Ember woke up in her bed, wrapped up in the silky black sheets. She looked around bleary-eyed and found Demetri perched at the foot of the bed, leaning against the bedpost with his stormy eyes closed in sleep. She had never seen the ghost sleep before.
The halfling smiled slightly, knowing in her heart that the ghost had meant what he had said to her.
You trusted him before.
A stern voice in her head reminded.
Look where that got you.
The time she spent as the demon's captive felt like a nightmare. She had sunk so deep inside herself that most of the depravity broke softly against her heart like waves. She simply had not cared: Demetri's betrayal cut her to her very soul and nothing the demons could do would hurt her more. So she had curled up inside herself and refused to fight.
That was a mistake.
She thought to herself.
I should never have stopped fighting and given into the darkness. That's what Demetri did. He gave into the darkness and let the anger and the hate consume him. He couldn't forgive my mother. But I can forgive him. I can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and come out bloody but unbowed.
The halfling knew she was mixing up her scripture and her poetry, but she could not have cared less. Overcome by a wave of fatigue, she sunk back down into the sheets and slowly drifted into the arms of sleep and an all-too familiar dream.
Ember found herself standing on the beach again. The waves lapped gently against the silver sand.
Where was the young man? She expected him to rise up out of the water like he did before. She stood for a short eternity, waiting.
Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and he caught her up in a kiss before she could even say his real name.
He pulled out of the kiss but touched her lips, asking her without words to stay silent. The dream-Demetri's eyes blazed bluer than she had ever thought possible.
"
Ember, you did it
," he breathed, running gentle fingers down her face. "
You saved me.
"
The dreamy apparition pulled off his blood-stained shirt to reveal smooth, flawless skin. Despite herself, the halfling beamed up at the young man, revelling in the love that shone from his eyes.
"
I am free now
," he said, grabbing her hands and pressing them against his chest. "
Can you hear my heart?
"
Ember realised all at once that she could, she could hear it beating.
"
It beats for you
."
"How is that possible?"
she asked him breathlessly.
"You're dead!"
"You gave me your heart,"
he said.
"Then how am I alive?"
she asked, suddenly aware that her own chest was silent.
"You have my heart,"
the ghost said,
"and it beats for you."
Suddenly Ember felt a surge of life course through her body as her still heart began to beat.
She gasped in air as if tasting it for the first time and shot up in bed, startling the ghost out of his spectral slumber.
"Ember? Ember are you alright?" He was at her side in an instant.
She looked at him, her fiery eyes lit up with a glow he had never seen. Her soul was radiant and her renewed inner strength glowed through her eyes like a thousand candles.
"I'm fine," she smiled. "For the first time in a long time, actually."
"Good," he said. "Because you need breakfast."
With that Demetri scooped the girl up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed as the ghost planted kiss after kiss on her forehead.
He carried her down the long, spiralling staircases that led to the kitchen. He set her on her feet and then picked her up again and put her on the counter.
Demetri's stormy eyes pierced hers and he reached out to trail a hand through her dark tendrils.
"Fuck, I love you," he whispered.
Ember smiled and bit her lower lip. It was hard for her to understand what she was feeling. The love in his eyes made her blush, made her want to smile. This same man who had done such terrible things to her now had the power to make her heart glow... and she did not believe that he would abuse it.
"I- um," the halfling did not know what to say. Demetri mercifully silenced her with a kiss.
For the rest of the day Demetri agonised over her, intent on making sure every last wound the demons had inflicted on her was healed. That night as they entered her bedroom, Demetri insisted on giving her wounds a final once-over.
