Astrid’s brows knitted. “A promise…” She looked down at Riyan’s sleeping body. “I climbed the mountain for Ragnar. Hepromised mewe would be a family.”
I knelt beside her. “You can still be a family. Once Riyan enters the world of the living, I will make sure you can join him.”
If I could not be with Riyan once I went under the collar, he at least deserved to have his mother with him.
Astrid’s lip trembled only once. “I never got to hold my baby, and even now…”
She tried to wrap her arms around Riyan’s massive chest, but her limbs passed through—completely transparent.
She sat on her knees and looked down at Riyan. “But as much as my heart sang for Ragnar, I loved my baby since thefirst punch in my womb. I would have climbed a dozen more mountains if it led him to a love like yours.”
The image of Daigen leading her to the Man of the Mountain’s grave flashed through my mind. Hedestroyedher to get Fraleigh back.
If I were Fraleigh…I would have done much worse to him than merely curse him with a hideous face.
My mouth formed a fine line. “Even after Daigen tricked you?”
She looked past Riyan into the vast darkness. “I am not even angry with him anymore. Each time he visits, he promises me it will all work out…but I am tired of promises.”
Bitterness coated my tongue, but I at least would keep true to my word. “Daigen sends his regards.”
Astrid smiled. “Tell that monster to eat shit.”
Then the spirit of her mind faded into the swirling darkness.
Riyan and I were alone, together at last.
I ran my hand down the side of his sleeping face, tracing the contours of his temple and his cheekbone. My power and Ganora’s twisted in my veins as I kissed his forehead. “Please, wake up.”
The darkness of the well swirled with ribbons of white light.
I knelt by his arm and placed my hands over his heart. I closed my eyes. The flames around the diamond in my heart danced, filling every part of my body with the white light of truth.
“Riyan.” My voice thrummed with power as the magic in his body answered my call. “You were always more than a beast or a monster. You are a man—the fastest, strongest, and most wonderful man alive, worth more to me than any power I could ever hold.”
Riyan’s heartbeat awakened underneath my hands. Each of his veins lit up like its own line in a love song.
“No longer shall fear overtake you,” I said with a smile. “No more shall your body betray you. Return to the flesh that was always yours. Become the man you were supposed to be.”
My magic flowed from my hands and into his heart. His heart pumped white light with each beat, erasing Ganora’s curse from his blood. My hands sank lower as his body compressed.
I opened my eyes. The Riyan that slept below me was no longer giant…but instead the size of his father. He was still tall, but no one would ever again mistake him for anything but what he was—a man. Agoodman.
His chest rose with a deep breath. His eyelashes fluttered, and the moment his twilight eyes met mine, sunspots danced in my chest.
“Sera?” He sat up, his right hand finding my left.
I nodded as my smile stretched my cheeks. The sunspots grew bigger until they tickled my ribs.
Riyan looked down at me and shook his head. “You are not supposed to be here. You were supposed to find happiness without me. You were supposed to—”
“I choseyou.” I smiled, feeling light and powerful all at once. “I finally got to choose you.”
My chest shook and I could not contain the sunlight any longer. A laugh bounced with my breath. Then it grew, louder and happier, until Riyan smiled wide enough that his dimple appeared.
He raised his hands, examining them, and then his eyes flicked back up to my face. His palms rested against my jaw. He had never held my face before—finally he was a perfect fit.
Riyan laughed, just once, before lifting my face. His eyes were luminous with my white light as I gently brushed a strand of hair from the middle of his forehead. The heartbeat in his wrists gently pulsed against my neck. My eyes fell to the curved lines of his lips and my heart pounded.
