Chapter Thirty-Two
Not every story has a happy ending.
I floated in a space without time, where the past, present, and future all transpired at once, everything I’d ever done or would do happening simultaneously, always, and forever. As I slipped in and out of consciousness, I knew everything and nothing.
Awareness came with pinpricks of strength. A prick here, a prick there. Heat spread from the punctures, infiltrating muscles and bones, activating my mind.
I blinked open my eyes and gasped. I stood rooted in place, but I also somehow remained in motion, drifting through the skies of Theirland, peering over the entire expanse all at once.
It was bigger than I’d ever realized, with four castles hidden in the far corners of the realm. They each topped a mountain.
The dual sensations I experienced mystified me as much as the worldview.
“Am I dead?” I asked, my voice echoing in the void.
“Far from it. You’re more alive than you’ve ever been.” Domino approached me and suddenly I—we—occupied a private room in the library. And yet, I maintained my awareness of the Rock. “You are officially a librarian.”
Me, one of the elites. Just imagine!
I scanned the unfamiliar areas and frowned. A lovely room with glass displays of weapons, a mystery tree growing in a corner, and a hologram projecting snippets from my life at Fort Bala.
“I don’t understand,” I said, spotting the sign that hung over the door.
It read Arden Dawn Roosa. “What is this place?” Why was this place?
Stretching out my arms to graze the flowers carved into the wood doorframe, I realized I wore a buttery-soft red cloak.
I looked myself over and marveled. A robe like Domino’s.
“This,” he said, “is your memorial.”
“But you just said I wasn’t dead.”
He held up his hand, requesting quiet, which I happily gave.
“When we do special things for Soal, memorials like these are erected. Members of the Tome Society can come, read about our exploits, and learn from our mistakes and successes.” As he spoke, he walked around, motioning to symbols carved into the wall. Just like the symbols on the Rock.
Oh, wow. “You have a memorial?”
He nodded. “I do.”
So badly I wanted to see it. Read it. But first, I would read my own. Easy to do. The symbols became text, the story of my life there for the taking.
Heart fluttering, I walked about, drinking in my tale.
How I didn’t trust what I read and traveled down a wrong road.
How I’d ultimately corrected my path. How I sacrificed my life for the Rock.
How, in return, I gained a new life with a bright future ahead .
. . after a series of turbulent times. The symbols that told of those turbulent times, I couldn’t yet decode.
But I didn’t grow nervous by what was to come.
I knew what I was fighting for now. Not just Cyrus and me but others. As many people as possible. The world!
My world.
“How much time has passed since I bonded to the Rock?” I asked.
“A few hours.”
Goodness. I would have guessed days or weeks or years had come and gone.
“You have much more to learn, and now your true training can begin.” Domino took the spot at my side, standing shoulder to shoulder with me. “You’re soon to see things you never dreamed possible. Do things that will baffle you even years later and discover a truth you will need eons to comprehend.”
“You aren’t helping ease the turbulence of my transition,” I muttered, tracing my fingertips over a circle with smaller circles inside it.
“Perhaps this will. Your first assignment will be recruiting Mykal Ellison.”
Truly? “Consider it done.”
He smiled at me. “I thought you’d like that.
Now, then. You’ll be based inside the library, but you’ll be responsible for your domain in Theirland.
You can access both worlds through any section of the Rock at any time, but your light will only grow brighter to feeders, and there will be no hiding it.
You’ll be a lure for them, and they will want only to eat you. Among other things.”
“Wait. Back up. My domain?”
“The area adjoining your portion of the Rock.” He waved his hand, and the wall became a screen, peering out at the field in Theirland, where I’d offered my life for a cause greater than myself.
I saw both in the physical realm and the spiritual, the perimeter line of “my domain” highlighted by a soft golden glow. That border circled the entire structure and ten feet of flat, barren field.
Guess I’d have to figure out how I felt about all this. What did my responsibilities entail, exactly?
Domino nudged my shoulder with his own. “No worries. I’ll help and train you.”
“Thank you,” I rasped. He was a good man. Wonderful in more ways than I could list. And honestly? I was beginning to see him as an extension of myself, just like my sword. “For everything.”
He nodded to acknowledge my words. “When next you fight Cyrus, you’ll be ready. I vow it.”
Another battle with Cyrus. I flinched. He was my ex, now the emperor, king, and leader of CURED, Ourland, and Theirland. Once my dream, now my nightmare. Worse, he might be Lolli’s husband.
I curled my hands into fists. Cyrus was a god and my greatest enemy. Would I ever really be ready to go head-to-head with him?
“For now,” Domino said, stalking toward the exit, “I’ll let you say goodbye to your past.”
He vanished through the doorway, and an approaching presence caught my notice. But the intruder didn’t come into the room. My attention zeroed in on the Rock.
Cyrus stood just outside my domain in Theirland.
He was shirtless and shoeless, clad only in a pair of black leathers.
He peered at me, but also not at me, because I somehow occupied every square inch of the Rock.
Slowly walking from one end to the other, he examined every inch of the structure—of me.
“Looks like we have ourselves a dilemma, sweetness,” he said, and the huskiness of his voice rippled all over me. “You have something that’s mine.”
I cringed inwardly, seeing him in a way I never had. The shadows he’d absorbed to host Astan filled his veins, a slight tracery visible beneath his skin. And his eyes . . . A wild glint dominated his irises. Greed clung to him. Evil—there was no other word for it—seeped from his pores.
This wasn’t my Cyrus. I’d comprehended that, but I really understood it now.
“The war is only beginning, you know,” he said. “Briar Rose will choose another host. The other gods are already rising. Humans are ill prepared for what’s coming. They’ll crumple as I enforce my rule, and Soal will follow.”
Persuasion saturated his tone. He was utterly convinced of his own words.
I admit, his words roused anger. He spoke of murdering my friends, my allies, and those I intended to help. “What part do you expect me to play in this?” My voice imbued every inch of my domain, a whisper and a bellow rolled into one.
“There you are.” He stopped in the center and smiled. “Hello, Lady Pink.”
“Hello, Cyrus.”
“Not sugar bear?”
“Not at this time.” Head high, I stepped from the stone, and it felt like walking from the middle of a wave. My robe refit itself to my body, hardening into armor. It happened in an instant and automatically, with no conscious thought on my part. Like a computer running in the background.
The picture of indulgence, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “The Rock becomes you, but you’ll look even better wrapped in me.”
I allowed no reaction. “You said you no longer desire me.”
“I’ve said many things.”
“True. You also said you were born to rule. But I’m saying not like this. Not with Astan.”
He waved away my words. “Too late.”
“Then we are enemies.”
“We are. The worst has yet to come, you know.”
“For you? Yes. I know.” And I did. I would show him no mercy in my quest to win him. Once, he’d brought me into the Rock. Now I returned the favor.
Cyrus smiled. “I’ll come after you with everything I’ve got.”
“Good. I look forward to your surrender.” I tilted my head and returned the smile with one of my own, more confident than I’d been in a long time.
I hadn’t read more of my book yet, but here, now, I had an ingrained knowledge of what I’d find at the end: victory. “I meant it when I said I love you.”
“Loving me will kill you,” he warned.
“But you’ll live again, so I’m okay with that.”
He went still, as if surprised.
“I’m going to free you, Cyrus Dolion. Consider yourself a mansel in distress. I’m the foe you can’t shake, even in your wildest dreams. I won’t give you up, won’t back down, won’t capitulate.”
Unbridled amusement flashed over his features. “I don’t need freeing, sweetness. But you will. I have plans for you . . .”
I lifted my chin. “Whatever you attempt will fail.”
He hiked his shoulders, shrugging again. “We shall see.”
Yes. We would. “You once loved Soal,” I reminded him.
“I supposed I loved you more.” He smiled again.
“Soal’s book told me to give you up. I refused then, and I refuse now.
That became clear to me when you branded me with your kiss.
” He rubbed his fingers over his once-scarred cheek.
“This one you cannot see. But I’ll win you, just give me time.
What I’ll do when I have you, for however long I decide you may keep breathing, well, we’ll find out together.
” He strode off, whistling as he vanished.
My heart thudded as I eased back, sinking into the Rock.
Domino waited for me, his presence a much-needed comfort. His dog, Archive, sat at his feet.
Uh . . . We weren’t in my memorial but a small, plain chamber with a bed, desk, and private bathroom.
“Your new quarters,” he said, spreading his arms. “Decorate it however you please.”
I bent down to pet the little cutie. Such soft fur. Maybe he sensed my bond to Domino. Archive leaned into my touch, eager for more, as if he sensed my bond to his dad.
“Come.” A picture of power and security, the librarian offered me his hand. “Let’s prepare you for what’s to come.”
Without hesitation, I slid my fingers into his as I stood. “Yes. Let’s.” Nothing would stop me now.