For seconds after it reached its destination and dimmed to darkness, nothing happened. My chest burned with the need for air because I had been holding my breath the entire time I focused my lissa. One moment, there was nothing within Levi’s body and the next, there was life. Her back suddenly arched as her mouth opened, and she sucked in a loud, audible breath.
“Tola!” I whimpered. “Levi!”
Her eyes were still closed, but she was breathing, and her heart was beating. She was alive. I switched my focused back to her wounds, and I was gobsmacked when I saw I had already completely healed the gaping wound inside and out. I was in disbelief; I had never healed such a wound so quickly before. When Nero’s mother had a lesser wound all those terms ago after her accident, it still took me a long while to heal her.
I thought about how quickly I healed Vorah and then Levi, and I realised that I had been wrong all my life about my lissa. I was taught as I learned to hone its power to never allow emotion to play a part during a healing. We had to be calm and collected in order to achieve the best results, but that was not the case. Emotion made my lissa stronger. Emotion made me a better healer.
My love for my mate made me a better male.
Levi’s heartbeat had started out slow but as the seconds turned into minutes, the pounding of it became loud and strong. It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
“He brought her back to life.” Kol’s voice reached my ears as my senses began to return to normal. “Did you see that? She was gone and he brought her back.”
My brothers and Nero all talked at once. I heard females crying, and the little one Asia was demonstrating how perfect her lungs were. I stared down at my mate as her eyes opened, and her breathing evened out. She stared up at the sky for a moment or two, then her gaze moved to mine.
“Ezah?”
“I’m here,” I choked. “I’m here, beauty.”
She lifted her head and looked down at her blood-soaked clothing, but when she touched her skin, there was no wound. She looked back to me, wide-eyed.
“You saved me.”
“No.” I shook my head. “You saved me. You saved me moon cycles ago.”
Her stunning eyes enlarged as they filled with tears then she flung her arms around me and let out a loud cry. I held her so tightly that for a moment, I feared I might break her, but she did not complain. My mate squeezed me tighter instead. I hoisted her up into my arms, and for what could have been minutes, or intervals, we held one another.
“I love you,” I said. “Tola, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time.”
“I know,” Levi whimpered. “I know you love me, and I love you so much, Ezah.”
I pressed my face to hers. “I’ve heard you say those words to me.”
Levi gasped. “I’ve heard you say them too.”
I huffed a laugh. “We both didn’t want to scare the other with declarations of love.”
Tears ran down my mate’s face as she sent a radiant smile my way.
“How silly we are,” she sniffled. “I’ve never been so happy than what I am right now with you. My male.”
“My female.”
I kissed her then and she kissed me back with a hunger. Our embrace did not last long. The cries of Asia reached Levi’s ears, and she jerked back.
“Asia!” She gasped. “Nicah!”
“We’re okay, Vi,” Nicah’s voice called out from behind us. “Vorah has us.”
“Oh, he’s okay.” Levi deflated with relief. “I’m so glad for you, Nini.” My mate turned her attention to me and said one word. “Master?”
“Enik,” I corrected. “His name is Enik. Never call him Master again because he has no control over you. You’re free of him.”
Levi nodded firmly. “Enik.”
Glancing around, I locked eyes with Kol, who said, “He escaped.”
I knew as much. The male was a coward, running from a fair fight he knew he could not win was engrained into his DNA. There was no way he was going to stand toe to toe with me like a male should because he had no honour.
“He won’t hurt you,” I said to Levi who heard Kol’s report. “I swear, Levi, that male will never hurt you again.”
“I know.” She placed her hands on my cheeks. “I’m no longer scared of him. When I found the courage that my mother found, when I realised how pathetic and weak he truly was, the fear he held over me was shattered to nothingness.”
“You’re so brave, so fierce.” I kissed my mate. “We’re going home.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “To Ealra.”
With my female in my arms, I got to my feet and looked around the courtyard of the human male’s homestead. Bodies, blood, and severed limbs were everywhere. The smell of iron hung limply in the air. A war had been waged on this place, and justice had been served. I wished, more than anything, that I had Enik’s decapitated head in my hand to signal victory, but I didn’t need that to know that I had won.