Because there would be no other Aflora.
No other queen.
No other star.
She was my one and only… and I’d failed her.
I’d failed… my sweet… beautiful… star…
My head fell to my hands, my world breaking as the dark source wept with me, the pain echoing through all vestiges of my being and spirit.
The Midnight Fae knew.
Their queen had just died… because she’d sacrificed for them all. Not just for her mates, but for all of Midnight Fae kind.
A demonstration of what power should be, how it should be used, how a true queen should lead.
The dark source blinked with the rightness of her choice, praising her for her leadership and grace. It was a beautiful goodbye.
And a stunning…hello.
I blinked, feeling the paths and magic whirling and shifting and embracing the sacrifice she’d given… by regenerating with life.
My hands fell from my face as I stared up at that blinking light, the star in the room that only I seemed able to see.
Her light in the dark.
Her life at the center of the dark source.
A royal… ascending to her desired throne.
Sacrifice and respect, I realized.She just passed two trials at once.
Because she’d sacrificed herself for those she loved, and all of the Midnight Fae had felt it… and respected her choice.
Which left only one trial for her to pass—her ascension.
Energy shot through me, the dark source calling for my focus once more as it revitalized our bonds, reigniting Aflora’s veins, and shoving power back into her heart.
I felt her moving, her soul venturingthroughthe dark source and back into the light.
Herlight.
Her radiant star.
Her earth.
Her life.
Her vitality.
Soaring through the Midnight Fae web of power with a finality befitting a queen.
And landing in the still-warm body before me.
Her eyes opened, stars painting her pupils in blinding lights. And she took a renewed breath.
Our queen has officially risen.
