“I wouldnothave acted the same.”
“I couldn’t help it. She didn’t come to me.” She only eagerly went to him, and the pain of that gouged deeply.
Soon, I’d start pacing, snarling, slamming my magic against the walls if only to reduce some of my stress. I’d rush to the door with a savage determination to seek her out, only to hold myself back.
“Do you hear her coming yet?” How forlorn I sounded. If nothing else, we drowned in our shared melancholy.
“Not so far.” His head tilted, and he frowned. “Wait. Maybe. Yessss. She’s coming to me. Tome.” This time, I could feel the heat, the utter satisfaction, the joy in his smile.
Envy clawed through me, and I allowed it to snap. “She’s only coming to you because you two are married.”
“She’s coming to me because I treat her as she deserves.” His own control cracked and pitched, stretching thin. “I don’t snarl. I don’t make her do anything she wouldn’t do freely. And that’s why she’s coming tome.”
“Yet she’ll findmewaiting.”
“Don’t—”
“You have no say in this, not now.” The nights were mine.
“Lorant.” The pleading in his voice struck through the jealousy and anger whipping around inside me.
“We’re together in this.” Unlike all the others. “Always. I mean it. I will not betray you.”
“Thank you.”
I could almost feel him shifting on the bed.
“You're ready?” His voice echoed in the room, and now Icouldhear it.
He flung back the blankets and eased off the bed, striding over to stand in front of the mirror.
There you are.
Don’t mess this up,he said in our mind.I’d hoped, when this time came, it would be me, but perhaps, in this, it should be you. I’m excited no matter what. Remember everything because I need to know.He stared into my—our—eyes.Please, give her what she needs. Don’t be mean.
I told you I’ll try.
Alright.His soft sigh bled out.
“It's yours,” he said into the mirror. It took us nearly ten years to discover we could actually see each other at dawn and at dusk as long as we could stare at the other’s image.
Another change with this generation of the Evergorne king. As far as I knew, no one else had figured that out.
Don’t do anything foolish,he said, his voice whisper soft. Fading.
The sun winked from view, and the change fell upon us.
He stretched and…
…Istretched, savoring taking over once more. The first time it happened, pain scorched through me. I’d dropped to the ground, curled into a tortured ball, and bellowed until I was hoarse. Now, it almost felt seamless, but that could be due to our age and the reality creeping closer.
In the mirror, Merrick’s face and body shimmered.
The sun cringed away from the night and candles lit themselves inside the blooming darkness, a magical trick I’d set in place years ago to ensure we could see each other until the last moment.
Merrick’s image no longer showed in the mirror. He’d become Lorant. The scar I’d received at ten gouged across my face. I’d added more through the years while Merrick remained almost untouched.
He was gifted with light.
