Page 137 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

The silence stretches between us. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing across my lower lip.

“I’ll take what you’re offering,” he says finally. “And trust that you’ll change your mind when the time comes.”

“I won’t,” I say firmly.

“We’ll see.” There’s confidence in his voice, arrogance maybe, but also something that might be regret.

He pulls me against him, and I let him, because arguing seems pointless when I can feel his heartbeat against my breasts, and the night is still young, and tomorrow is the betrothal ceremony, and everything will change.

“Stay,” he murmurs against my hair. “Just for a little while longer.”

I should go back to Chase.. But my body is liquid and satisfied, and I’m so tired.

“Just for a while,” I agree, finally closing my eyes in the comfort of his arms.

I slip out of the tent while Adric sleeps, pulling my dress back on with shaking hands. I need to go to Chase. Need to see him, be with him. Adric will be my fiancé soon—but Chase is the one I love. Even if I want them both.

The thought twists in my chest as I step from the tent into the night air. The courtyard is empty, silent except for the whisper of wind against stone. I tilt my head back, looking up at the five moons hanging low and orange in the sky, as I try to sort through the tangle of feelings that won’t let me rest.

That’s when I see them.

Two figures on a high terrace, silhouetted against the orange moonlight. One is unmistakably Kali—I’d recognize that sharp, warrior stance anywhere. The other has her back to me, but something about the way she holds herself seems familiar.

Then she turns, just slightly, and the moonlight catches her profile.

My heart stops.

It can’t be.

But even from this distance—even with the strange orange glow making everything look otherworldly—I know that face. I’ve mourned it for years.

Mom.

Oh, dear god. My mother is alive.

I sag, then realize I’ve forgotten to breathe.

What the hell is going on?

Epilogue

Since before the Sundering, we watched.

We saw.

We witnessed the weaving of the universe and stood as protection for the beings born of the sacred energy.

We watched and we waited and we policed the universe.

And then the Breaking came in the form of a brother. He broke us. Shattered our bond. Threw the universe out of alignment.

He who was half of us. He has not yet paid for this crime against all creation, but the bill is coming due.

He will pay—and the price will be steep. Because he will pay with what he holds most dear.

He will pay with her…

Chase’s cry wrenched him upright in bed, the pain in his thigh screaming, and fear clinging to him like a parasite.