We weren’t just manmade immortals—created by a gene that stripped us of everything—we were the living embodiment of harmony itself and perhaps that was how we survived. How we’d become the beginning and end, even while we’d only wished to be human.
As my thoughts raced with what we could achieve and the weight of responsibilities we now bore, we stepped forward as one and followed instinct.
Golden fire poured from my hands, wild and eager, licking across the blackened earth and detonating into the sky. Rook followed me, releasing her silver frost, braiding the two energiesinto one until they shimmered in a helix of sterling and gold.
Braided power flowed across the landscape, sinking into the soil and spiralling into long-dead trees.
The barren wasteland responded.
The hard shell of lava cracked and softened, turning into rich fertiliser for green shoots to sprout. Flowers pushed through the ash in defiant bursts of colour. Trees shook off their skeletal bark and erupted with new leaves.
In just a few moments, the devastated landscape stepped out of three hundred years of destruction. The scars we’d caused healed, the air sweetened with fresh foliage, and as the moon rose, we lowered our hands.
No sign of the catastrophe we’d caused existed. The land was reborn and whole.
But it remained silent and far too still.
“Can we bring back all those creatures we killed that night?” I turned to Rook, finding her standing with her eyes closed as if listening to the entire mountain’s bones.
Her expression tightened with guilt as she shook her head. “I can hear them. I can feel each and every soul that died on the mountain. The animals. The people. But they’ve already moved on, hiding behind that veil I can’t touch. I can’t bring them back.”
Her eyes opened and she sagged with grief. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Pulling her close, I kissed her temple. “We have time. We’ll figure it out and find a way to help everyone that we hurt—including all those who were harvested and harmed because of my blood.”
She nodded, lifting her chin to kiss my lips.
I groaned as the kiss turned deep and sensual, locking us together as our energies surged, taking and giving, recharging and feeding, recovering from the cost of what we’d just done.
When we finally pulled apart, I thrummed with power and desire so strong I struggled to think. “I want you.”
Her cheeks pinked. “You always want me.”
“Can you say you’re immune to my charms?”
“Nope.” She laughed.
“Then come on.” Taking her hand, I pulled her toward Ashfall Cliff in the distance. “Let’s go home.”
“We could just slip into the dreamscape...” Her gaze slid between my legs, her tongue licking her lower lip with wicked temptation. “You could have me on my back in a second.”
I jerked her close and kissed her again. “I could...but I plan tohave you on your knees.”
She shivered as lust turned hot and thick.
I fought for control. “I want you on your knees, Rook, but I want you in our bedroom. And in order to do that...we have to repair it.”
“How did this go from having sex to renovating?”
I chuckled as my skin gleamed with gold. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. We’ll rebuild, and then...I’ll spend the next ten years pleasuring you in our bed.”
“Mm...” She tapped her bottom lip. “I suppose I could be persuaded.”
I kissed her again, softly and reverently. “I want to erase all those horrible memories of watching you being stolen by shadows. I want to trust that this is real. Thatyouare real. That I’m not deluding myself with another illusion, and in order to do that...I need to reclaim Ashfall Cliff as our own.”
Hugging her hard, I whispered into her hair, “I want to begin our eternal life together in a place where everyone else has forgotten...that way I can keep you all to myself.”
She hugged me back, watching my memories where I’d fallen into the fantasy to keep her, my mind breaking thanks to watching her die. “I’m sorry you had to lose me twice.”
