Page 196

“I know you thought that.” She bit her lips into a tight line. “I got your will.”

“Well, nothing changes there. I still want you to have it.”

Even speaking about his death made her stomach flip. “Since you’re alive, you can keep it.”

His demeanor darkened. “You know it’s only a matter of time.”

He hadn’t realized she had saved him for good. How could he? For years, he had thought that was impossible.

“No, Aidric. I told you I’d save you, and I kept my promise.”

His eyebrows knit together and then she moved his shirt to show him the absence of the writing on his chest. When his eyes fell on naked skin, he grabbed his shirt and stared at his chest in disbelief.

He looked up at her. “That’s impossible.”

She smiled. “It’s not.”

His hand balled into a fist and his arm trembled, but otherwise he remained rigid.

The symbol of years of torture and oppression was finally gone. He was free. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. His teeth bit together hard as he continued to stare at his chest, which no longer bore the incantation.

He looked back up at her. “How?” was all he asked, as if he still didn’t quite believe it.

She held her arm next to his, showing her own naked skin. “Turns out the potion I was working on the entire time to get rid of my scar ended up saving your life.”

His tears mixed with laughs, and it was the most carefree laugh she’d ever heard from him. A laugh she never thought she’d hear. Because life had been too cruel. Pain had cut too deep. Wounds had been too plentiful.

But here they were. Laughing tears of joy. Just surviving wasn’t good enough anymore. She wanted more. She wanted them to live.

He placed a kiss on her arm where the scar used to be. Then he pulled her closer until he was inches away from her. His hand held the side of her neck, his fingers balancing on her pulse point, and she stared into his eyes, now the color of glaciers. Piercing blue with shades of light gray. She was certain it was the most beautiful color she’d ever seen.

“Mira,” he whispered in awe against her lips. His voice was raw with emotion.

Instead of saying anything else, he pulled her into a kiss. Soft and gentle at first but then it grew more desperate.

Words weren’t enough. A million I love yous couldn’t convey how they felt. Couldn’t express the fear of losing the other. Couldn’t possibly communicate the relief of holding each other now.

He rested his forehead against hers, his hands in her hair.

Mira held on to him, never wanting to let go, feeling the warmth of his skin.

“I can’t lose you,” she whispered. “Anything else—but not you.”

His fingers wrapped gently around her curls. “You could never lose me. Even when everything went dark, I told the stars about you.”

When his lips found hers again, she realized that finally, finally, the world around her no longer burned.

Epilogue

Mira adjusted her gloves. They were no longer necessary, but even all these years later, she felt safer in long sleeves.

When she was anxious, her hand still instinctively went to her left arm, making sure the scar was gone.

She fixed her hair in the mirror, and as she adjusted her silk dress, she noticed Aidric behind her. “You’re staring,” she admonished him in the mirror as he leaned against the doorframe, dressed in his tux.

“Last I checked, it wasn’t a crime to admire one’s wife.” He walked up to her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her against him, kissing her neck. “And if it is, you must have me arrested.”

His breath tickled her skin. “You’re making us late.”