1
LENNOX
The cool winter air stung my cheeks and my hair whipped around my face as I ran, my boots making tracks in the snow.
I glanced over my shoulder, but no one followed.
My heart raced as I crashed through the trees into Luka’s waiting arms.
“You made it back to me.” His voice was low as his hands roamed over my body, mine doing the same, testing to make sure he was really here in front of me—not a figment of my imagination.
“I made it back to you,” I echoed.
I closed my hands over his arms as I met his waiting gaze. Those blue eyes I had been dreaming of stared back at me.
“I love you,” I told him as he stroked a thumb across my cheek. I refused to wait another second to tell him how I felt.
His face shifted, his smile faltering. His hand dropped from my cheek as he took a step back.
“It’s too late.”
“What do you mean it’s too late?” I reached for him, but he took another step back—away from me.
“It’s too late, Lennox.”
Blood dripped down his neck like a blade had been sliced across it. “You had your chance, and you lost it.” Blood bubbled from his lips as he slumped to his knees.
“Luka!” His name tore from my throat.
He fell to his back in the snow as I screamed, his blood painting the snow crimson as I pulled him into my lap.
“You told me I had time, that you’d wait for me. I’m ready now. I love you.” I pushed my hands to his bleeding neck, but no magic came from my palms.
“Please, Luka. Don’t leave me. I love you.”
“You did this to me. You’re too late. You left me.” His eyes slid closed, the pulse under my hand no longer thrashing.
“Luka, no.”
I sobbed into his chest. This wasn’t happening. I wasn’t losing him. I had just gotten him back.
My palm tingled, I wiped the tears from my eyes to look at my mating mark.
The delicate golden lines were receding, the black marks fading into my skin.
“No. No. No. Why is this happening?”
“I told you, you might have less time than you anticipated.” Astria’s shimmering form appeared, her shape glimmering in the early evening light.
“How do I save him? Please, save him.”
“There is no saving him now, Queen of Blood and Stardust.”
I jolted awake—my heart hammering like a drum.
A dream.
It was only a dream,I repeated, but my pulse still ricocheted.
