“What do you mean?” The words left Merrick before he could stop himself, but he could feel the same question echoing within Lessia, so he continued staring at the strange version of his friend.
“The gods, as you call them, were Fae. Strong Fae, but Fae all the same.” Kerym’s glowing eyes left Merrick’s to land on Lessia, and while the softness of his expression should have calmed Merrick, it only made him more apprehensive.
There was… sorrow in the lines of Kerym’s face.
“Queen of Death. Your life hasn’t been an easy one. And the paths you now face won’t be either. You will have to make impossible choices, child. Ones I don’t envy you, but that are required for one with such power.”
Kerym’s gaze moved back to Merrick’s for a moment. “Your mate was right when he once told you magic is but a power to be molded by its wielder. It’s a gift from your soul. From the earth. From darkness and light. From the source you need. A gift that you should cherish and respect. Don’t fear it, child.” Kerym’s mouth thinned into a line before he continued. “The ones you call gods warped what was meant as a blessing. They took more than they were allowed. They abused the balance, shifting it into their favor, playing with the lives of others.”
“How?” Soria whispered. “How could they do that?”
“That I won’t speak of.” That eerie voice remained gentle as it directed the response to the witch. “Such actions shall never be repeated. Never learned. Never imitated.”
“Is… is that why I came back?” Lessia asked, stepping even closer to Merrick, until her hammering heart beat against his chest. “Is that why Merrick could bring me back from death?”
Kerym nodded. “When the balance of the world hangs by a thread, the veiled queens shall rise. The ones who understand the power of a name and abandon it all the same. The ones who’ve learned that sacrifice is necessary. The ones who are willing to do whatever they can in the name of love. Because love… it’s the purest form of magic. And only those who’ve truly felt it—who’ve understood that love can ruin or sustain—will be able to save their worlds.”
Merrick’s mind raced with all this new information, but even though a million questions flickered through his thoughts, there was one?—
“What you search for, Guardian of Death… it doesn’t exist in Havlands yet.” The soft smile on Kerym’s face faded with each slowing thump of Merrick’s cracking heart. “No queen may rule alone. Like earth needs water, like darkness needs light, a queen needs her mirror—the life to her death.”
“She needs her equal,” Pellie said slowly. “She needs the one ‘who clings to life’ like she needs the one who came from death. If not… neither shall live.”
The silence was deafening.
“How much time do we have?” Merrick demanded, taking a step toward his friend and ignoring Soria’s and Pellie’s outraged hisses at his tone.
“Not long,” Kerym responded, apparently oblivious to rage rushing through the Death Whisperer’s veins. “This world is more broken than I thought. More fragmented. It’s… it’s not how it was supposed to be. I wish I could give you more time. But… you should follow your instincts, Merrick. And so should you, Elessia. They’ve led you here—they’ll lead you onto the right path.”
Merrick ground his teeth, the hand not holding Lessia’s moving to his chest and clenching the letters there. He’d clung to a small hope that they wouldn’t be needed, but the urgency echoing in him told him it had been in vain.
His eyes collided with Lessia’s sad ones, and somehow, he knew what this wonderful, selfless creature would ask next.
“What will happen to them? To the souls?” Lessia asked. “When… If…”
Merrick closed his eyes even though the love of his fucking life didn’t finish that sentence. He’d asked himself the same question several times—what wouldhappen to the barrier, to the souls, when he died. But not because he wasworriedabout them.
Not even now. Not even knowing his parents were amongst them could he care.
Because the only thing that mattered to him now had a tear sliding down her face, and not because she was dying. Because he and Lessia were dying. He could hear it in that thing’s tone.
“They go where you go. Like they always have,” Kerym responded, but it wasn’t the vague fucking response that had Merrick’s eyelids fly open.
It was Soria and Pellie’s gasp.
It was the hand on his cheek.
It was the presence he could feel all around him.
All around them were those souls again—leaning against shelves, sitting atop the tables spread out, standing beside them—their faces soft, their whispers gentle, and closest to him… his parents. Thissian holding hands with… Tears sprang in Merrick’s eyes when he realized Thissian’s mate beamed at him.
Even seeing their kind eyes, worry knitted in his gut, and he was about to tug on the magic when he realized…
Merrick’s eyes found Lessia’s again, and there was no tiredness in her amber ones, no blood snaking down her nose, and so he turned to Kerym once more.
“I will give you a few minutes with them. It’s… it’s what I can offer you,” Kerym said softly, and fuck, it cracked open Merrick’s heart because he understood what the despair breaking through the words was for.
This was an offer to say goodbye.
