finger on the frosted glass. I gasped, realizing that, despite my semi-transparent form, I could feel the chill traveling through my arm. Even more importantly, I’d left a print, a warm print in the frost.
“By the stars…” Zeriel mumbled, shaking like a leaf.
The last thing I wanted was to scare the daylights out of him, so, before he might think of backing away and getting the heck out of dodge because it was obviously haunted, I pushed myself further.
I wrote something, praying to every single entity out there to let my message be seen. It worked. I managed to leave three very important words for him on that frosted crystal. He stilled and leaned closer to get a better look.
“Z, I’m here,” he read out loud. “Holy…”
He looked around a couple of times, probably making sure that no one could see him as he exhaled and simply teared up. I would’ve given anything to be able to hold him, but, unfortunately, that wasn’t an option right now. But I could improve my communication skills and talk to him, bring him back to his old self, the one who would do anything to keep me safe and happy.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Seeley snapped, sliding off the crystal casing. He glowered at me, arms crossed, but I could tell that he was also stunned. “How in the world did you just do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not done yet,” I said with a giggle.
“Vesta, don’t do something you might regret later,” Seeley replied.
“Like what, tell Zeriel about you people being here, for example? You’re damn right I’m going to tell him.”
“You really aren’t helping the situation.”
“Then stop me,” I said, and when he didn’t respond, I understood that he couldn’t. Maybe there was some rule in place to prevent him from interfering with my actions—though that could potentially open quite the can of worms if the spirit was even more potent than me.
However, that wasn’t my problem yet. My bumbling fiancé took precedence. His breath was ragged and too rapid to be healthy, and I worried he might start hyperventilating soon. So, I wrote another message in the frosted glass. It came easier this time around. Practice makes perfect.
“Calm down,” he read, and chuckled softly. Several deep breaths later, he looked at my body and smiled. “Thanks, baby. You’re haunting me, yet you’re the one telling me to calm down.”
I could do more, I thought, concentrating on my body. There was still a connection to my flesh; I felt it… I just needed to tap into it, somehow. The Hermessi might’ve kicked me out, but the life-chain was still on. “The chain,” I murmured and glanced down. Last time I’d touched it, it had burned—the black part, anyway. I’d yet to try the glowing links, the healthy ones.
Once again praying to the universe, I gripped the first link. A rush of warmth engulfed me, as if the sun itself was shining down upon me. In that instant, my body’s eyes popped open. They shone brilliantly orange, but they were open. Zeriel let out a short shriek and quickly covered his mouth. Only Arwen and Mona were in the sanctuary now, on the far end, looking after another fae, but I was glad he didn’t call them over. I worried I wouldn’t be able to concentrate like this with more people watching.
“Vesta… Did you just do this? Are you... Are you awake?” Zeriel asked.
I heard Seeley scoff, but ignored him altogether. I was too busy here. Zeriel needed to ask me one question at a time; otherwise, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to answer coherently. Surprisingly, I did feel a tiny bit of my body, distantly. A slow heartbeat echoed in the back of my mind.
“Oh, crap. I can’t pummel you with questions,” Zeriel realized. “Okay… Okay, how do we do this? Man, I’m so… I can’t explain how happy I am.” He laughed lightly, running a hand through his blond hair. “I didn’t think I’d get to talk to you… sort of. Okay, pull yourself together, Zeriel. Come on. You can do this.” He closed his eyes for a moment, humming as he sought to concentrate and give me something I could work with, now that I’d made it clear that I was still here. “Got it! I got it! Baby, can you blink?”
Could I? Well, I could certainly try—and I did, once. He gasped.
“Wow… this is real. Good. Good! Vesta, baby, blink once for yes and