Sam stared, helpless, then dropped to her knees and let her tears flow unchecked. Kassie was too good, too kind for this kind of injustice. This was wrong. So wrong.
"Pray for her," Tyler whispered, his voice hoarse.
Kassie wept with great keening wails, her vocal chords sounding shredded under the strain. She screamed until her voice came out in strangled croaks, she screamed his name until they both covered their ears, until blood oozed from the deep gouges on her body where she'd clawed her own flesh.
Sam followed Tyler's suggestion and threw her entire being into the only thing she could do. Pray. She dragged Tyler into the effort and soon their supplications lost any resemblance to spoken language and became a series of soft ululations interwoven with tones that seemed beyond the capability of the human voice.
Tyler squeezed her hand. "Look!"
Tiny particles of light swirled through the air before Kassie and began to coalesce into larger and larger bits until a glowing masculine form stood before her, his hand on her head.
****
Kassie wanted nothing more than to die, to join Lyght. She was so close to it, she could feel his touch, his hand resting on her head. She could see him standing there in front of her.
"You did it, love." He was…too real. Surely with the thin veil of even a few heartbeats separating them, he wouldn't sound so real?
Kassie stared at the figure before her, covering a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God, I killed you!"
The pressure of his hands as he pulled her to her feet and embraced her was impossibly solid. "Yes, sweetheart." He stroked her hair. "It's okay."
"It's not okay! Oh God, it's not okay! I can't live without you!"
"I know baby, shhhhh. I'm here. We're together"
She drew back a little. "Lyght, I can't live without you."
He chuckled. "Kassie, love. You don't have to."
"I don't understand." She shook her head. "I killed you."
"Sweetheart. Yes, you killed me. And then your love, carried on your daughter's prayer, raised me. That's what I'm doing here in front of you. Being alive. Very alive. And you're ruining it." The last words were tender as he stroked her cheek.
"You're alive?" She touched him all over. "You're…you're real?"
"God yes, very real. And you're…making it very hard on me sweetheart, no pun intended."
She gave a little shriek of laughter and jumped on him, hugging him tight. "You're alive! Oh God, thank you. Thank you!" She would never waste another precious second of her time with him. Never. Never doubt the purity of their love. Not ever.
"I'm alive." His whisper caressed her lips with his warm breath. He held her cheek-to-cheek as he spun her around.
Chapter Thirty-Six
"Are you almost done now?" Lyght couldn't stand the suspense any longer. She'd insisted on wearing a special dress for him. Worse, she refused to let him make it for her.
"I am. Five minutes."
"You said that a thousand years ago, love."
She giggled and he smiled at the wonderful sound. But he was seriously going to die, again, if she didn't bloody hurry up. They were re-consummating their marriage. Her words, not his. She wanted to do it right. For him. No, for them.
As if he'd argue with such a thing. She could re-do their consummation as often as she felt the need. And he hoped it was bloody often because he could not seem to get enough of her. He seemed to have inherited a volatile amount of human passion. Thankfully, his angelic counterparts made her strong enough to supply the demand. Mmmm.
"Close your eyes."
Lyght's smiled. "Closed."
He heard the distinct rustling of soft fabric and smelled her. "Dammit Kassie."
"What?"
"You smell too bloody good. Hurry up."
She giggled, making him hungrier for her. "Okay, open."
He looked. His smile vanished as he stared at her. His princess. His very own princess. She wore a brilliant white dress, much like the ones he'd seen in the Victorian magazines of old. He went to her, staring at the magnificent gown and its endless billowing layers of shimmer. "How did you…"
"Seems I learned a trick when it comes to all things diamond. "Look." She passed her hands over the dress and it glistened more. He paused, enthralled. She lifted her hands and blew across her palms, sending up a spray of glittery air with another child-like laugh.
"I don't…" He shook his head.
"You don't like it?" Worry edged the delicate words.
He laughed, trying to figure how to navigate the material to get to her. "Kassie, you always assume the worst. I don't know the human words to express what I think is what I was going to say. There aren't any that are amazing enough, I'm afraid."