Dyna leaned into his palm. “I have already forgiven you, Cassiel. I forgave you the moment I realized why you did what you did. It wasn’t because you gave up your wings for me in both of our lifetimes. It’s because I finally understand how much you love me.”
“I do.” He brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I think far more than I can understand.”
Dyna curled against his chest and rested her head over his heart. It was her comfort, he realized. To hear it beat in time with her own. He held her there, brushing his lips against her temple and stroking patterns on her back as he wondered where their path would go from here.
“I have something for you.” Dyna climbed off him. She went into the room briefly before returning with a rectangular box wrapped in brown paper. Taking a breath, she brought it to him and sat beside him again. “This is a gift from your father. He entrusted it to me before… he said it was for your birth-date.”
On top was an envelope addressed to him, sealed with a white wax seal embossed with the sigil of Hilos.
But he couldn’t make himself take it.
Dyna placed the box on the table and brushed his arm. “You don’t have to open it yet. It will be waiting for you whenever you are ready.”
“I wonder what he would think of my deeds and my failures. I wish to have a shred of his wisdom now that I am in dire need of it.” There wouldn’t be a voice to guide him now. All Cassiel had left of his father was this box, and that was a hard truth to bear. “When a High King dies, all the Realms gather in Hilos the next day for a funeral. But I didn’t go, because I didn’t want that to be my last memory of him.” He swallowed back the tightness in his throat, ashamed of himself for not honoring his father. He laid back on the sofa, and Dyna curled up beside him. “When I left you, I dove into the sky and held my breath until I couldn’t breathe. I was lost for what felt like hours in the void, searching for something to pull me from this. All I found was my pain staring at me, daring me to fight back. But pain was all I have known, so I let it feed and consume me. Then I truly was alone in a darkness of my making. The only way out was to convince myself that my father lived. He had to be alive, because if he wasn’t, it meant I was the reason he died. And it meant … I couldn’t save you either.”
Dyna buried her face in his chest and held him tight.
“Everything feels different. I am different…” Cassiel lifted his hand and only a thin layer of blue flame coated his fingers. “My fire has dimmed to embers, to a point I hardly feel it at all. The wrathful need for destruction is gone, the compulsion is gone, and perhaps my divine blood, but none of those things made me a good king and much less of a good mate. Perhaps I was meant to lose a wing. It’s my penance for my wrongs.”
Like doing the same to his own brother.
“But you loved to fly...” she said brokenly, silent tears falling. “I am sorry I wasn’t there to protect what I vowed to protect. I am so sorry I put you in a position where you had to make that choice.”
Cassiel took her hands in his and traced his thumb over her ring. “Lev sheli,I can bear a future without flying, but not one without you. I would tear off my other wing if it meant saving your life again. You already saved mine. Before the keep. Before the bond. Before this life. You werethe light in the darkness. You were there when no one else was. When I least deserved it. I have loved you from the beginning of this world, and it was agony when I lost you. I only ask that you outlive me, so I never have to live another day like that again.”
She cried harder, and he silenced her with a kiss. Cassiel couldn’t withstand her apologizing when it was he who could never find all the ways he needed to apologize to her.
If that day comes, I will make the same promise to you that you made to me.Dyna closed her eyes and breathed him in, branding their souls with another vow.I will find my way to you, kohav. In every lifetime.
He kissed the tears from her lashes, then kissed her lips, holding her close until they were both warm. Soft currents ran along his skin wherever they touched, and their True Bond thrummed. Linking their fingers together, Cassiel opened himself to her soul. He surrendered himself as the electrifying colors of green and gold filled his vision.
Perfect. It was perfect.
They didn’t make it to the bed that time, or the time after that.
But neither had any complaints. The bond danced to their song as he willingly lost himself in her again, because there was nothing else he cared about but this.
Cassiel dozedwith Dyna on a mound of blankets in front of the hearth, listening to her breathe as the rhythm of her heartbeat moved through his soul. They were safe here in Sellav, where they could ignore the rest of the world, but only for now. Dangers waited past the mountain. He would be ready for them this time.
Dyna woke in his arms as a new morning shone into the room.
Her green eyes blinked sleepily at him, and her brow furrowed. “I can hear you plotting,kohav. Before you attempt to change my mind, you should know I will not let you face Raziel alone.”
He cracked a smile “Well,ahuvati?—”
“No.” Sat up on her knees, letting the sheets fall. “Don’t attempt to delude me with your sweet nothings. I have already decided to face this with you. It’s not only you and me anymore. It’s us. Whatever comes our way, we will fight together. And if…” She took a breath. “If I die again?—”
“Dyna.” He placed a finger on her lips. “I was going to say, what do you have in mind? For I have every intention of facing every trial of our lives with you.”
She searched his eyes. “You mean it?”
“I am finished attempting to control you merely for the sake of my sanity. I made that mistake once before, and it cost me everything. It will never happen again.” Running his fingers up her side, she shivered, her breath catching as he trailed his nose up her neck and nipped her skin. “If you’ve not yet surmised, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Hmm. Would you shave your head if I asked?”
Cassiel nodded in all seriousness. “Of course, after my period ofaveilutends. I will shave my eyebrows for you as well.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “How about Zev’s tail?”
