Page 88 of She Who Holds My Wrath

My voice cracks, and my eyes burn with tears that I’m desperately trying to hold back. “A life of divine lineage, freely given, bound to his. A life for a life.”

Silence falls heavy between us and a single tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. “It was always meant to be me,” I whisper. “This was my prophecy, written in the stars long before I came to be.”

Aran’s voice breaks, his emerald eyes shining. “Velentha⁠—”

“I placed him there,” I rush, because if I stop now, I won’t finish. “I made that choice. I bear the responsibility.”

I inhale shakily, my chest so painfully tight it feels like my heart might burst out. “But I waited to release him. I waited because I finally had freedom with you. I waited because I wanted more time with you.” My voice fractures, my words turning into broken sobs.

“I was selfish, for once, I allowed myself to be truly selfish, free from the Six’s grasp. But it is time. Daisy’s light is going out, and she needs him now more than ever.”

Aran grabs me, pulling me onto his lap. With shaking hands cupping my cheek, he presses his forehead to mine. His breath shudders against my lips. “You can’t ask me to survive this world without you. You can’t ask me to watch you die.”

“I’m not asking,” I breathe. “I’m telling you what must be done.”

“Then I’m going with you,” he says without a single ounce of hesitation.

I flinch. This is exactly what I feared. Exactly what I knew he would say.

“Aran…”

“No.” His voice is steel wrapped in agony and love and something unbreakable. “If you die, I die with you. We go together. As the stars remember the dark, Velentha.”

My chest caves entirely. Tears slip down my cheeks, warm in contrast to the cold I feel inside me. “As do I remember you, aeshira. Let me have tonight. Just tonight.”

Just one more memory. One more moment that belongs to us. He pulls me tight against him, my face burying into his neck as I cling to him.

“Then tomorrow, we go together,” he murmurs into my hair, stroking his hand down my bare back as we melt into each other.

We talk until the early hours of the morning. Soft words, shared memories, and whispered devotion woven through every last breath. He tells me about the first time he saw me smile all those centuries ago, when Saevyn first introduced us. I tell him how he saved me a thousand times without even realising it. Like when I was deep in the Six’s clutches, after they destroyed Dasmyrin and I was lost, broken, and sleeping night after night in the lion’s den. We cry, we hold each other close, we make promises that no matter what, our souls will always find each other, in this life, and the next.

Eventually, exhaustion drags him into sleep, his fingers still laced with mine. I lay awake on my side, watching him, committing everything to memory with desperation. Every line of his face. The faint crease between his brows that never quite disappears. The scatter of faint freckles across his skin. The way his lips part slightly when he exhales. The way he looks at peace. And I’m about to take that from him.

Emotion clogs my throat painfully as I lift his hand, pressing it to my mouth, my lips trembling against his skin. I breathe him in slowly as though I can keep his scent inside me. Like I can carry him with me into whatever comes next. Wherever I end up next.

I have to bite down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop the sound trying to tear its way out of me. I know if I let it out, I either won’t leave, or he’ll wake and come with me. And I can’t allow that. I have to do this.

I allow myself the comfort of his scent for just a moment longer. Because I know this is the last time.

When the first sliver of morning slips across the stone floor, it feels like the world itself is tearing us apart. Time’s up. My chest constricts so tightly I can barely breathe as I slowly, carefully, pull my hand from his. He stirs, brow furrowing faintly, but he doesn’t wake.

I lean in, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead first. Memorising the warmth of his skin beneath my lips. Then his cheek. Then, his lips. Just a soft little brush of our mouths. A goodbye he will never remember.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, a single, silver teardrop falling from the tip of my nose. “Forgive me.” I pull away before I can change my mind. Before I crawl back into his arms and choose him over everything else.

My hands shake as I dress, every movement clumsy as though my body is fighting me on my choices. Reality settles in. This is it. There is no coming back from this. I just hope one day, he doesn’t hate me anymore.

I reach the door and stop. Despite knowing better, I turn back. Just one final look. He’s still there. Still warm. Still real. Still mine. And I’m about to walk away from him forever.

My vision blurs completely, tears streaming silently down my cheeks as I drink him in one final time, trying to carve this moment into my soul so I can carry it with me to the other side.

“I love you. More than anything. As the stars remember the dark, my aeshira.”

The Temple of Echoing Souls awaits in a realm between realms. Down a forgotten path, where lights do not reach and the stars dare not whisper. At the realms edge, the air shimmers, ancient magic pulsing across my skin as I unlock the gate with my own power.

My footsteps echo throughout the cavern, and there, on the ancient altar, lies Korithax.

His body is perfect, whole, no longer broken or bleeding. Suspended in a breathless stillness, his chest unmoving, his long, onyx hair fanned out like dark fire around his peaceful face. His soul hovering between time and space.