“I was too late.”
“You came. That’s what matters.” I reach up to touch his face, and he leans into my palm like a man starved for contact. “You came, and you never stopped. Never gave up. Never let go.” My thumb traces the curve of his cheekbone. “I’m only here now because you refused to forget me.”
The tension bleeds out of him in stages. His shoulders drop. His breath releases. And slowly, carefully, his arms come up to wrap around me—not holding, not grasping, just... surrounding. Offering shelter if I want it.
I step into his embrace. Let his shadows wrap around me alongside his arms. Let myself feel safe, even with the memory of betrayal still fresh and raw.
Behind us, I hear Selene and Aisling slip quietly from the room, leaving us alone with grief and the fragile beginning of something new.
“I’m sorry,” I say against his chest. “For hating you. For believing Lakhu’s lies. For trying to kill you when you were the only one who ever?—“
“Don’t.” His arms tighten around me. “You have nothing to apologize for. You believed what you were made to believe. The only one who owes apologies is dead, and I made sure of that.”
I laugh—a broken, wet sound. “That’s one way to handle a family dispute.”
“Dragons are efficient.” There’s a hint of dark humor in his voice. “He betrayed you. He died for it. Simple.”
I pull back just enough to look at his face, keeping my arms looped around his waist. The shadows crawl beneath his skin, but they seem quieter now. Less hungry. As if my fire is giving them something they’ve been missing.
And I remember this. Remember standing in his arms, feeling like the safest place in the world was right here. The old feeling slides into place alongside the new one I’ve been building—not replacing it, but merging with it. The woman I was loved this man. The woman I’m becoming loves him too.
“Lakhu is still out there.” I reach up to trace the line of his jaw, the gesture as natural as breathing. “He brought me back for a reason. Whatever he’s planning, he’s not going to stop just because I remembered the truth.”
“No. He won’t.”
“Good.” Something fierce rises in my chest—the part of me that set hedge mazes on fire and reduced scholars to tears and refused to bow to anyone. The part Lakhu tried to turn into a weapon but couldn’t quite break. “Because I owe him for what he did to me. For the lies. For making me hate the one person who tore through an army to reach me.”
Zyphon’s hands settle on my hips, pulling me closer. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a promise.” I rise on my toes and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “He wanted a weapon? He’s going to get one. Just not the kind he expected.”
His fingers tighten on my hips, and something dark and satisfied flickers in his expression. “There she is.”
He dips his head to brush his lips against mine—soft, unhurried, like we have all the time in the world. “The one who made me laugh for the first time in decades. I was wondering when she’d show up.”
“She’s been here the whole time.” I slide my hands up his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath my palms. “Just buried under death and a few weeks of really excellent manipulation.”
“Lakhu is going to regret resurrecting you.”
“That’s the plan.” I pull him down for a proper kiss—deep and thorough and full of all the things I’m not ready to say out loud yet. When I finally break away, we’re both breathing harder. “But first, I think I need to eat something. Apparently emotional breakdowns are exhausting.”
He laughs—a real laugh, rusty from disuse but genuine. “I’ll have food brought up.”
“Or we could go down to the hall.” I take his hand, threading my fingers through his. “Let the others see I’m not falling apart anymore. Show them the Fire-Bringer sisterhood put me back together.”
“And show them you’re mine?” His thumb traces circles on the back of my hand.
“Show them we’re each other’s.” I squeeze his fingers. “There’s a difference.”
The look he gives me is soft in a way I don’t think he shows anyone else. “Yes. There is.”
We walk out of his chambers, hand in hand, and I don’t look back.
Lakhu wanted to forge me into a weapon against the Brotherhood. He’s about to learn what happens when weapons turn in your hand.
TWENTY-THREE
ZYPHON
