His lips meet mine and I lose myself again in the moment as everything else fades away. There’s only him and I and nothing more, and there’s nothing I want more than to stay here in his arms forever. Brushing his lips against my cheek, he glances over my shoulder, slowly lowering me to the ground.
Gods. Kairos. I slowly turn to face him, and the look in his eyes, on his face, it’s a look I’ll never be able to forget. The agony and discernable heartbreak seep out of him in tumultuous waves, his energy no longer soothing light and hope, but pure, palpable anger and pain.
“What did you do?” He charges forward palms connecting with Ere’s chest and pushing against him until he stumbles back. “What the hell did you do to her?”
Ere lets out a huff of laughter and shakes his head. “Mera knows the truth now, Kairos. Memories do not lie. Whatever mind games you and your people were playing with her before can end here and now. It’s over. I had to resist my urge to kill you when she could not remember you or even me, but now that she does,” he steps forward, shadows snaking across the ground and swirling around them both. “I am done playing nice, Kairos. This ends now.”
I swallow back tears and pain and anger that rush through me as I consider the possibility that everything Kairos did for me and told me he felt was all a lie, like Ere seems to believe. But to what end? To keep Ere and I apart? To gain access to my power? I refuse to believe that. Gods, I need time to fucking think.
I wrap an arm around Eres waist, looking Kairos up and down. “I think you should go home, Kairos. I don’t know what to make of all of this, but I need time.” I don’t look away from him, even as his features shift from heartbreak to complete and utter devastation, or when Ere’s shadows slip around his arms and chest, forcing him back when he tries to step toward me. The shadows drift away but stay close as Kairos comes to a standstill.
I don’t look away, but I don’t show how much my heart is breaking looking at him, either.. He’s special to me. He brought so much light into my life when all I felt was darkness. But I need time to process and heal. From the lost, broken look on his face and the tears sliding down his cheeks, I think he does, too. None of this makes sense.
Lightning flashes briefly around his palms, strikes lighting up the dull green within his eyes, but his power flickers out immediately as if he has no energy left to give. “None of this is real. It can’t be. Love is not a curse. Fate is not a lie. This…all of this is one huge fucking lie. Mera, please. You have to believe me.” His tears turn to unrestrained sobs, hands trembling and body swaying as he runs his hands through his hair, falling to his knees in front of me. “Please don’t do this. Please,” he whispers through the desperate, heart shattering sobs, eyes snapping closed as he tilts his head back like I’m a god he’s praying to.
I crouch and take his hands in mine and he stills, sniffling and wiping at his cheeks with our intertwined hands and then he opens his eyes. “I hate this. To see you hurting this way.” Keeping his hands in mine, I reach up and brush tear-soaked locks of hair away from his eyes. “Go home, Kairos,” I whisper. “Get some rest. I’m sure you’ll feel better after you do. You’ve been through so much. We all have. We’ll talk soon. I promise.” I give him a small, reassuring smile without giving away how much it truly does kill me to see him this way, because I can’t.
To show him my own pain means showing that I still care, and maybe that would hurt him even more. Seeing him this way breaks me. He has been lied to. Manipulated in the worst possible way, and who the hell would want to hurt him? He deserves so much better. He deserves everything. But these are problems for another time, when wounds aren’t still fresh and bleeding and entirely too fucking confusing. I was right before. The truth that was supposed to set me free, doesn’t feel as freeing now with so many truths still unraveled. I stand and release Kairos’ hands as Ere opens a portal to send him home.
Kairos glares at him, lightning sparking at his fingertips and again behind his eyes as he stands and takes an unsteady step toward him. “I will burn this entire fucking realm to the ground one day with you in it. I promise you that. You’re wrong. This is not over. This fucking ends when you are dead.”
His gaze never leaves me as he steps through the portal, his green eyes piercing through the shadows of the realm. Then he faces forward and doesn’t look back, his soul leaving remnants of his pain and heartbreak lingering within my own.
As soon as the portal snaps closed, I collapse in Ere’s arms, letting my own heart crumble as he holds me against him. I didn’t want to break in front of Kairos. I didn’t want to make things harder for him. But gods, does it hurt. Even if he was lying to me the entire time. Even if it was all some fucked up game the celestials or gods were playing. It still. Fucking. Hurts. Ere brushes his thumbs across the tears on my cheeks and then cradles me against his chest, one arm under my knees and the other wrapped around my back. He carries me all the way home this way, me crying, heart in pieces, never questioning why.
I loved Kairos and he knows it. Of course all of this hurts. But none of it matters now, or at least it won’t eventually. I have my fated mate. The one who was created just for me. His undying love and soothing kindness will continue to carry me through this and anything else that may come our way.
I am his and he is mine, and this is only the beginning of our forever.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Blood and Thorns
MERA
I raise my hands, bringing life to the black flame torches lining the path leading up to the throne. The curves and sharp edges of the towering altar on the platform are made of dark stone, and vines and crimson roses are wrapped elegantly around the entire thing. Gods, it’s like I’m living in a gothic fairytale. It is breathtakingly beautiful. My black dress flares out gracefully behind me, the velvety materiel caressing my skin as I lift the sides to keep it from dragging on the ground. Red waves bounce and sway as I push my shoulders back, smiling out at the shadows and darkness of the realm I now belong to.
This past week was a beautiful disaster. Those are the only words that seem fitting for what I’ve been through. It was a disaster because I hurt Kairos, and had to stand by and watch as he fell apart, because what else could I do? I can’t fix it or heal him. Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him. I miss Olivia and Hekate, too, but the heart-wrenching pain of looking into Kairos’ eyes and being able to feel and sense how deep his agony cut him, that memory haunts me. I keep reminding myself that whatever hurt he might feel is only temporary. Kairos’ happiness, his fated mate, she exists somewhere out there. He will find her.
But then comes the beauty of it all. A week ago, I fell in love all over again with my fated mate, and after a century apart we finally get to make it official. It’s the day of our claiming ceremony. I finally have everything I’ve always hoped for. Nyx is out of our lives and we feel peace at last after too long being suffocated by her darkness. We can breathe again. Gods, freedom feels so damn good. Ere says Hekate took Nyx to the Earth Realm and is trying to save her. I hope she does. I hope there’s a soul left within her worth saving. My friend deserves to have her happy ending.
The Underworld today doesn’t feel dim or dreary at all. Hundreds of flames flicker across the realm, pushing the shadows away a little more than usual as a sweet woman from the Dark Legion plays a melody on the violin, her silky ebony wings peeking out over her slender shoulders. I smile as she meets my gaze, nodding toward the path between the torches, the path I’m choosing to follow toward my destiny. The one leading to him.
I take one more look around the realm, gasping in awe, because not only is the black, scorched earth covered and gleaming with crimson roses and thorns, but the rocky mountains from the bottom to the highest peaks are blanketed in them, too. He did all of this for me. I tilt my head back and gaze up at the newly created starlight twinkling brightly above us, smiling up at fate as it smiles back down at me. Tears fill my eyes as memories of romantic midnight dates, heartfelt confessions, unbroken promises and making love beneath the light of the moon and the stars flash within my mind, my eyes snapping to Ere, because he’s pushing those thoughts in to remind me how special our love is. To remind me how much he loves me. We’ve waited for this day far too long.
All of this beauty is nothing compared to the sight of him smiling down at me. His black suit blends into the shadows, while his glowing red eyes, curved horns, and leathery wings create stunning shadows of their own. He is the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.
Gods, you are stunning.
Heat rises to my cheeks at his words within my mind. I clasp my hands together in front of me and lock eyes with him.
I was just thinking the same of you. You are devastatingly beautiful, and I am so, so lucky.
The whispered words I send back quiver with emotion, tears streaming down my cheeks.
Come, my queen.
His dark, soothing voice sends a shiver of anticipation down my spine.
