"Don't break for me, Kaira. Fight for me. I need you to fight with everything you have and I need you to destroy everything and everyone who has harmed you. Burn the fucking world if need be," I bit out, "but fight. Fight for yourself and for those that had no one to fight for them."
She peered at me with a devotion I didn't deserve, and as my soul started leaving its nest, I pressed my lips to hers, tasting the saltiness of her tears coating our kiss. Her lips parted, allowing me access, rejuvenating what little life I had left in me.
She tasted like eternity, like sunshine on my skin and the rain in my hair. She tasted like the perfect fucking song and those endless days when things were so much better. Her tongue touched mine while her entire body shook, holding on to me as if she was unable to let go.
My knees gave out and as I crashed to the ground, she followed, holding my head in her embrace, crying for everything we could have been. Hera was no longer in those silver eyes. She was nowhere to be found, but only the rage shining in those silver depths, swallowing me whole.
"I-I will always love you," I murmured, tasting her on my lips. Storing the memory of her in the deepest parts of me. "In this life and in the next, Kaira."
"Please don't leave me. Just stay with me. Keep your eyes open."
I looked up at her one more time.
Just one last time to last until the darkness took hold of me. My finger dragged over her destroyed braid, feeling the silkiness of her hair. If this was the end, I wouldn't want it any other way.
"I'll find you," I mumbled, closing my eyes. "I'll find you again."
29
KAIRA
My mind splitin two as Hades closed his eyes. His skin turned ashen until it started ripping apart, shattering right in front of my eyes. Like the ashes left after a bonfire, his body disintegrated, leaving me with nothing but pain in my heart and violent cold spreading through my body. The pain started intensifying, forcing me to close my eyes as a fresh wave slammed into the forefront of my mind.
My temples throbbed.
My heart crashed inside my chest as fragments of my soul separated, its shards stabbing into every part of me, forcing me to see the truth. Forcing me to remember.
Like a kaleidoscope, the pictures played behind my eyes, spreading the dread and the newfound knowledge through my bloodstream.
On the streets of Pompeii as the volcano erupted, swallowing me in its blazing fury.
On the meadow behind my house somewhere in the Balkans, collecting flowers for my mother's birthday.
Hidden in the shadows of the destroyed city during World War I.
On the streets of Prague as bombs fell all around.
Standing on the shores of Ras Al-Khaimah, waiting for my husband to come back from his fishing trip.
My children running after me on a sunny afternoon and their father sitting and watching us from the porch somewhere in Scotland.
My feet freezing as I begged on the streets of Paris, hoping someone would give me a coin.
Sitting in a room full of people, naked as they drew me in the middle of the Art Institute of New York City more than a hundred years ago.
Lifetime after a lifetime as my soul passed from one body to another, flashing in front of my eyes. Reminding me of who I was. Reminding me of what I'd lost.
And each time, each life, ended with me having twenty-nine years on this Earth.
Until now.
Until the accident.
Until Grimm found me and saved my soul from another reincarnation, forcing me to forget everything I was. Forcing me to pretend I was something I was not. And it all started with the vengeful Gods, too fucking greedy to be happy with what they had.
They wanted more. More than they were promised. More than they deserved.
And as I sat there, my eyes flew open, looking down at the ashes scattered on the ground, making me realize what I'd just lost. Like a power surge, my body lit up and the power, the darkness I was still fighting, pushed through, enveloping me in its dark embrace.
