What’s going on in that mind of yours?
His lips quirked up.Many, many things.
Care to share?
Let’s go for a walk.He stood and nodded a silent good night to the family before strolling away. A weight settled in my chest.
Lydia’s gaze lingered on me. “Rorik has seen and endured many horrific things throughout his life. But I have never once seen him this haunted.”
A fist wrenched my heart tight, and I stood. “I know.”
“Fill us in later.” Clesian grasped Lydia’s hand. “Go to your heartbond now.”
With a soft, knowing smile, I nodded and followed Rorik out. He hadn’t gone far; he’d stalled at the edge of the courtyard, eyes scanning the quiet lawns where we used to train. Insects and birds sang a lilting harmony, quiet chirps overlaying the trilling calls in a symphony of night. The fall breeze was a gentle caress that danced through the grass and toyed with creaking branches of the trees. It was beautiful and calm and everything I wanted Rorik to feel. Intertwining my fingers with his, I looked up at him.
“Ready?”
He smiled. “Of course.”
We walked in silence down the path I’d once run. Past the ancestor tree and its swaying limbs. Past the place where he’d placed his hands in mine and we’d shared our first kiss. Past so many memories I never wanted to forget. We walked until the manor was just an outline against the dark sky, backlit by a moon so bright and full that the only shadows we saw were the ones rooting through the woods.
And the ones drifting near my ankles.
“Are those permanent?” he asked with a tight nod to my feet.
“I don’t have much control over them, but I think it’s more the fabric than me. Because Icantake it off.” I shrugged out of the cloak and let it pool on the ground. It writhed for a moment like a bed of snakes before going still.
Rorik sank to the ground and patted the space in front of him. “Sit.”
I complied. Positioning myself between his thighs, I let out a quiet sigh when his hands began to knead the tired muscles in my back. “Your touch is divine.”
“I know.” He chuckled, but it felt stiff.
“What’s wrong, Rorik?”
His fingers tensed. “What I saw down there, what I felt...” He searched for words. After a shaky exhale, he continued. “Edira, I lost you. You died. I still don’t understand how you’re here with me, and I’m so scared to question it in case this is some fucking dream. And gods, I don’t want to wake up if it is. I can’t go back to a reality where you don’t exist.
“So please let me keep dreaming.” His voice broke with raw, sharp pain. “Please let me live in this delusion a little bit longer.”
“Rorik.” I turned and clasped his hands in mine. Placed gentle kisses on each of his fingers. His chest shuddered. “I’m here.”
“Are you?” His glassy stare nearly shattered me. “Our bond was gone. I reached for you, called for you, and nothing. What happened, Edira?”
That was the question I’d been asking myself since I awoke in Rorik’s arms. Death had melded into me and sutured his life, his power, into my bones. When I closed my eyes, I could still hear the scrape of brittle leaves over stone. His ragged breath. He was a presence that I’d carry with me forever.
Death becomes you.
Slowly, I held out my palms to Rorik. “Place your hands in mine.”
He did without hesitation. Closing my eyes, I stepped into our shared consciousness, but this time, we weren’t standing at opposite ends of our heartbond. We were directly in the middle of our golden tether of love. We’d made it to each other. No matter the hurdles, no matter the trials and tribulations.
We have something new now.
And what would that be?
This.I tapped into the dark, oily magic hiding beneath the surface of our other powers. Beneath the threadmending, beneath the beautiful earthly magic. It slithered forward and brought with it a quiet stillness to our minds. A single ribbon devoid of all color. This was the power of Death. And it belonged to me now. To us.
Rorik’s eyes flew open at the same time mine did, and he stared at the cluster of ink-black particles hanging above our hands.
