Sam gazed down at his perfect match, and his heart soared, knowing she was his, but when his father covered his mouth and looked away, terror filled him.
“What else?” Sam demanded. “What are you not telling me?” Nothing came easy for him, and he should have known this would be no different.
“Son,” his father said, clearing his throat. “You cannot stay in the realms. You agreed to the stipulations of coming here, and you put everyone in danger.” His dark eyes trailed to Anastasia. “And you broke the cardinal rule. Moira will not allow you to stay.”
Moira was the Fate of Aravoth. She controlled the destiny of every being in the kingdom and all realms under its jurisdiction.
Sam’s heart shattered into a million pieces when he realized the implications. One had to petition their kingdom’s Fate for permission to leave the aether. Moira granted him leave under two conditions: no one could know what he was, and he was never to use his true power. He did both on top of granting life to the dead.
When he saw Anastasia dying on the floor, he no longer had control of himself, and when she whispered her final words, heunleashed his power. If not for his father’s arrival, trapping Sam’s power with his own, the realms would no longer exist.
“May I say goodbye?” he asked in a broken voice, unable to look his father in the eye.
His father’s power receded, and Sam stood with his mate in his arms to say goodbye to the only true friends he’d ever known.
55
The darkness surrounding Sam disappeared,and Caius reached for Rory again, tucking her into his side. The threat against her died with Gedeon, but he needed her close after seeing her chained to a wall and tortured within an inch of her sanity.
Sam stood with the maid in his arms, and beside him was a man the same size as him, with jet-black wings covering his face, leaving only his mouth and black eyes exposed. Two large black wings protruded from his back, and another set of wings covered his legs. The skin on his arms and chin was white as snow, and Caius stared in awe.
“Aemas,” he concluded with certainty.
TheSeraphtipped his head. “Umbra King.” He turned to Lauren and held out his arms with a fatherly smile. “Jophiel.”
“Old man,” she drawled, stepping into his embrace.
Aemas’ laugh shook the room, startling the others. “Lora misses you.”
Sadness flickered across Lauren’s features as she stepped back. “Give her a hug for me.”
Dume leaned over and whispered, “Who is Aemas, and why did he call herJophiel?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Rory shrugged out of Caius’ hold and trotted across the room toward Sam. “Is she alive?”
The others in the room watched with bated breaths. They all saw what she did for Rory and her family. This complete stranger freed Cora’s soul, and if she died, Rory would mourn her like a loved one, and Caius ached at the thought.
The woman stirred in Sam’s arms and looked at him with groggy eyes.
His mouth curled into a tender smile. “Anastasia.”
Rory stared at the soft expression on theAngel’sface with a look of awe. They’d never seen him act this way before.
“Commander,” Anastasia replied with a wry smile of her own.
Caius saw something pass between them, and he knew something was wrong.
“I heard everything,” she told Sam. “I couldn’t wake up, but I could hear you.”
Sam’s eyes closed, and his agony hit them like a wave, almost knocking Caius to his knees again. Anastasia looked around, realizing they weren’t alone, and gestured for Sam to put her down. He reluctantly lowered her to the ground, and she smoothed her bloody dress with a nervous smile.
It was then Caius noticed blood on the sides of her face, hands, and bottom of her dress. That blood couldn’t be from her chest, and he dreaded to know whose it was.
“I’m Stassi.”
Rory crashed into her, throwing her arms around her shoulders, whispering something in her ear. Stassi hugged her back, nodding at whatever she said.
One by one, the rest of the group approached her, introducing themselves and thanking her for her selfless act as Sam stood beside her like a watchdog.
