stone holding Luna, and that your father tied his life to the same stone?” Kyan nods, glancing at the page Jonah is looking at.
“So the moon.” Jonah looks up.
“The stones, but what is this?” He points to some squiggles above a block. I look at Eziah and he shrugs.
“No, this is the original curse, how the stones were created. That is the sacrifice, so not the same because dad put his life force in Mara, along with his magic. Using the stone as his power source, so by breaking the source, he should wake,” Kyan tells him, turning back to us.