Untouchable by Marii Solaria

Chapter 76 – Artemis

“I feel like a part of my soul has loved you since the beginning of everything. Maybe we’re from the same star.” Emery Allen

Artemis

The heart is a delicate organ. Floods of blood shot through it in a life–sustaining cycle, and it made me feel both alive and dead at the same time. What many cannot understand is that the heart is also a part of a chain, connecting its life force to another. Forged bonds and soul ties attach themselves to the crimson bodies of two beating hearts, connecting those individuals beyond the visceral. Bonds are created between people, animals, and emotions. The heart serves a grander purpose beyond sustaining life, and the visceral pain of when one bond is severed is unimaginable.

My heart hurts. The bond it treasures the most is nothing more than a flickering lightbulb unable to handle its burial under pitch–blackness. Imprisoned just like me, frantic to cling onto the spec of light keeping it alive. But the darkness is intelligent and conniving. Malevolent whispers bombard my ears like a bully’s torment while tightening the reigns around the gilded cage Halima trapped me in. There was no escape,

Pathetic.

Useless.

Pitiful.

I couldn’t cover my ears. The dark was too loud. Air was knocked out of my lungs, the area enclosing around

1. me. It wanted me to die.

Failure.

Well, I did fail. My beloved Kiya surrendered to darkness, and it was my job to safeguard her heart and soul. Together, we fought the demons lingering in the corners of her mind daily. I’m her anchor and her guardian. If the human strays, the wolf pulls them back into the light because we can’t bear to lose them. As much as Kiya needed me, I needed her as well.

Alone in the darkness, punished by being unable to hear the rich melody of her voice summoned a broken howl from the ocean of my despair. My body shook from the chill of her absence and the silence reckoning in my mind was murderous. I wanted Kiya. I needed Kiya.

I…I miss her so much.

With every attempt I made to reach her, I met an impassable block. Once, twice, thrice; I never stopped trying to connect with her, ignorant to the looming fear that Kiya might be lost to me. Are we lost to Selene as well?

Growling with tears blotting my vision, I threw my body at the steel–like bars for the thousandth time like at ball in a batting cage. My body ached, my bones ached, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was getting to Kiya. The darkness snickered, enjoying the spectacle of a caged animal attempting to escape. Snickers grew to echoing laughter, advising me to give up the fight.

I admit, shamefully, that surrendering had crossed my mind a few times when the darkness and the pain became too much. One could only withstand this amount of horror for so long before it destroys them. But

1/5

I’m not like anyone else. I refused to give up, so if that meant breaking my body until I’m out, then I never needed my bones, anyway!

And I was rewarded for my efforts.

High above me, as I recovered from my recent hurdle, a strip of white light broke through the darkness. Shaped like an angel with celestial wings. Rippling laughter fell to silence. The light warmed a patch of my fur, and it uttered three basic words that revitalized the lambent hope in my heart.

Don’t give up!

The light grew bigger and suddenly I was cased in warmth from all angles–from the tip of my ears to my paws, repairing my injured soul and invigorating my determination. Over time, the light intensified by the familiar warmth of two people, doubling in size. At that moment was when I felt the fleeting sparks of the sacred bond. The missing piece of my heart. I grabbed onto the fading sensation, growling with newfound hope.

Now, anything was possible!

I’m on my

budged! Again; the bars weakening under the holy light. On the third try, the door swung open, and I rolled out like a log. Finally!

paws and took off running to where I last saw Kiya and Halima. The makeshift pond. The light guided my way, fading behind thick wisps of black as it gradually took over

pounded my paws against the ice as hard as I could, more cracks sprouting from the impact. “I’m here! I’m coming!” After a couple more hits, the ice shattered and separated, revealing the murky waters rippling underneath. Pushing chunks of ice from the hole I made, I sucked in a sharp breath and plunged into the deep

searched long and low for Kiya. The fleeting sensations of our bond were my guide, pulling me to where my human was. The waters threatened to consume me as it did to Kiya, grabbing onto my legs, but I pulled away.

the black. I padded faster than I ever done before and when I got close enough to Kiya; I bit on the collar of her shirt and swam to the surface, dragging her

with me.

we reached the surface, coughing and wheezing along with Halima who shook in the woman’s arms. I barred my teeth in a

a:

small smile awakening on her face as she panted.

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broke through the icy surface of the black pond and grabbed hold of Kiya’s legs. Halima shrieked and Kiya screamed as they were

“Artemis!”

Kiy

like a belt. Screams for Artemis burned my throat as I used one arm to grip onto my inner child and the other to reach out

onto my arm, teeth sinking deep into my skin as she

forward, my limbs screaming for relief. Blood dripped from my arms from the wounds she created with her teeth, but I didn’t mind. I found comfort in Artemis‘ electrifying cyans, refusing to give me up to the darkness again. Through the pain, her love for me seeping into

could for me. Her growls saturated with determination and resolve echoed through the space between us. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. After I surrendered into the darkness, she shot out like a bullet

back into her.

her. I

Go!” She shouted through her snarls. I know she

hopeless until

of light danced with the strands of her snowy fur like lovers on the dancefloor before sinking into her flesh, steadily transforming her into a silver silhouette. Artemis, catching on to the spectacle,

wolf shifted

The hand slackened its hold and retreated to its domain after ribbon of light shot at it like a lightning bolt. I

look down at Halima to see she is unharmed.

and Artemis wasn’t there anymore. A mirror image of myself emerged, except the image adorned white glowing hair instead of black and piercing blue eyes instead of brown. Everything else, from

wounds decorating my skin. Blues reflected in gentle sadness as I allow her soothing

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woman in hushed awe, perching herself on my

said, thumbs wiping the blood away.

asked, perplexed. She arched an eyebrow and nodded, confirming her

me.” A charming smile appeared on her lips. She cupped my cheeks, gentle and loving, “I have

the hug but squeezing me tight, rubbing her cheek on the top of my head. My heart soared with sheer happiness to feel my other half

I separated, I look down to see Halima lingering less than a foot from us, averting her gaze from us with her bear in her arms. Uneasiness

whispered, bowing her head. “You’re mad at me because of what

her, our knees touching. My hand gripped her shoulder, urging her to look up at me. Tears

was for me to hear her. To be with her. She hated any interference in what she wanted because her desires were always denied. Trapped in a blackened world with only a teddy bear to talk

firm. “I’m not angry at you,

you telling me