Endymion called for me, begging for me to stop as he railed against his magical restraints trying to reach me.
I couldn’t look at him. Not yet. The agony pulsing through our connection already taxed my resolve, and I had to drown it out if I wanted them to get out of this alive.
Slowly, Wymond unclipped his leather vest and let it drop to the floor before pulling his base layer over his head and letting it fall. I was vaguely aware of the lean muscles that stood out against his russet skin, and not for the first time I wondered how much his beautifully soft coloring was at such odds with the black soul that resided within it.
The sun had finally broken through the clouds—no doubt due to Wymond’s feeling of inevitable triumph.
I tilted my head up to the heavens and let the sun wash over me one last time.
When I open my eyes, I realized I’d been right. The colors of the stained-glass ceiling did cascade onto the mahogany ground like discarded leaves. The warm, rustic hues gave the grand space an ethereal quality to it. Something about it soothed me, as if the stars themselves rested a warm hand upon my shoulder.
“You remember how it’s done?” Wymond asked.
“It’s not something you forget,” I said dryly, turning my focus to him.
“You must yield fully.”
“I know, Wymond. They were my terms.”
He looked at me, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him unsure. “Okay, then,” he finally said and slowly turned his back to me as if waiting for me to attack him. Gods was it tempting, and while I had every reason to end him, there were bigger reasons not to.
I took a moment, looking to Tarrin. Then Sidrick. Then Artton. Their grief-stricken faces stared back at me, silently begging for me to change my mind. I wouldn’t. Not if it meant saving them. My fate had already been written. I looked past their anguish, smiling as I saw memories with them flash through my mind. Tears blurred my vision, and I blinked them away, wanting to see them clearly as I said my silent goodbyes.
I saw Tarrin teasing me as we picked berries.
“What is this? The two for me, one for you policy?” he asked, amused.
I grabbed another plump raspberry and popped it into my mouth. As I was chewing, I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s more like the five for me, one for you rule. See?” I asked, dramatically placing the tiniest raspberry I could find in the bowl.
“Your generosity is truly unmatched, lady.”
Then, it was Sidrick and Kaelun at the lake.
“Did you know my brother knew you were the spark before anyone else?” Kaelun declared.
“Is that true?” I asked, looking to Sidrick.
“It is. I knew the second I laid eyes on you in the king’s receiving room before Artton and I valenned the three of you to the solstice.”
“How?” I said, astonished.
“My magic. When it’s around you, I feel…”
“Whole,” Kaelun finished for his brother.
Sidrick leaned forward slightly to look at his brother. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ve struggled to find the right word. But whole describes it perfectly. Even more so, now that you’re fae.”
“That’s how I feel when I’m connected to the Mother,” I mused.
“I wonder if you feel that way with the Mother and we feel that way with you because our powers were never supposed to be separate,” Sidrick said.
Then, Artton. Gods, the winding road we’d taken to become friends—possibly family.
“Impressive,” Artton said. “Endymion claimed you were good, but I rather think he downplayed your skills.”
“Careful, Artton. That sounded an awful lot like a compliment.”
Wymond began the incantation, and I knew my time was running out.
