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It’s foolish, childish, really, that I expect to see the huge black wings extending from my glorious beloved’s back flapping as he comes down.
All I want to see are his hands held out and that huge, slightly wild grin on his face.
I fall to my knees and weep, my hair around my face.
I don’t know how long I kneel there, weeping, before I hear a voice.
“My mortal beloved, behold!” a voice shouts. “Your god is here among you!”
I swing my head up so fast that my neck cracks. It’s him!
I jump to my feet, joy bursting from my chest as history repeats itself. The god I prayed for descends from the sky just like he did that first day in the plaza. Except there’s clearly something different about him. Is he. . . glowing? He’s so bright I have to shield my eyes.
I don’t care. I still reach my arms out and run toward him as he descends the last ten feet, nearly bowling him over as he touches the ground.
He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tight to him. I can feel the light inside him. It vibrates, hot and so bright I have to squeeze my eyes shut.
“Remus!” I cry, burying my face against his neck, in part to shield my eyes and to prove to myself he’s actually real. Actually here.
“I’m home, my love,” comes his voice, deeper and somehow more mature sounding than it used to. It’s like it reverberates from deep in his chest and echoes back again. “You gave me strength when all was lost.”
“What happened?” I cry.
“I vanquished the foe. We are safe.”
I squeeze him even tighter. “We have to tell everyone. They’re still terrified the world’s about to end.”
“In a moment. I must hold you first.”
He does, continuing to hold me tight. At first, I just feel the warmth from his light. I still don’t open my eyes because even through my closed eyelids, the brightness feels like it’s all but burning my retinas. And then I realize it’s not just my eyes that are burning. My whole chest suddenly feels on fire everywhere I’m touching him.
“Ow, Remus, let go,” I start, but he holds me tighter still.
“Do not be afraid, beloved,” he says calmly, bending his head over mine as he clutches me tight. The heat becomes so intense—
“It’s burning! It’s burning me!” I cry, starting to struggle in his arms. Useless against his strength. What’s happening? Why is he—?
But right as I begin to scream from pain, the heat becomes cool, like icy tingles across my skin. Except that’s not all. There’s a humming heat now in my chest.
Remus finally releases his arms, and I break away from him, stumbling back with a confused cry, tears in my eyes.
But I can finally open them without pain to look at him. Is he not glowing as bright?
Which is when, holy shit, I look down at my own chest and realize that now I’m glowing too. “What did you do?” I cry.
“I have shared my life spark with you,” he says, stepping close. “Today, I realized how easy it would be to lose you. After absorbing power from the Devourers when I destroyed them, I saw so many things clearly.”
The look in his glowing eyes is wilder now than I’ve ever seen, which is saying something when it comes to Remus. He steps closer, and I hold still as he reaches out and caresses my face. When his fingers make contact, it sizzles but not with pain. I hiss out in shock at the intensity of the feeling.
“My brothers and I are more powerful than even we realized. Without knowing it, they bestowed extended lifespans upon their wives when impregnating them with offspring.”
I feel my eyes widen.
“But I could not wait for that chance with you. And an extended life is not enough. I cannot lose you.”
I look again at my chest. “What does this mean?”
Remus grins. “You will now live forever with me.”
