Moontide
Read Along Chapter 30
Pain ripped through him as Cindy’s life force faded out and he was blasted by the effects of his curse. He doubled over from it, folding over her.
He pushed up halfway to look at her face. Silver light from the moon caught in her hair and her skin as though it were a part of her. His mind caught on the strands of a distant memory, like another vision in his mind’s eye, but it faded away as quickly as it had come.
He had to do something. He couldn’t let her life end this way. Hadn’t Adam said that the Miserians took the spirit of their victims? She’d only been with him that night because she’d been helping him, lending him her strength. He couldn’t repay her kindness by letting her go to demons for eternity.
A shifting movement caught his attention. Adam stared at the two of them from a close distance. He shook his head, at a loss for words.
Ronan searched through all his knowledge of the otherworld, seeking a solution. Then it came to him. He found the pouch that held the god’s elixir. Frantic to save her, he reached in and grabbed the copper vile. Shaking the bag away, he brought the charm into both of his hands.
When he unscrewed the top of the vial, a radiant gold light spilled from the tiny container.
“No Ronan!” Adam shouted, looking at what he held. “You have no idea what could happen.”
“I can save her,” Ronan said, glaring up at him, daring him to try and stop him. Adam backed up a half a step and splayed his hands out in front of him.
“You know that every gift from the gods comes at a price,” he said, a fleeting look of misery coming over his face with those words. He backed up another step and crossed his arms on his chest, making it clear that he’d say no more.
Ronan’s decision had already been made though. He brought the vial to Cindy’s lips and tipped its contents into her mouth.
After he’d emptied the last drop from the vial, he pushed Cindy’s chin up, hoping that the liquid would run down her throat. He didn’t know how the substance worked, but he thought it must have to be swallowed.
Both men waited in the dark, watching to see what would happen. Ronan looked up at Adam thinking that maybe the immortal would have some sort of wisdom to share, but the other man just stared into the night not speaking.
Just as he started to give up hope, Cindy jerked in his arms. A soft orange glow became visible through her skin and trailed down her throat. The glow grew brighter and before long, a brilliant ray of light shot forth from her chest. Her head fell back against his arm and her back arched. Ronan stared, fearing that he had just done something terrible, changed her horribly in some way. Then, as quickly as it came, the gold beam retreated into her body as if sucked back in and it was dark once more.
Finally, she opened her eyes, the last remnants of light flickering in them then subsiding, leaving behind her usual stormy gray-blue that Ronan found so mesmerizing. She reached up to stroke his face. Then, as if coming out of a trance, her eyes widened with awareness and she looked at her surroundings.
“Wh-What happened?” she asked him, “Th-That thing came out of the bushes and grabbed me!”
She tried to pull up but Ronan held her.
“It’s over now, cara,” he assured her, “it’s dead.”
**A shorter chapter today. There’s more to this scene (thanks to my early writing faux pas < —plural 😅). Stay tuned, Book Monsters!