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I didn’t need to improve.

I didn’t need to hide.

All I need to do is accept myself just as I am.

“You’ll never know this feeling,” I whisper as the darkness splits and shatters like a hall of mirrors. “You’ll never know what love can do.”

Godric’s hand claims my hip.

Arwan’s touch curls again around my waist.

Ze’ev’s fingers thread through mine.

With Arwan’s power secured inside me, I synchronize with my mates and call all the broken spirits that Arwan had so much trouble controlling.

The revenants aren’t just pieces of Arwan; they’re pieces of me, too.

They’re the inner shards of everyone we’ve touched over the years, dead or alive, who never accepted their shadow selves.

You’re safe now.

Come to me.

Take out your rage and anger on this beast who deserves every bite, every tear, all of your wrath, until there’s nothing left to give.

A legion of shrieks rises up all around, and my lips lift up on the side.

King Njord’s face contorts as the thin golden chains stretch all around him, locking him in place. “What have you done?” he roars.

My brother’s spirit, like the coward he is, tries to flee. A shadow yanks and jerks around his form, but the Undertaker beast grows a massive row of teeth and snaps down, keeping him in place.

My brother isn’t going anywhere.

I spot red eyes in the distance as King Cain watches everything unfold. I’m surprised by the emotion exuded through his powerful spirit.

Praise.

Claws tear through King Njord, shredding into him as his screams combine with my brother’s.

There is no death like this, utter decimation and destruction.

Some beings have an afterlife.

Some are reborn.

But this is the power of the Prince of Death, and I watch as a true death descends on the most evil set of spirits I have ever seen.

Only a grim sense of justice and disgust are left behind when the shadows part.

And I crumple into the arms of my mates as exhaustion drags me down. My mortal body has been stretched thin. I might not even survive.

But my eyelids flutter closed as I finally feel at peace.

Because no longer do I ever have to run again.

I am free.

I am me.