Read Online Vision of Light [The Renegades 1] by Amanda Hilton - Free Book Online Page A

without running into walls or stepping off ledges. Bats flew about. Most bats were not bloodsuckers, as commonly believed, but he and Aislan would be tempting morsels, with both of them bloodied. Better bats than larger cave dwellers like bears, which he could not tussle with right now. Some of the bats flew overhead, snapping up insects.
    The damp cave dripped from the underground spring. Lucien did not venture too deep, finding a cove to serve as temporary haven. Squinting in the semi-darkness, he located a patch of dry ground and laid Aislan down. She did not stir. Lucien touched her cheek with the back of his hand, feeling the warm softness of her skin, a sharp contrast to the coldness of the cave. She lay as still as death, which concerned him greatly, but he could feel her steady breathing against his fingers. He checked her torn hands. The shape-shifter Daman had shown no mercy trying to kill such a gentle, fragile woman.
    Lucien's sense of justice surfaced again. He had chosen to save her even though he had to commit murder to do so, and it was murder. He could not justify it as self-defense. The wolves, as the norm with all sorsvasus , would not have killed him. They would have preferred to drag him back to the Circle to have him face punishment for defying the king and the Sorsverein . Obeying mandate, they had only wanted Aislan.
    There was no going back for him now. He had murdered a sorsvasus brother, a crime punishable by death.
    Doffing his baldric, Lucien went down on his knees and pulled Aislan upright. He loosened the cloak and unfastened the top of her tunic, squinting to see in the near darkness. The wolf had missed her slender throat but managed to sink its fangs into her shoulder, but not deep. Where he had assumed docility, the waiflike Aislan had fought fiercely for her life, but it had been a losing proposition for her. If he could have incapacitated Daman any other way, he would have done it. Lucien's other choice had been to go for the heart. Stabbing the powerful wolf through any other part of the body would not have stopped it. Even then, Lucien had faltered at the last moment, unable to bring himself to run his sword completely through even though Daman was already dead.
    Turning Aislan's inert body around, Lucien sat crossed-legged behind her and placed both of his hands below her shoulder blades. He concentrated on channeling his inner energy, transferring his power through the points of his fingers as he focused on healing her hands first.
    He gauged her ability to absorb the energy flowing from him through her. She adjusted to his invasion easily, reaching out like faint tendrils to grasp at his inner energy and drawing on it. He fought the temptation to pull free from her predatory intent. Lucien did not have the option to stop because he had to heal her. If he did not tend to her now, she would bleed to death or lose the use of one or both of her mangled hands. He could always regenerate and recover his power, but to heal her, then him, and then having to regenerate to restore his power, all came with high risks in an unprotected environment, leaving him completely vulnerable while he regenerated.
    Pushing the dire consequences aside, he concentrated on arteries and muscles, little by little, as he closed her wounds. He steered clear of applying energy below Aislan's heart. Lucien knew nothing about pregnant women, and what he did not know, he would not tamper. It took him the rest of the night, alternating between healing her and stopping to regenerate himself just enough to go on. Frequently, he checked her pulse for a steady beat. Having drained most of his energy because he had never healed another person before, he did not know how long he could keep it up.
    When morning came, Lucien turned Aislan around and into his arms. Brushing her flaxen hair from her face, he bent to listen to her breathing. He pressed his cheek against hers briefly, marveling at her bravery. Her fierce tussling