Page 100 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

“My love for you will never die.” His voice came soft, barely a breath. “Not even our end can keep me away from you. Across death. Across lifetimes. I will find you.” His eyes turned storm dark. “Look for the stars, Yeri. Every one you see, I put there for you. I’ll keep filling the sky until we find each other.”

His eyes closed. Whatever the other gods did to us, I couldn’t see, nor feel their power. But Calroy’s legs became ash first, a slow unraveling that rippled higher—his chest, his arms, his face—until his body scattered into the wind. Just before, the god of the afterlife had whispered in his ear.

I wished I could have heard, but it didn’t matter. I became nothing but ash and bone.

Chapter Thirty-One

No more pain. No more Theron—Calroy.

Just the bone-white trees and the fog beneath my feet.

I stood in the land of the dead, chest heaving, tears still wet on my face, the dagger by my waist, the stone in my pocket. The keeper hovered where it had always been, watching.

I was Star. But I had just watched myself die as Yeri.

The name settled into me differently now, not like a stranger’s but mine. My hand pressed flat against my chest, half expecting to feel a wound that wasn’t there. Something clicked into place, and I saw myself in a new light.

And Calroy… I looked down at my hand, the one that had reached for his and never made contact.

I will find you. Not even our end can keep me away from you.

He already had found me.

On an auction block, of all places, standing in chains while men decided my worth in coin. He’d been there. He’d seen me. And whatever part of him still carried Calroy’s memory had recognized something I hadn’t yet understood about myself.

He’d covered for me when I killed Russo, stepped between me and consequence without asking for anything in return.

He’d pulled me onto his horse and carried me through a field of impossible grass, his arm around my waist, his breath warm against my shoulder.

He’d held my hand in the dark as the shadowroot pulled us under, his grip loosening last, like even unconscious some part of him refused to let go first.

He’d even kissed me like he’d been waiting lifetimes to do it.

Because he had.

I found you. He’d said it twice. Once on the ship, standing over me in the dark—I found you, that’s all that should matter tonight. And again in the woods, catching me watching the winged figures in the trees—I found you.

I’d thought he meant it literally both times. That he’d simply come across me. But he’d meant it the way Calroy had meant it with his last breath.

Across death. Across lifetimes. I will find you.

I’d thought Theron was a ruthless pirate with no loyalty but to himself. But he’d been looking for me through every kingdom and every sea. Not knowing my face, not knowing my name, just carrying something in his chest that wouldn’t let him stop.

He knew I was Yeri.

He’d always known.

And I—I pressed my fist to my chest, breathing hard, chest tightening at what we had been through.

Theron… my Calroy. I remember you. I remember me. That one memory was enough for now, until I fully understood the god power within me.

“You choose wisely,” the keeper said.

I met his empty space where his face should be and with a newfound confidence I demanded, “Take me to my friends, now.”

Energy shifted in the air, charging and humming, like a plucked string held too long.

“Yes.” The voice dropped to almost reverent. “My Lady.” It bowed. “The goddess Yeri has finally returned.”