The war isn't over. Dmitri is still out there. More battles are coming.
But in this moment, none of that matters.
In this moment, we’re alive, togher, and in love.
And that's enough.
22
AMBROSE
Iwakethreedaysafter we successfully defended Phoenix Sanctuary, and my body feels like it belongs to someone else. Someone older. Someone who's paid too many prices and is only now realizing the full cost.
The room is dim, curtains drawn against afternoon light that would hurt my eyes. Rumi is beside me, his golden wings draped across my chest like a blanket made of living warmth. His divine essence hums against my skin, and I realize he's been feeding his power into me while I slept. Trying to heal what can't be healed.
I love him for it. Even though it won't work.
My contracts are quiet for the first time in days. Not silent, never silent, but the screaming alarms have faded to manageable whispers. Sitting up is a mistake I regret immediately. Every muscle aches like I've been beaten. My head pounds with theecho of power spent too freely. And when I look at my hands, the truth I've been avoiding stares back at me.
They're older. Not dramatically, not decades, but enough. Fine lines that weren't there before the battle. A slight tremor that has nothing to do with exhaustion and everything to do with the fifteen years I burned through in a single contract.
Worth it, I tell myself. Everyone survived. That's worth any cost.
But the whisper in the back of my mind, the one that sounds suspiciously like my mother, asks: How many more times can you pay that price before there's nothing left?
"You're awake." Rumi's voice is soft, relieved. His golden eyes open, and I see the worry he's been carrying written in every line of his face. "You've been unconscious for three days. We were starting to think..."
He doesn't finish the sentence. Doesn't have to.
"Takes more than a few contracts to kill a Crossroads Keeper," I manage, though the words scrape out rough, barely a whisper. "Just needed to rest."
"Bullshit." Rumi sits up, his wings folding back against his spine. The black threads in his golden aura are more visible than usual, writhing with anxiety. "You aged, Ambrose. We can all see it. Jade won't stop pacing. Stellan keeps manifesting fire without meaning to. Harlow has been watching your death-signature for three days straight, terrified it would fade. And Skye..." He swallows hard. "Skye hasn't slept. He's been handling everything while you were unconscious, and he's running himself into the ground because he can't stand not being able to help you."
Guilt coils tight in my stomach. I didn't mean to worry them. I just did what needed to be done.
"The students are safe," I say, because that's what matters. "Phoenix Sanctuary held. No casualties on our side."
"And you think that makes it okay? That protecting everyone else means you can just sacrifice yourself piece by piece?" Rumi's voice cracks with emotion. "We're supposed to be mates, Ambrose. That means sharing burdens, not carrying them alone until they crush you."
Before I can respond, the door opens and my other mates pour through. Stellan is there before anyone else, his fire blazing bright with relief, the heat reaching me from across the room. Jade is right behind him, demon form fully manifested, purple eyes scanning me like he's checking for damage he might have missed. Harlow phases solid the moment he's close enough to touch me, his cold fingers wrapping around my wrist to feel my pulse. And Skye...
Skye looks terrible. Dark circles under his eyes. power flickering with exhaustion. He's been carrying everything while I was unconscious, and it shows.
"You're awake." His voice is barely a whisper. "Thank Mother Nature, you're awake."
Three strides and he's on me, his mouth finding mine in a kiss that tastes like desperation, like he's been drowning and I'm air. Everything he's been holding back for three days crashes into me. The terror of watching me collapse. The helplessness of not being able to heal me. The guilt of needing my contracts even when using them is killing me.
"I'm okay," I murmur against his lips. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"You'd better not." Jade crowds in close, his warmth pressing against my side. "Because if you die on us, I'll find a way to drag you back from whatever afterlife Harlow's boss sends you to, and then I'll kill you myself."
Despite everything, I laugh. It hurts my throat and makes my head pound, but it feels good. Normal. Like maybe I haven't broken something irreparable after all.
That's when my contracts start screaming again.
Not the warning whispers I've grown used to. Full alarms, the kind I set up to monitor the other reformed academies. The kind that only activate when something catastrophic happens.
"No." The word tears out of me as I reach for the monitoring threads, pulling information through connections that cost me another week of life just to maintain. "No, no, no..."
