Free Sunburst (Starbright Series) by Rachel Higginson Page A

swift lift of his arm and was in my face before I could feel reality again.
                  He touched my jaw with careful fingers- fingers that belied the deadly force that he truly was, fingers that trembled with care at the sight of my broken body. And just before I found the sweet relief of oblivion, I heard him whisper words that would have changed my life if this weren’t the end, if I wasn’t about to meet death face to face.
                  “Don’t go, Stella,” he whispered. “Don’t leave me. You are my reason. You are my truth . Stay,” his voice cracked with an emotion that seemed to flood even my muddled brain. “ Stay with me !”

Chapter Six
     
                  My body was on fire . And I was surrounded in darkness. This had to be Hell. It had to be.
                  I felt my mouth work, trying to let lose a scream of suffering, but my throat was too rough and sore to allow that to happen. Instead, I heard the pathetic whimper that fell from my lips and into the void of pain beyond me.
                  That’s all I felt- all I knew. Pain. And more pain.
                  It felt infinite. It consumed me. There wasn’t a part of my body that remained quiet; every molecule, blood vessel, bone and organ screamed with misery. Tears followed the agonizing pain- tracking down my face, leaving wet trails that pooled in my neck and shoulders.
                  And then nothing. I sank back into the black void of no feeling, no pain, and no thoughts. Just….. nothing.
     
    ----
     
                  The next time I found consciousness again, I was able to open my eyes and realize I wasn’t in Hell after all. I was in my bedroom, in my bed and under my own covers.
                  My eyelids felt too heavy to open, but I forced them up so I could see for myself that I was home. I didn’t know how I got here, or how I did not die, but I didn’t care at this point.
                  I started crying again, but this time it wasn’t from pain. It was from relief, relief that I wasn’t dead, relief that I wasn’t still in that unnamed desert with an enemy sword at my throat, relief that I wasn’t burning in Hell.
                  I was home.
                  “Hey, hey,” Seth whispered softly when the first tear dropped to my cheek. “Are you still in a lot of pain?”
                  I shook my head, drinking him and his perfection in. Although he didn’t look very perfect right now, he was to me. He couldn’t have been more perfect. His hair was a mess, tussled and wild like he had been pulling his hands through it for days- and maybe he had been. His jaw had a solid day’s growth of facial hair. It wasn’t as thick as I imagined it would be one day when he was a full-grown man, but it was just scruffy enough to highlight his sharp jawline and high cheekbones. His clothes were wrinkled and stretched out. His hands were trembling, actually shaking as he observed me from the end of my bed.
                  “You’re here,” I whispered through the still falling tears.
                  “I’m here,” he promised.
                  He stood up and moved down so that he was sitting near my hip. He carefully, and gently lowered his body so not to jostle the mattress. He reached forward like he would take my hand, and thought better of it, pulling his hand back and running it through his messy hair again. His eyes were so golden, so deep with emotion that they appeared like separate living entities that just happened to be attached to him.
                  I took the initiative and grabbed his hand with my now healed, formerly broken one, as soon as his dropped down from his head. He looked down where our fingers tangled together and cleared his throat. I imagined the emotion clogging