Then, the light dies. The memory curdles into despair.
Therin steps from the shadows—my twin...my curse.
“Why not me?” His voice cracks with desperation. He swings at me, a clumsy attempt meant to knock me back. I step aside, and his momentum carries him straight into Lumi.
Everything slows to a crawl. Her eyes widen, locked on mine. Her fingers reach out for us both, grasping at the thinning air.
“Caelen—”
And then she’s falling.
A scream tears from the depths of my soul, a sound of such raw devastation it should have brought down the whole fucking mountain. But it doesn’t, so I jump after her, without hesitation. For a fraction of a second, the snow stops being white and turns to ash.
Standing on the very edge of the cliff, watching us fall, is a figure that doesn’t belong in this memory. A knight. Encased in heavy armor. The sound of his movement is a steady, metallic grind—shhh-clink, shhh-clink—as if he’s carrying the weight of the whole world inside that suit of armor.
He doesn’t reach out to save us. He simply watches
“One of twelve,” a voice echoes through the visor of his helm. “The clock begins to turn.”
Just as quick as he appeared, he’s gone. The cliff vanishes. The sky opens, and snow rushes up to meet us. I reach for her—fingers stretching—desperate to catch her one last time before the end.
Our hands touch—a blue spark of fire in the freezing dusk—and then the world goes white.
I gasp, lungs burning as I slam back into the present. The clearing is back, and the scent of honeysuckles fills the air. Lumi is staring up at me, tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide with recognition.
“I remember,” she whispers. “I remember everything.”
“So do I.” My voice breaks. “Lumi—Naya—Saelûn?—”
“You—you jumped. You came after me.”
“I’ve always told you,” I choke out, pulling her so tight I can feel her heart beating like it’s my own. “I’ll follow you anywhere. Through the dark. Through the fire. Through death itself.”
“We’ve done this all before,” she breathes, raising her hand to stare at the moonstone ring on her finger. “We’ve loved each other before.”
“And we’ll love each other again.” I press my forehead to hers, my eyes falling shut as I feel her warmth bleed into me. “Forever, Naya. In every life. I will always find you.”
Behind us, Micah’s body still lies in the snow—the man who loved her first, and the man who lost her twice. My brother.
The clearing goes deathly silent, before the sudden roar of godfire explodes around us. The flames climb toward the sky like a beacon, turning from blue to a shimmering gold.
A tall figure steps through the fire—neither male nor female, but a composite of light and shadow.
A god.
The snow stops mid-air. I freeze, my grip on Lumi tightening as my instincts scream in the presence of something that once took her from me.
The god’s voice fills the clearing—as if it’s coming from everywhere at once.
“You remember now.”
52
Chapter 53
Andrik pov cont-
Lumi presses closer into my side, her trembling radiates through my own skin. I wrap my arms around her, a reflex of a man who spent over three thousand years losing her. I continue shielding her even though I know it’s useless. You can’t hide from a god. You can only endure them.
