Thirty-One
RORIK
I came to slowly. I could hardly remember what happened. One moment I’d been anchored in place by Edira’s threads, and the next an exploding darkness had knocked me out. I’d give her an earful for chaining me like that, but only after I knew she was safe.
“Edira,” I called, opening my eyes. Stalactites hung from the cavern ceiling like needles poised to strike. Everything was quiet. The rivers feeding the lake were strangely still, frozen in time. Death was gone. So was Edira.
Edira! I shouted down our bond. Nothing.
Panic clawed at my throat as I tried again.
Edira, please. But the golden tether we shared had simply .
. . vanished. I couldn’t feel her in my consciousness.
There was a void, a yawning emptiness, where her presence used to be.
Where she’d shared her love with me. My fingers trembled.
The world began to spin. She couldn’t be gone. She couldn’t.
I whirled in place, trying to pierce the dark and find a sign of her form.
I called on my magic and willed it to disperse into particles of green light that showered above the island in a temporary flash.
A handful of shimmering motes dusted over a crumpled form near the sphere in the center of the island.
“Edira.” Her name was a rush of breath as I raced toward her.
Her clothes had been replaced with a silken black gown.
She’d stolen Death’s cloak, too, but it had shifted slightly in size and appearance to cling to her body, with embroidered leaves and flowers along the hem.
My knees hit the ground, and I peeled away the hood that had fallen over her face.
She was ghostly pale, her body unmoving.
I’d never seen her so still in all my life.
Not even when we’d saved her from the wreckage of Fernglove’s downfall. Even then, she’d breathed.
“Edira,” I tried, voice breaking. “Please, love. Don’t do this.
” Emotion thickened in my throat. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes, blurring my vision.
I couldn’t lose her. I’d only just accepted her as mine.
I’d always been hers. I’d never had a choice.
From the moment she walked through Fernglove Manor, she hit me like a storm.
Everything she did demanded my gaze. Every subtle shift in her facial expression, every quiet sigh, every riotous laugh.
Her pain was my pain. Her suffering a brand I still wore against my skin.
I’d never forgive myself for not standing up to my brother sooner.
I’d never forgive myself for letting her endure his wrath, his horrid plans, alone.
“You can’t leave. I need you.” A sob broke free from my chest, and I cradled her against me.
Kissed the top of her head. “Just come back. You have to come back.” An axe cleaved my chest into pieces.
Nothing was right in the world. It was both a spinning mess and entirely too still.
Too quiet. She was a frail doll in my arms instead of the vivacious woman who could tear me down to my knees with the simplest of looks.
I hated the feel of her hollow form, and yet I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her go.
With her head against my chest, I could pretend that she was sleeping.
That we’d both wake up from the nightmare that Death cast over us.
I wrenched my hands in the strange fabric coating her body.
I’d been waiting my entire life for Edira.
I hadn’t realized it, but once I met her, I knew.
I knew I’d never heartbond again. I knew she was the only person I was destined to love.
And if it weren’t for my family and her brothers, for the threat of the Embergraves, I would’ve been content to lie by her side until I withered away to nothing.
“I’m coming, baby,” I whispered in her ear.
“You won’t be alone for long. I’ll take care of a few things, and then I’ll be with you.
” But I still couldn’t move. Somewhere, Zeverin was amassing his allies to rip apart the lands in search of Edira and Seville.
Our families would become a target. But here, in Death’s domain, I could hold her.
I lay on the ground beside her and tucked her against me.
I wrapped my arms around her and sobbed.
Her hair was a blanket for my tears, her body a caress for the pain that would never go away.
I didn’t want this life. I didn’t want to be in a world where she died and I got to keep living.
I should’ve fought against this plan harder.
Should’ve found a way to be more prepared.
Should’ve saved her from this. From me. I never should’ve let my emotions out, because then maybe she would’ve stayed away.
Maybe she would’ve continued to hate Everkind and she could have lived.
But she came back. She came back into my life and upended all my careful plans. All the constructed walls I’d managed to build. And it’d taken only one damn look and a few words from that smart fucking mouth of hers.
I’d never get the chance to show her the depth of my love.
Raw ached pounded through me in time with each wretched beat of my heart.
The tears never stopped. Time crept by. I’d switch between sharing memories of our trainings, our moments together, and weighted, deafening silence.
She never responded. She never moved. While I knew she’d thrash me for blaming myself, I couldn’t help it.
I would’ve given anything to bring her back.
I would’ve given anything to take her place.
And yet all I could do was hold what was left of the other half of my soul.
I COULDN’T BE SURE EXACTLY how much time passed, but I knew Edira wouldn’t want me to linger.
When my body was entirely depleted of tears and my limbs were left hollow and numb, with her body pressed flush to my chest, I stood.
I’d never recalled my glamour, and my wings snapped at my back as I forced a weighted exhale.
Death’s spell was gone. We’d met him. We’d failed.
A cost had been paid. I was free to leave.
She deserved to be buried beneath our ancestor tree for what she’d sacrificed, and I only hoped her brothers would allow it. I took one weighted step. My heart broke again into more pieces than I could fathom.
“I love you,” I said as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m irrevocably yours.”
As I took another step, a small intonation hummed from the center of my chest. It was such a slight vibration that I hardly noticed it at first. I glanced down at the beauty in my arms. Nothing. My stomach knotted, and I clenched my jaw. I couldn’t give in to hope.
Another step. Another quiet hum. My brows drew together.
She wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing, and yet .
. . the intonation grew more insistent, and I realized it wasn’t stemming from her body but our bond.
Awareness shot through me, and I sank to the ground and held her close.
Shutting my eyes, I pictured the expanse of consciousness we used to share.
She still wasn’t there, but there was a flicker of brilliance.
A tendril of gold like a thin strand of hair dangling in a breeze. I grasped it tight.
Edira?
The thread hummed like I’d plucked the string of a harp. Hope consumed my senses, and I gave the thread a gentle stroke.
I’m here. I’m right here. I sent up a silent prayer to whatever gods existed.
To anyone who would listen. I’d waited for years, decades, to find someone like her.
And I’d never get over her. Not today. Not tomorrow.
Not a hundred years from now. If there was a chance that I could still have her . . .
The thread widened to the circumference of a rope. The thrum sounded again, deeper this time, and it lilted through the air like a murmur. Like a name.
Edira, I begged. Come back. I poured every emotion I had down our heartbond.
Every. Single. One. I told the story of us.
The amusement I felt while she inspected the food that first night she dined with us.
The admiration that followed shortly thereafter.
The frustration at her willingness to trust my brother.
All the eye rolls. All the jabs. All the banter.
All the moments I wanted to reach out and touch her.
That first dance beneath the stars when I nearly tossed all caution to the wind just for the chance to hold her.
I let her feel my murderous rage when I discovered her chained to Dagas’s ancestor tree.
Anger that doubled twice over when I saw how much my brother had hurt her.
How much pain ripped through me when she realized I’d been the one to poison her family.
And then I showed her the parts of me I struggled to even admit to myself.
The late nights where I stared at the ceiling simply thinking of her.
How I’d waited on the stairs for her to come back.
How I’d rioted at the thought of her leaving even though I’d been the one to push her away.
But most of all, I thought about how much I loved her. I loved her with a purpose unlike anything I’d ever known. Being hers was an intentional choice. One I’d make over and over again.
The tether between us widened. The murmur happened again. This time, it reverberated through my bones with a clarity that couldn’t be denied.
Rorik.
My name. She was calling my name. Our bond went taut as it glimmered and shone. And there she was, standing at the other end of our shared connection with a look of pure adoration.
Back in Death’s domain, a hand palmed my face. “I’m here.”
My eyes snapped open. Color had returned to her cheeks, and there was a steady rise and fall to her chest. With a tenderness that left me speechless, she grazed her thumb down the length of my jaw before tilting her head upward.
“I heard you.” She studied my lips. “To the grave, remember?”
Tears leaked from my eyes. “To the grave.”