Unbreathing.
I grasped Seren’s hands with my own. Hers were so cold where mine burned hot. “Seren, wake up!”
Voices drifted toward me, but I could not make out the words.
My heart pounded too quickly, almost painfully as it attempted to leap from my chest. The sound of blood rushing in my ears only heightened my fear.
“Seren!” I repeated, louder. I gathered her into my arms, pressing her face to my shoulder. Burying my face in her neck. “Please, wake up.I need you.”
Tears tracked over my cheeks, which had paled with distress. They dripped off my chin and landed in Seren’s hair. One thought came to me, startlingly clear, that I did not want to go on without her.
Seren needed to wake up. She had a kingdom to protect, enemies to vanquish, and a man who loved her. Because I did, despite all of my denials and every moment when I had tried to push her away.
I loved her.
I needed her to be okay. I wanted to tell her how I felt. I wanted a life with her.
The council would not approve, that remained true, but holding her still form in my arms, I no longer cared. I would do anything for her, and I would burn the world to be by her side.
I stroked my hands over her soft hair, down the smooth line of her shoulders. I breathed her in, so comforting and familiar. “Please, Ren. You can’t leave me. I won’t let you.”
Hands clasped my shoulder. I shook them off.
“I love you,” I whispered into her cool skin. “I’ll do anything.”
Fingers caressed my face, warm and buzzing with energy as they brushed my tears away. Her breath stirred against my chest, and I pulled back just far enough to look into her bewildered gaze. I let out a shaky cry of relief, pulling her firmly against me.
Her arms wound around my neck, letting me hold her as I sobbed in relief.
“I thought you were dead,” I admitted in a broken voice.
“I’m right here,” Seren assured me, hands rubbing soothingly across my back. “I’ll always come back.”
My own words from her mouth.
I nodded, cheek rubbing against hers before finally pulling away. Seren lifted her hands, and they glimmered in the growing light of day.
“Ayla?” She asked, searching behind me for her cousin, who was rousing slowly.
Théo knelt by her, easing her up to a sitting position.
The cousins smiled when they found each other, hands reaching. When their hands clasped, finger to finger and palm to palm, a flashof brilliant light burst between them, bathing the clearing in silver and gold.
“It worked,” Théo marveled, looking between the two women with awe. “You were successful in the ritual.”
“The Goddesses gave us their tests and deemed us worthy. Our mágik should be strong enough to protect Acsilla,” Seren confirmed, rising to stand on steadier legs than mine.
I could not stop staring at her, so grateful that she was alive—that I did not have to attempt to live in a world where she no longer existed.
Seren looked at me, studying my expression, and I did not mask my feelings. I let the love and fear and joy show through.
No more masks.
I loved her, and I would find a way to be hers forever.
Chapter fifty-six
Ayla
