26. Zakkai
Aflora’s lifestrands circled my wrists, the invisible power one I could feel more than see. “She’s here,” I said, talking to no one and everyone.
But no one replied.
Shade had his forehead pressed to her chest, his shoulders hunched in agony at her loss.
Kolstov and Zephyrus were behind him, watching with expressions of horror mingled with pain.
They were in shock.
“She’s here!” I repeated, my voice strained as I tried futilely to grab their focus. But they were lost to their grief, seeing her body frozen and not breathing, her heart no longer beating.
I growled in annoyance, not ready to give up.
But I felt Aflora pulsing through the dark source web, the last vestiges of her strength urging me to release it.
It’s my choice,she seemed to be saying. Let me go, Zakkai. Please… let me go.
My chest ached, my mind unwilling to comprehend what had just happened, how quickly I’d lost my mate.
Sacrifice wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Sacrifice was about growth, perseverance, power.
It wasn’t about death. It wasn’t about giving up the cords of life to the dark source. But Constantine had forced that trial upon her, making her choose.
And she’d chosen herself.
Like a true queen, putting everyone else before herself.
All of the Midnight Fae knew. They’d all felt her decision, her sacrifice, her putting our love and lives over her own.
I felt them weeping, sensed the dark source breaking from the loss of a powerful royal, an ideal candidate to rule.
And I sensed Constantine’s victory over it all, his malicious laughter as he watched her perish inside that dark void… alone… without her mates.
Aflora,I breathed, her soul slipping through my fingers, the spell Shade had uttered disappearing into the wind.
She’d kissed his hand with a rose petal.
Just as she whispered her love into my mind.
I’m okay, she told me. It’s okay… to let me go… to let me be free, to lead the fae to life. I’ll watch you all from above. I’ll see you from the stars.
My knees gave out, tears blurring my vision as a bright light blinked above her, twinkling like a little sun.
My star.
My little star.
My sweet, beautiful star.
Aflora…She’d been my other half for so long that I wasn’t sure how I’d survive without her.
This was so much worse than cutting off our bond all those years ago. So much worse than all the pain Constantine and the Elders had inflicted on my life and being. So much worse than my own ascension and the pain of taking on the Source Architect role.
This was like having a million stars combust inside me, leaving only one above to guide me and watch over me for an eternity of solitude.
Because there would be no other Aflora.
No other queen.
No other star.
She was my one and only… and I’d failed her.
I’d failed… my sweet… beautiful… star…
My head fell to my hands, my world breaking as the dark source wept with me, the pain echoing through all vestiges of my being and spirit.
The Midnight Fae knew.
Their queen had just died… because she’d sacrificed for them all. Not just for her mates, but for all of Midnight Fae kind.
A demonstration of what power should be, how it should be used, how a true queen should lead.
The dark source blinked with the rightness of her choice, praising her for her leadership and grace. It was a beautiful goodbye.
And a stunning… hello.
I blinked, feeling the paths and magic whirling and shifting and embracing the sacrifice she’d given… by regenerating with life.
My hands fell from my face as I stared up at that blinking light, the star in the room that only I seemed able to see.
Her light in the dark.
Her life at the center of the dark source.
A royal… ascending to her desired throne.
Sacrifice and respect, I realized. She just passed two trials at once.
Because she’d sacrificed herself for those she loved, and all of the Midnight Fae had felt it… and respected her choice.
Which left only one trial for her to pass—her ascension.
Energy shot through me, the dark source calling for my focus once more as it revitalized our bonds, reigniting Aflora’s veins, and shoving power back into her heart.
I felt her moving, her soul venturing through the dark source and back into the light.
Herlight.
Her radiant star.
Her earth.
Her life.
Her vitality.
Soaring through the Midnight Fae web of power with a finality befitting a queen.
And landing in the still-warm body before me.
Her eyes opened, stars painting her pupils in blinding lights. And she took a renewed breath.
Our queen has officially risen.