LIAM
Gray’s twilight blue eyes clouded with ice, her whole body going rigid. From her energy, I felt nothing but cool detachment, even as Emilio’s soul stirred into a hot frenzy inside me, recognizing her presence.
“I’m not here to say goodbye, Liam.”
All the fear and concern and horror at Emilio’s outward appearance vanished. She’d said the words simply, with a calm certainty I hadn’t expected, as if there could be no other outcome.
I should’ve expected as much. Gray had always been determined, and she was fiercely protective of those she loved.
“You must,” I said, though even I remained unconvinced. Still, it was my sacred duty to say these words, to inform her of his passing and offer her the option of escorting his soul to the Shadowrealm—or accompanying me, if she so chose. “It is your last chance before we—”
“There arenolast chances here,” she said, as resolute as I’d ever seen her. “I’m a necromancer, Liam. In the truest sense of the word. I have the capacity to give life, to save it, or to destroy it.”
At that, I couldn’t help but allow the faintest ghost of a smile to touch my lips. She was reciting my old words back to me, from the first time I’d told her about her nature. That was the night she’d lost Sophie, and she’d come so much farther since then.
“Clever girl,” I said. “But did I not also tell you that all such beings are bound to me?”
She cocked her head, glaring at me with a power that would’ve frightened the strongest mortal. “It’s a little late for that, Liam.”
“Yes, I was afraid you might see it that way.”
I had failed as her mentor. I had failed as her friend. And most of all, I had failed as a man who’d claimed to love her. There was nothing I could say now, no warning or long, metaphysical explanation, no truths or lies or anything in between that would alter her present course.
Gray placed a hand on Emilio’s chest, her eyes softening for him and him alone. Then, turning back to me, she drew in a deep breath and said, “I am Shadowborn. I am the heir of Silversbane. And this man has my heart. If you think for onesecondI’m going to stand by and watch him vanish into eternity while I have the power to do something about it, you haven’t learned a thing about me.”
I offered a solemn nod, conceding her point. In truth, however, I’d learned more than she realized. For this moment, too, was a possibility I had seen. One I had hoped for, if I were being honest.
And here, at perhaps the most important meeting she and I would ever hold, honesty was my only choice.
“I know he hasn’t yet passed on to the Shadowrealm,” she said. “I canfeelhim. You have his soul.”
“Indeed.” I held up my hands, my skin glowing silver-bright in response. “Though I’m afraid I cannot hold him much longer. If I don’t release him from my vessel, he will release himself, cursed to endlessly wander the realms without a guide.”
She touched his face, her eyes softening once again. “So we’ll put him back where he belongs.”
“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. Even for a necromancer. His body is broken, Gray. His blood poisoned. His soul sensed the death of his physical form and departed of its own volition. To return it to his body now would simply trap him in pain and torment for all eternity.”
“Not if we heal him first.” She got to her feet and walked a circle around his body, her brow furrowed in concentration, her hands hovering before her as if she were trying to sense the last bit of his essence. “There must be something we can do. A spell.”
“Perhaps,” I said, standing to meet her eyes once again. “But there is no time. Not if we want to prevent his soul from wandering.”
“Think, Liam. Think.” Gray pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. “There’s something we’re not seeing here. Some way to heal him quickly or… something.”
I watched her, in awe at her courage. Her calm. She’d come through so much in such a short time, and yet she still wasn’t ready to concede defeat. With Gray, there was always another way.
“Well?” She opened her eyes, the moonlight reflecting on her hair, turning it silver in its pale light, and—
“Moonlight,” I said, the answer coming to me now, sharp and clear.
And, like so many things I’d experienced since Gray had come into my life, completely forbidden.
But if it meant helping her restore the life of someone she loved, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Moonlight what?” she asked, her hands on her hips. “Liam, we don’t have time for your poetic riddles tonight. What are you—”
“Quiet, Gray. I must concentrate.” Lifting my hands to the sky, I called upon the magic of the ancient fae, using it to channel light from the moon. I gathered it into my hands, so pure and beautiful it nearly hurt to look at. Then, with a spell as old as time, outlawed since the first Elemental Wars, I whispered the incantations and carefully spun in into a gossamer sphere no larger than a grapefruit.
Gray gasped beside me, but she remained still and silent, allowing me to do my precious work.
