Lessia stared at him for a moment, really took in his dark, silver-flecked eyes. His hair blowing in the wind. His wide shoulders and straight back. His strong jaw and sharp cheekbones. His own defiance forming his features into those of a soldier.
And she knew. She knew he didn’t mean to another realm—to search for those other queens.
Lessia swallowed against the lump in her throat. “Are you sure?”
Merrick’s smile didn’t waver. “Of course I am sure. Of you? I am always sure.”
When he opened his arms, Lessia stepped right into them, letting him hold her there, shielding her from the world.
Merrick. He was everything. Her rock, her light, her love. Her mate. Her friend. Her lover. Her protector. Theone who’d put her together, and made sure she would never break again. He’d once vowed to her that he’d never allow darkness to reign, and… he’d kept that promise.
Because despite the night wrapping around them, she saw so clearly now.
They remained there, holding on to each other as the drums swelled, until the mare they’d ridden neighed—a worried, frightened sound that would have made Lessia jump if Merrick hadn’t kept her steady.
As she turned her gaze from his chest, she found dozens, if not hundreds, of snakes rising over the tall green grass surrounding the house, their eyes locked on hers. They all looked like the serpent she’d asked to protect her friends, and even before they hissed at her, then turned toward the water, heading for the cliff reaching north, Lessia instinctively lifted a hand.
They’re saying goodbye.Aixle scoffed as he leaned against the doorframe, his eyes fixed on Merrick.I shall not. I will come to this last fight. Safe travels.
With that, he slammed the door behind him, and Merrick held her closer yet as he whispered, “He never allowed us to say goodbye before battle. Didn’t think it was good for morale.”
Lessia tried for a smile as she looked up at the male she loved so much, she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t combusted from it already. “Do you think I am giving up?”
Leaning down, Merrick pressed a soft kiss against her lips. “Never,” he whispered.
“I wish I could do it.” Lessia fought tears now.
Tears for what she was giving up. For what she was doing not only to herself, but to him—to them. But deepwithin her, there was something… something burning that refused to be snuffed out, and she knew, she just knew, she must do this. “I wish I?—”
“Listen to me.” Merrick’s hands went to her cheeks. “I know why you can’t, Elessia. I fell for you because you are a fighter. I knew what being with you meant. And do you know what?” He tilted her face so their noses brushed. “There is not one part of me that is disappointed. I love you. All of you. And I will be by your side as we win this war. And after… we’ll figure it out. We always do.”
“B-but what if there is no after?” Her words barely carried over the drums on the wind.
“There is,” Merrick simply said. “Perhaps our fate is as dark as it is delicate, but what I do know is that it isourfate. Think about the souls hidden around us. Think about Solana. Thissian. My parents. We will always be together, Lessia. It’s just how it is.”
She knew he believed it, and… if he could, then so could she.
So Lessia nodded, allowing Merrick to pull her with him down a steep hill until water hitting stone mingled with the sound of drums, the sound of the snakes slithering on their sides until they dove without hesitation into the sea, and the sounds of blades of grass rubbing together in what felt like a whispered farewell.
She could see the ships now. On the horizon, an armada traveled with sails in colors of green and brown, the wood from which they were made so dark that it appeared almost black against the darkening sky.
“How?” Lessia’s heart sank as she watched every inch of the line connecting the sky and the sea fill with more andmore ships.
How…
How would they get to their friends in time?
How would they survive an attack of that many?
How did one keep hope in a world that seemed bent on destroying itself?
“Look up,” Merrick said gently.
It was good he held on to her still because Lessia’s knees went out when she did as he asked.
Before her rows and rows of wyverns spread out, their colorful scales glittering against the dark water and their eyes all locked on hers, but not in the suspicious way they had when she first met them.
There was warmth in every gaze now. And that strange feeling… the one she’d felt in the tavern for the first time slammed into her with such force she expelled a sharp breath.
