He drops a kiss on the elf's head. She gives me a little wave, then disappears back into the bedroom, taking the other two kin with her.
"Something's different about her, Viv. Odd little kin," the kin man who had scrutinized me mutters.
"Takes one to know one," Viv teases with a shrug, snapping the door shut behind them.
"Well, what's so urgent that you came here at—" he glances at the clock over the microwave "—three-thirty in the morning?"
I shift from foot to foot. "Um, you know, end of the world shit. I could use a lift. I'll pay. Whatever's in my bank account is yours."
The fae cocks his head and studies me, midnight blue eyes narrowed. "You're in trouble."
"Trouble doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm about to renege on a deal with Khadyr Blackmore because I can't let what I stole for him fall into his hands."
"You're working for Khadyr fucking Blackmore?" he demands.
"Spare me the lecture. I already got it from the two demonkin I had to leave behind."
He sighs heavily. "Where are you headed?"
"Burial mound in Wales."I dig out my phone and show him the location of Iradil's tomb on the GPS. "Is that good enough for your portal magic?" I wiggle my fingers meaningfully.
"Sufficient."
He draws a few arcane symbols in the air and then a rip appears before me in their penthouse, the familiar Welsh countryside sprawling as far as I can see inside it.
"I'm not taking your money for a simple portal, Lucy."
I shrug. "Donate it then. Shadow House would be my pick." Because where I’m going, money doesn’t matter. Hells and elven bells, the money never mattered beyond what it could do for Aron and the kids. Just one more piece of a life I never cherished quite enough about to be left behind.
"You're not coming back."
"No," I confirm, and step through the portal.
* * *
I stumbleout of Vhalar’s portal into a world of light. The ground around the mound is covered in a thin layer of icy snow, and the morning sun catches every flake, making the countryside sparkle. My breath puffs in the chill air as I take it in. Everything glitters as far as I can see. It's the perfect last sight of a world I'm not ready to leave behind.
I duck into the shadows inside Iradil's tomb, and the stone covering seals behind me, casting me into total darkness. The seven shards in my chest shine from me like a beacon, lighting my way through the labyrinth.
The draugrs stir from their slumber and bow to me just as they had before. Do they sense I'm an agent of light, that I'm doing what I can to protect the sun shards for their Light Bearer's return? I don't know if the undead demonkin are even capable of higher thought, but I bow my head to them as I pass. They cross their swords across the tunnel behind me, my last line of defense. Just as they were the last defense between Lux, Iradil, and the armies of darkness.
Iradil's towering form is spookier in the light of the shards, but I can see why he was Lux's captain, her most trusted guard. I wonder what he was like and regret that I never got to ask Yaelyn and Reznik.
I sweep some cobwebs away from a stone altar and hoist myself up onto it.
And I wait for my death.
It’s the only way I know how to protect the stones. To die with them in this tomb, away from Khadyr and his devious plans.
* * *
I'm talkingto my rack rocks like a certified loon (because I underestimated just how on edge waiting for my death would make me) when a sinister voice whispers through the darkest shadows in Iradil's tomb.
I jerk my head up to the demon captain, but he's as still as ever.
"Hello, Light Bearer," the voice says, more distinct now. More familiar.
No, it can’t be.
