We arrive back in the underground and enter the castle.
‘Tonight, we will celebrate our victory and our official lady of the coven, Lylah,’ Talon shouts.
The coven cheers and dissipates to prepare for the celebration.
I face Talon, Soren and Nadia. ‘There is something I need to do first before we celebrate. Can you take me down to the crypts?’ I ask them.
They give each other a confused and unsure glance. ‘Cedric should celebrate with us,’ I tell them.
‘Lylah,’ Talon says, ‘You know he doesn’t want anyone to see him in this state. You know he has gone mad?’
‘I know, but I need you to trust me on this,’ I say, my eyes pleading with his.
‘You know you always have my trust. Come on then, let's go down to the crypts.’
Nadia carries a fire torch as we descend through an abundance of stairs and narrow passageways. As I enter the crypt, I gesture for them to wait at the entrance as I slowly approach the shadow in the corner.
‘Cedric,’ I say and watch the shadow flinch. ‘We’ve met before, but I never got to introduce myself to you. I am Lady Lylah, Blood Flame to Lord Talon, daughter of a Lycan and your friend,’ I tell him.
He slowly creeps across the ground and into the light, looking curiously at me. This time I’m not scared of him. I don’t scream, and I don’t run. Instead, I smile kindly at him and extend my hands out for his. Cedric glances at my hands and then back at me. He hesitates, but he reaches up, places his frail hands in mine, and stands.
I smile and hug him. He is unsure and doesn’t know what to do. I break the hug and cup the bones on his face.
‘I lost my mate too. I’m sorry you lost Alanis. I know you miss her. I miss Micah every single day too,’ I say to him. ‘Unfortunately, I can’t heal your heart, Cedric. I can never take away the pain you feel from losing her. No magic in the world can heal the loss of a loved one. I can heal your mind and body, but I cannot heal your broken heart,’ I say to him—light forms from my hands.
Cedric’s face of exposed bone begins to regrow skin. His body is no longer hunching over and instead straightens. He is no longer severely underweight, and his natural skin colour has returned. I continue to watch as lips form along with his nose and eyelids. The rest of his face develops skin, and I step back.
Cedric looks down at his hands and then touches his face in shock before he looks up to see his friends.
‘Talon, Soren, Nadia?’ he says.
They smile and wipe away their tears of happiness before they lunge toward Cedric and pull him in for a group hug, laughing and patting him on the back.
They break the hug and all gaze at me before nodding in agreement for some unknown reason. Suddenly they’re all racing toward me and all hug me at once.
‘Guys, you're squashing me,’ I laugh.
‘That’s the whole purpose,’ Nadia smiles.
‘Thank you, Lylah. Thank you for everything,’ Soren says.
We part from the hug.
‘Let's get you ready for the celebrations, Cedric,’ Soren says to him.
Nadia follows behind them.
Talon scoops me up and carries me into our chambers.
‘Lady Lylah, daughter of the Lycan. There is one thing I need to do to you before we get ourselves ready for the celebrations.’
‘Oh, and what might that be?’ I ask him.
Talon kicks the chamber door shut and playfully throws me onto the bed. ‘Show you how much I love you,’ he says, ripping his shirt off with a mischievous grin.