He needs to know it, even if I accidentally already bound with him, just like I accidentally raised him from the dead. He needs to know that this decision now is no accident, in case I never see him again. I want him. I choose him, no matter what comes of it.
His magic hums in my veins. It stirs against my heart.
“And I choose you, Elorie. I will always choose you. Even if it means every star falls from the sky, and we’re left with only darkness. Even if the gods burn, and the realms are ripped to pieces. I will always choose you. No matter the price. And I will find you. Trust me.”
Trust.
It’s been a fragile thread between us. I’ve barely trusted myself with this untamed magic stirring inside me. But I trust Wilder now as he stands with his sister, lifeless in his arms.
“This isn’t the end.”
Callum pulls me back a step, and Rior takes Selia from Wilder. Rior is the first to step through the Arch, with her in his arms. Then Perame and Atlas. But Wilder waits with his palms to the sky. He’s going to bring this all down before he goes through.
A final show of what his magic can really do.
“It’s time.” Callum nudges my arm as Greer hurries to meet us at the Gateway.
Blood stains her sword, her clothes, her skin. Her eyes swirl with heightened magic. “I’m going with you.”
We’re a strange trio, and we don’t make sense. But having them at my side makes stepping through the Gateway feel possible. Greer slips her hand into mine, while Callum keeps his hand on my shoulder. I look up in time to meet Wilder’s gaze.
He nods once.
A simple, silent promise as I move toward the Gate.
Aether stirs at his fingertips. It crackles in the air. The hair on the back of my neck stands tall as he dissolves the fabric of the palace.
“See you soon, Starfire.”He tosses out a final wink as I move backward, and light explodes all around.
Gold is all I see when the Gateway finally claims me. And when I close my eyes, it smells like home.
Chapter 57
Elorie
I know this beach.These unforgiving stones.
I know this wind. Heartless and hungry for warmth.
I know this sky. Not a star in it.
My fingers stretch, but my magic is far away. I’m an ocean, and it nuzzles at the bottom, burrowed so deep it can’t be reached.
Alyssium.
The tide hammers the shore, sending a spray of saltwater to soak my legs. With the heat of my magic burning through me in the Ley Court, I forgot what I was wearing. A thin dress for a ritual that never really took place.
Now, the edges of this snowy, frostbitten forest have me clasping my arms for warmth.
“Where are we?” Greer shields herself when another wave crashes.
But I don’t. I want to feel it. The rage of the sea that raised me. The island that is my home.
“Alyssium.” I swallow, scanning the beach.
At the far end is a cleared, charred expanse of beach where the bodies are burned.
“That explains this feeling.” Greer holds out her hands, palms up, likely searching for her magic, but she won’t find it here. “Why choose this place?”
