Between the Moon and Her Night (Between Life and Death #3)

Chapter 38

Sage

“D on’t touch me!” I screamed at the vicious, claw-tipped fingers wrapped around my arm. Bending water, I forged it into a dagger as I shoved it forward, aiming straight for the creature’s throat.

“Whoa, whoa, easy now,” a male’s voice said as a large, tattooed hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping my hand mid-swing. “You’re safe, Sage. You’re safe.”

Familiar green eyes met mine.

“Von,” I whimpered his name, my gaze darting to my hand, to the weapon that I held inches from his throat.

Gasping, I dropped the dagger. It fell on the bed between us.

I looked around—obsidian walls were covered in green vines and white roses. Von was seated beside me. Zahra stood at the foot of the bed, her expression full of concern. Dameon was beside her, his arm wrapped around her lower back .

We were back in our bedchamber. But moments ago—

I thought back to where I had just been, a land of nothing. With those creatures. My heart began to stampede as my lungs searched for oxygen.

Where had all the air suddenly gone?

Why couldn’t I breathe?

A warm hand caressed my cheek. “You’re safe,” Von assured me. “Take a deep breath, Kitten.”

I took a shaky, shaky inhale.

“Good girl,” Von praised. “Another one.”

I did as I was instructed.

“Again,” he said.

We did that for a little while until my breathing returned to normal. When I was finally able to speak, I asked, “What happened?”

“You were fine one moment, and the next you were unconscious,” Von replied softly, his hand stroking my hair in comforting, slow movements.

“We’ve been worried about you,” Zahra said.

My brow furrowed as I tried to recall my last memories before I was shoved into that place. A place that I hoped was nothing more than a nightmare, and yet, it had felt so very real.

“How long have I been out for?” I asked, my gaze shifting between the three of them.

“A few days,” Von said, pulling my attention back to him. That’s when I noticed it—the worry behind his eyes.

He looked . . . tired.

How strange. I had never seen the male sleep once since my arrival, and here he was, looking like he needed a week of it.

Was it because of me ?

I ran my fingers over his cheek. “I’m here. I’m alright.”

He nodded, but my words didn’t seem to meet his eyes. They did nothing to chase away the concern, the worry . . . the torment. Gently, his fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he brought my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it with such heartbreaking tenderness.

Dameon cleared his throat. “We’ll leave you two alone.”

Zahra nodded. “Yes, I’ll stop by later on to check on you.”

“Thank you,” I said in place of goodbye as they left the room, leaving just the two of us.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Von asked, his eyes studying me with that piercing gaze of his, looking for answers to questions he had yet to ask.

I nibbled on my bottom lip, thinking his request over, before I nodded. I told him about my nightmare—about the weightless feeling I had felt as I floated on a current of nothing, and the strange, winged creatures with the charcoal skin.

Throughout it all, Von was silent, and when I was finished, he pulled me into his arms, holding me so tightly I didn’t know what to make of it. My fingers knitted in his black tunic as I lowered my cheek against his chest. I breathed in his scent, warm amber and earthy sandalwood, and my body melted into his.

After a long while Von’s arms slid from me as he pulled back, his movement slow. His fingers slid across my skin, down my forearms, taking my hands in his.

“Does the name Nockrythiam mean anything to you?” he asked, eyebrows folding in .

I searched the crevices of my mind, looking for the name, but found nothing. “No, it doesn’t. Why?”

Von’s chest rose as he inhaled a deep breath. Exhaling, he told me about taking me to Ezra and everything they had done to return my soul to my body. That did not sit well with me, considering the nightmare I had found myself placed in—those strange beings. An eerie feeling crept across my skin, like a thousand tiny bugs looking for a place to burrow in. I brushed the thought to the side, swallowed the large lump that had formed in my throat and focused on Von, on the security I felt having him this close to me.

“Ezra called upon her sisters. Together, the three of them stitched your soul back into your body so that won’t happen again,” he said, his thumbs brushing over the back of my hands in comforting strokes.

That gave me a slight sliver of relief, all things considered.

I was silent for a moment, taking in everything I had been told. After, I asked, “So what does this all have to do with that name you mentioned?”

His hand slid from mine, raising to cup my cheek as he met my gaze. I nuzzled into his touch. Softly, slowly, he said, “Because after your soul returned, you awoke briefly. You looked at me, and you called me by that name—Nockrythiam.”

Nockrythiam .

Although the name meant nothing to me, something . . . warm emitted from my chest.

A deep, tender feeling.

One I had no name for.