The bed was empty.
“No, where did he go?” she cried, searching the room. “You were supposed to watch him!”
“I’m sorry. I only stepped out for a moment!”
“Your Highness,” Yelrakel exclaimed, looking out of the open windows. “He’s outside.”
Dyna rushed over. In the grayness of early morning, she spotted him walking away from the estate toward the dynalya fields. Barefoot, his single, limp wing hanging down his back.
“Cassiel!” she called, but he didn’t stop.
He was leaving.
The last time they spoke, she had told him they were finished, and he was honoring her wishes. So he left again—without saying goodbye.
“Dyna, we are each born with our own fate,” Zev said behind her. “He’s yours. Go get him.”
That was all the encouragement she needed to climb out of the window and jump. Green Essence flared around her before she hit the ground, softening her fall. Stumbling to her feet, Dyna sprinted across the courtyard to flowering fields. But he had already disappeared on the other side of the hill.
No, she had to reach him.
She had to stop him.
Because after days of telling him to leave, she didn’t want that anymore. She never truly wanted that.
“Cassiel!” Dyna gasped, her voice hoarse. She slipped on the wet grass as she raced up the hill. She kept running, keeping her eyes on the sky turning pink and orange, praying and hoping that he had not left yet. “Cassiel!” Her cry echoed over the red fields. “Cassiel, wait!”
A form appeared at the top of the hill, and her heart swelled at the sight of him. The wind tugged at his long black hair, rippling across his white tunic. He blinked at her sudden appearance, staring at her in surprise. He was still here. She choked on a sob, slipping and sliding on the wet grass, reaching out to him with splayed fingers.
His silver eyes widened. “Dyna?—?”
She tackled him, and he caught her with anoomph. They fell backwards on the knoll together. His hands were warm on her waist and the back of her head.
Cassiel’s chest rose and fell against her ear. His heart, how perfect each solid beat sounded. “What?—”
“I don’t want you to go,” Dyna blurted breathlessly. She sat back on her heels and clutched his arms. “Please, don’t go.”
Cassiel blinked at her a moment, and his brows curled, his mouth parting with a faint breath. He searched her face with soft eyes, confusionembedded on his pallid features. The wind brushed against his single wing, and her face crumbled.
“I hated what you did to us,” she wept. “But in truth, you were hurting too, weren’t you? From the beginning, you were hurting so much. Yet I didn’t even try to see things from your perspective at all. I am so sorry. I know you’re afraid of me dying again, but that wasn’t because of you. Leaving doesn’t protect me, and staying won’t kill me. But you leaving…” She nodded through her tears. “That would kill me. When you were gone, I couldn’t breathe. Then when you were dying, I was ready to die with you. There is no living if you’re gone. I want to face this life with you because I love you.So much.So please don’t run away again. You’re not alone. Not anymore. Stay. With me.”
Cassiel’s silver eyes welled, and his warm hand cupped her cold cheek as he caught the tears rolling down her face. “Dynalya,” his voice broke. “I am not going anywhere. Each dawn was a reminder of a life without you. Every sunset held a silent wish for your voice. It took everything I had to walk away from you the first time. I don’t have the strength to ever do that again. Whatever darkness may come our way, I will be with you. Always.”
His promise fell over the withered threads of their bond, and it pulsed between them, trembling with faint light.
“I was wondering…” Dyna reached into her pocket and held out her palm to him. His silverHyalusring glinted in the morning. “Would you like to wear this again?”
Cassiel blinked at it. “When did you...?”
Through her blurred vision, she saw the realization cross his face. She had found his ring in her enchanted satchel months ago, right where he had left it. At the time, she thought it was simply another thing he had abandoned, until she finally understood. He couldn’t help but leave a piece of himself behind with her.
“Will you be mine again?” Dyna asked, her voice quivering.
Maybe because a part of her was still afraid to trust him again, but she had no reason to be. There was nothing but pure, devastating, world-shattering joy in his wet eyes.
Cassiel reached in his pocket and took out her small ring, the pair to his. She let out a wet, bubbly laugh. He had carried a piece of her with him, too.
His trembling reply came out hoarse. Breathless. “I never stopped being yours,lev sheli.”
