Len rubbed a hand over his crystal covered hair. “Even worse, the surface hardened the moment you went under. Not even the full force of my power could break it.”
I hadn’t known that. There’d been other things on my mind as I fought a shadowy beast dragging me into the depths.
“The Faerie line was at the bottom,” I said. “Fate wanted me to land down there so I would find my memories. I don’t think anything could have stopped it.”
Len was nodding. “I believe you’re right, and I also believe that your body will have been freed the moment that task was complete. But if not, I’ll find you, I promise.”
“I know you will,” I replied. “Even better, we’ll find each other.”
Another of those weird but perfect kisses, and then we pushed our souls from the sphere back to the fire planet. Len took a moment to examine the massive outer structure of the Origin, eyes wide as he shook his head. “I never thought I’d see a source of creation. Look at the worlds.”
That was what all the images were. The worlds. And the other lines were connected to other worlds, all of which were missing their Origin gods, just as Faerie had been.
It was nearly impossible to believe, but after everything I’d learned being here, there was no other explanation.
We left after that, willing our essence along the golden line, and just as Len said, it was almost effortless. We were heading home.
The line grew brighter and brighter as we moved along it, and then when it was completely blinding, everything started to burn. When the pain was too much, a whimpering scream escaped me, and Len let out some curses, so I knew he was feeling it too.
I must have blacked out at some point during the somewhat painful rebirth, and when I came to I was not at the bottom of a coal quicksand pit, or naked as I’d been after my shift. Clothes had formed around me, black pants and a shirt, and I was hovering in the air beside a similar but much smaller sphere to the one on the fire world. This one was completely golden though, and I knew this was Faerie’s Origin of power.
My sphere.
Before I could think it through, I reached out and grasped the beaming golden cord at the top of the sphere, and through it I reconnected myself to Faerie. My severed line was restored, and the glamour fell away, like I was shedding clothes instead of power.
The darkness I’d been keeping at bay was gone. In its place: a shimmering power that connected right to Faerie. I could feel the world. The ebbs and flow of its energy. Energy I could tap into if needed.
“Holy gods,” I cried, my skin glowing so golden it was almost blinding.
Along with the cord to Faerie, I could also feel my mate as if he was right at my side, even though he was standing on a crystal-covered ground with our pack, skin illuminated like those crystals he’d worn in the fire world were now embedded in the surface.
Energy expanded between us.Mate.
He heard me, and I felt his amusement.Someone found her power.
The power and memories had returned. Now I truly understood how painful my decision had been to cast the glamour. It had almost destroyed me at the time.
Thankfully, that memory was fuzzy, just as Sammia had advised.
“Yo!” The shout had my gaze returning to the crowd gathered below. Mera was the one who’d called out. “Anyone going to explain what the hell is happening?” she said, hand on her hips. “And why my sister is shedding light like a glowstick?”
As I decided to move closer, my newly released power kicked into gear, and I vanished to reappear right in the midst of them.Whoa, that was going to take some getting used to.
None of them jumped, but I didn’t miss Shadow angling himself in front of Mera. He wasn’t the only one, with the other males edging in front of their mates.
All the while, Len just smiled with this stupidly proud smile, and I felt like I was a fucking goddess for real under his gaze.
“She’s not dangerous,” he told them as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around me. His skin was smooth and silvery-gold once more, but there was definitely a glow of crystal on the surface. Neither of us had returned from the Great Origin unchanged, and it was exciting to know that we were moving up in the power scale.
Len lifted me against his body, hands under my ass as he held me like I was still Samantha, a mere shifter from Clarity. “It’s a long story, but she’s an Origin god, and we need to help her save Faerie.”
His lips crashed into mine, a kiss that we’d almost died and come back to experience. This time, our mate bond was strong and thrumming between us, a mix of gold and silver, shimmering in our energy. I could also taste him, that minty freshness, with the hint of sweet that was all Len.
This fae prince was the savior I never saw coming, bringing me out of my dark and lonely existence, and gifting me the most precious little girl. All we had to do now was ensure that Dalmia’s spell was destroyed so we had a chance for true happiness.
Our kiss lasted longer than we probably had time for, but what could I do—my mate was sexy as fuck.
A throat cleared nearby. “Did you all say that we needed to save the world?” Reece sounded both amused and exasperated.
