Epilogue The Damned
ROMIE CAME TO IN A world of ash.
Ropes bound her hands and feet. Ash dusted her clothes, filled her mouth. Before her was a great fountain that called to mind the one at Aldryn, though nothing flowed from it. It was dried up, like everything else in this godsforsaken world. Used up by Clover to quench his thirst for power.
Next to her, Aspen and Tol were similarly bound. Offerings awaiting sacrifice.
It should have been a grim affair, but all Romie felt was the hopeful note of that song in her veins, which soared louder than it ever had as she laid eyes on the fourth person who was with them. She would have known the boy was the guardian even without the spiral mark on his forehead.
The four pieces of Atheia, reunited in the sea of ash.
They all looked between each other as the song became complete, conviction and hope mirrored on each of their faces. And beneath it all, the dark thrum of damnation they knew they couldn’t possibly escape.
Tol couldn’t give up his heart and survive. The guardian couldn’t part with his soul. Aspen had nearly died getting her rib bone ripped out of her before, and Romie… how much of her blood would be spilled to bring Atheia back? A single drop? Or would she be drained dry and die too?
Patience, Atheia’s song whispered in her ear. Take heart.
And Romie did. If death was her destiny, then she would meet it willingly, like she’d always meant to.