Wantednothing if he didn’t have her by his side.
Tilting his face toward the sky, Daemon let out a guttural scream and unleashed the power that coursed through his veins. Waves of shadow washed across the field, barreling into any enemy that remained and leaving nothing but the husks of who they once were in their wake.
He didn’t want to live without her.
He couldn’t—wouldn’t—live without her.
Be still, my son. Remember that without darkness, there is no light.The velvety voice of his goddess slid into his mind; her words were followed by another he did not recognize.She has not left you, young king. Just as your shadows need the light, she needs darkness to shine.
“Daemon?” Piper’s voice was watery, her steps hesitant as she cautiously closed the distance between them. “Daem—” His name was cut in half by a gasp, her steps faltering as her eyes undoubtedly landed on the lifeless body in his lap. “Oh my, goddess. Is that?Nononono.”
Piper’s sobs drowned in the background as he let himself sink further into his magic.
“This was not how our story was supposed to end,” he whispered through a sob, stroking his fingers along her cheek. “We were supposed to have what they couldn’t. We were supposed tolive.”
Daemon began unstrapping the blood-streaked armor from her body and tossed it to the side with a heavy clang. Her tunic was singed from where her lightning had wrapped around her limbs, and dirt was mixed with the sweat and blood on her face, but other than that, she was perfect. His arms shook as he pulled her further into his lap, cradling her against his chest as ribbons of shadows wrapped around them.
“Daemon,” Piper choked out. “What—what are you doing?”
Resting his brow on hers, he whispered, “I love you, Auraelia. I have loved you from the very first time I saw you across that stupid ballroom. And I will love you until the stars fall from the sky. But I will not live without you.”
As he pressed his lips to hers, Daemon released the final hold he’d kept on his power. Let it flow out of him and into Auraelia until the world around him disappeared in a veil of stars and shadows.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Piper
Piper’s tears had long since dried in the week since the battle that had taken so many. But the arguments of what had transpired on the field that day had only grown.
Accusations had been hurled at Xander, questioning why he’d abandoned his sister when they thought she needed him most. Doubts over Ser Aeron’s healing abilities had been shared in hushed tones and shouted in crowded rooms.
It didn’t matter.
None of it mattered.
No one could have changed the outcome.
No thread could have been pulled to make it end another way.
She’d tried. Goddess, how she’d tried to see another ending for her friend. But only the Goddess Dalia knew how their story would end when all was said and done. All she could do was holdon to the hope that light would shine through the heavy gray clouds that shrouded the realm—clouds that seemed to grow darker with each passing day.
Piper adjusted her position in the armchair next to the bed. Hugging her legs to her chest, she rested her cheek on her knees as she watched the swirls of shadows dance around Auraelia and Daemon.
Pinpricks of light glimmered in the inky black depths of Daemon’s shadows, reminding her of how the stars drifted across the sky as the night wore on.
“Any change?” Xander asked as he draped a blanket around her shoulders. She hadn’t heard him enter. No vision came to show her the decisions he’d made. But then again, she hadn’t had a vision since she saw Auraelia’s body lying limp in Daemon’s arms, her skin streaked in crimson.
“None,” she said with a sigh. “They’ve been like this for a week now with no change. We don’t even know if either of them are alive, Xan. I can’t find their threads. I can’t even reach them totry. And believe me, I’ve tried, but Daemon’s fucking shadows block everything.” She angrily threw a hand out toward the bed, scowling into the star-flecked darkness that cloaked her friends.
“Hey,” Xander cooed, dropping to his knees before her. “You can’t take this on, Piper. You can’t control other people’s choices.”
“But I should be able to control my own magic!” Piper buried her head in her hands as tears began to fall. What was the point of being clairvoyant if the threads didn’t give her the answers she needed to save the people she loved? Auraelia was her chosen sister, the one constant in her life she could always count on. She was a piece of her soul, and that piece was gone. At least, that’s what it felt like. Watching Auraelia day in and day out with no change—no chance to even see if a soul was left in the body lyingswathed in shadows—had stolen a piece of her she didn’t think she would ever get back.
“My visions are gone, Xander. My power abandoned me when I needed it most. And I—” A sob caught in her throat, halting the words that had been swirling in her mind over the last week.
She’d failed to protect her queen, and it seemed her magic was failing her in response.
“Piper—”
