Tobias
Iwas struck by the inescapable feeling that I was forgetting something. Something vital. Something more important than anything.
An acrid scent filled the air despite the breeze, smoke going up my nose. How fitting that I should die in a fire after how this journey began. I was on my back with my eyes closed. Every muscle ached as I tried to move, seizing like they no longer remembered how to work together.
A warm weight lay on top of me. The hair tickling my face gave away its owner, even if I hadn’t memorized the exact feeling of my anima against me.
Quinn wasn’t moving.
Panic gripped my chest in a vise. I coughed, trying to open my eyes—
“Were you trying to burn down the whole damned castle?”
Marin’s voice pierced the inside of my skull. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Forcing my eyes open, I blinked through the haze.
We were in my room—the one I rarely slept in, inside the bronze castle of Soleara—though I barely recognized it.
The curtains had been reduced to ash, the desk split in half and smoldering.
My armoire was now on its side, charred clothes spilling out.
The breeze was apparently courtesy of a smashed window, the shattered glass littered across the floor.
At least the bed remained in one piece.
“I managed to put the fires out,” Yael said from the doorway, twirling a small twister of her air magic with one finger. “Removed all the air that was fueling it. Though I won’t deny it was a challenge.”
Marin grimaced beside her, adding, “You’re lucky your people found cover in the mountain above.”
Quinn groaned, shifting slightly. Her skin felt hot where it rubbed against mine. With a start, I realized we were naked, our clothes entirely burnt away.
I reached for the sheets only to have them crumble apart in my hand.
“We’re alive,” Quinn croaked. She smiled at me, utterly exhausted yet grinning from our victory. The light, playful giddiness along our bond was a welcome relief.
I stared at her, slack jawed. This determined, unyielding creature had followed me into the throes of death and pulled me back with sheer strength of will.
And I’d been so close to losing her. To taking her with me.
Her fingers traced my palm as if reading the future that she refused to surrender.
“You could’ve died,” I rasped. “Coming after me was a risk—”
Her amber eyes burned. “And I’d do it again.”
Stubborn to a fault. I was fully aware that her tenacity had saved my life.
“Of course you would, Sagray.”
“You absolute idiot, if I hadn’t—”
Before she could finish her sentence, I kissed her. One hand gripped her cheek, tilting her face up to mine. The other wrapped tightly around her bare waist, dragging her closer.
Yael cleared her throat and we broke apart. A burst of air spread a towel over us a second later—apparently, we had left the bathroom intact.
Marin chuckled under her breath. “Perhaps a quick once-over and a bath before we celebrate. Eva’s asking for you both.”
“She’s awake?” Quinn squeaked, trying to sit up, then fell back against me with a groan. “And remembers us?”
Her elbow dug into my gut. I only grunted in response, the last of my remaining energy entirely extinguished by that kiss.
Marin tutted under her breath. Her magic glowed at her fingertips as she placed a hand on both of our foreheads.
“I would lecture you about the dangers of burning out your magic, but considering what you pulled off…well, I’ll save it until you don’t look like you’re on the losing end of a battle against charcoal. ”
“Pari,” I forced out. “D-did she…”
I couldn’t even say the words.
Marin shook her head, smiling. “Rivan dreamwalked to her. He kept her alive long enough to administer the cure. Luckily, the second strain of the virus wasn’t as deadly as the first despite its faster onset.” She smirked. “Last I heard, they threw Dolion out and locked the door.”
“He…” Quinn’s eyes met mine, her excitement flurrying across our bond. “I knew it.”
Good for Pari. I was happy for them both that, after fighting it for so long, they had found their way together.
“The other victims are being treated now,” Marin added. “Most should make a full recovery after some magical rehabilitation of their neural pathways. Queen Sariyah dedicated a wing of the Enclave to their therapy and is running it herself.”
We had done it. Against all odds, we had not only survived…we had won.
I looked at Quinn, without whom none of this would have been possible. She was selflessly brave and impossibly brilliant in a way that left me awestruck.
And she was mine.
My cock twitched, the only part of my body with any energy, apparently. Quinn grinned at me as she moved her thigh to keep it from tenting the towel.
“As much as I’m enjoying the nude audience, I could use a bath…or three, to get the smell of smoke out,” Quinn sighed, sniffing at her hair.
Yael laughed. “I think the bathroom’s mostly unscathed. Let me get the bathtub running, and we can go from there.”
Marin’s lips quirked as she eyed the singed clothing that remained. “And I’ll go hunt down something for you to wear.”
I sank back into the charred pillows, smiling despite myself.
“I don’t forgive you,” I murmured into Quinn’s hair, relishing the feeling of her weight on top of me—of holding her, even if doing so used all the strength I had left.
Her exhilaration spilled across our bond as well as the stunned disbelief we had somehow both survived, just as I was sure she could sense my quiet contentment.
We would have a lifetime of this. An eternity.
Quinn propped her chin on her hands, smirking. “I don’t remember offering you an apology.”