“Soren!”
The crystal dropped from my hand, and the light danced as the pendant hit the end of the chain around my neck. In two seconds that felt like an eternity, I crossed the circle of light and threw myself into his arms.
His arms circled around me as I grabbed him around the neck. The warmth of his body against mine felt like home. Huge racking sobs overtook me. I couldn’t believe I was holding him again. I held him as tightly as I could with my head buried into his shoulder until I composed myself. Finally, we both quit crying, and it was just us holding each other in the pale light of the crystal.
I drew back to look at his face. It was the same sweet face I remembered. I brushed his hair out of his eyes.
“Hi.”
His voice was music to my ears. His eyes still shone bright with tears.
“Hi,” I replied with a strangled laugh.
Soren placed both hands on the side of my face and leaned in for a soft, sweet kiss. I held onto his arms and sighed. This was perfect. What if it really was just a dream? Fear gripped me. I pushed it away. A dream would never feel this real. I leaned into his chest.
“You found me.” His voice rumbled in my ear.
“I would follow you anywhere. I promised I’d never quit looking.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. I knew you were here every time you came.”
“No one believed me, but I knew it was real.”
We stood there for another moment in each other’s embrace, my head on his chest, his arms wrapped around me. Then the urgency of what was happening in the world while I slept came rushing back.
“Soren, I'm not sure about how much time we have. We have to get you out of here. Something is happening, and people’s magic is being drained, causing them to fall into a coma like you. Was there ever anyone else down here with you?”
“No, never.”
“What is this place?”
“I don’t know. There’s only been the darkness. I can’t tell if time or life has passed while I’ve been here. How long have I been here?”
“Over a month. But you are going home today.”
“Ok. But where do we go?”
“I think—” I grabbed the crystal once more “—we can follow the light.”
Soren laced his fingers through mine.
“Lead the way.”
I held the crystal in front of me again. The circle of light shrank and pushed out into the darkness to our left.
“This way.”
Once again we walked. The crystal continued to light our way. It seemed like ages and eons were passing us by in the darkness as we kept on. My hand cramped from gripping Soren’s, but nothing on heaved or earth would make me let go. After what might have been an hour, or an eternity, Soren stopped.
“Just a second, Blair. I need to rest. I’m not as spry as I used to be.”
He winked. I stopped with him but kept bouncing on my toes. I’d never made it this far before. I wasn’t sure what to do next.
“It’s okay if you don’t know what to do.”
Soren broke me free from my thoughts.
“I don’t know either. This is new to me too.”
“Can you read my mind?” I asked.
“No. And I wouldn’t ever try. I know you so well I don’t even need to.” He flicked my nose.
“I missed you.” The emotion that welled up in my chest caught me off guard.
“I missed you too.” He pulled me in for a hug.
“But come on.” He pulled back and tilted my up. “Let’s get out of here first, and then we can think about that.”
“How did you get out of the dreams before?” he asked.
“I just woke up. Something pulled me out. I never tried to read.”
“Well, we need to wake you up somehow.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“Just think about it. Think about waking up wherever you are and opening your eyes.”
“Ok, I can try.”
I closed my eyes, but continued to hold Soren’s hand. Now, I grabbed his arm with my other hand. Since he had come into view, I hadn’t quit touching him. I was afraid the moment I did he would be pulled back into the darkness forever.
I tried to wake up. I thought about being asleep in the hospital bed. About Cassandra sitting next to me. I imagined opening my eyes to the white walls of the hospital room.
For a moment, it seemed like I was two people, one standing in the blackness and one laying on a bed. I could feel the rough pillow beneath the back of my hand and the cotton sheets underneath me. I was split in two. It was disconcerting.
I tried pulling myself further toward the hospital me. There was a pop and something pulled me back into the self sitting in the darkness with Soren. I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He had his eyes closed too and was frowning.
“Soren, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.”
He wiped at a sheen of sweat across his forehead.
“I could felt myself there in the hospital room more than I’ve been able to since I arrived here. But it’s like I’m trying to fight through a fog or something. I can’t get there. And as long as you’re holding onto me, I don’t think you can get there either.”
“Well that’s too bad, I’m never letting you go.”
I gripped his hand tighter for good measure. He wasn’t going to pull that noble crap and convince me to go back myself. Not after I’d come this far. An idea occurred to me.
“Soren, Cassie thinks your illness isn’t really an illness at all. She said her coven discovered it’s something magical. Someone out there is draining energy from people who have the same symptoms you do. But, if they’re taking energy from you, they must have a connection of some sort. What if there was a way to reverse it so we would
