“I’m tired too, Whisp.” I yawned and stretched out alongside him, using his cooling shoulders as a pillow. “I think I might just take a little nap.”
I’d never been afraid of death. It was probably why I’d become a bodyguard—treating my life as a tool to protect others. Now all those I wanted to protect were gone and all it took was a decision.
A decision to move on to the next life where I could find my lost ones again.
And as my eyes grew heavy and my heart slowed down, a quake tore through my deceased friend, jostling me. His entire body twitched as if something tore free inside him.
“Whisper?” I struggled to sit up, then gasped as two orbs of light erupted from his pelt, rising up to hover just above me.
One silver.
One gold.
I fell back down again, my dying heart kicking with shock. The lights didn’t move. They just shimmered above me like twin stars. With a trembling hand, I pulled off my glove and used the rest of my strength to touch them.
I reached for the silver one. The sparkling one. And the second my fingers grazed it, an overwhelming sense of comfort and familiarity flooded me. I heard her laugh. I felt her hug. An avalanche of memories consumed my mind as Rook’s frosty power engulfed me—almost as if she’d always been with me—hidden in Whisper’s heart.
Tears poured down my cheeks as my arm flopped back down and the coldness in my body claimed me. The golden light pressed against the silver one in a blaze of heat and fire, and I knew.
Just like I’d known Whisper had come here to die, I knew Lucien and Rook were somehow watching. Hovering above me like immortal guardians, keeping vigil as I took my final breath.
I smiled as things shut down.
My eyes grew heavier as the cold switched to heat.
It felt as if I slipped into a nice warm bath as the breeze died down.
The ice felt soft.
The snow stopped falling.
And the tug to slip into sleep wrapped around my thoughts, cut me from this existence, and I slipped into endless freedom.
Chapter Forty-Five
One hundred years...
Chapter Forty-Six
Two hundred years...
Chapter Forty-Seven
Three hundred years...
I WOKE TO DARKNESS AND THE SMELL OF WET stone.
My soul began to coalesce, bringing with it senses and the ability to see and smell andfeel.
Lying on damp rock, I inhaled the sharp musk of minerals and sulphur, trying to get my bearings.
Where am I?
Blinking, I swung my bare legs off the ledge.
My body obeyed me instantly, effortless and powerful. I had vague recollections of pain and suffering, but now I hummed with pure strength.
Frowning, I raised my hands. Golden light flickered faintly beneath my skin like smouldering embers. I flexed my fingers, activating a raw, endless power. It thrummed and purred, waiting and obedient...
