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“But if they keep him asleep, they’ll be free.”
Ansin nodded. “Then and only then.”
So the Spiros were motivated to see this out. “And you’re sure they won’t hurt him.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t like this. Not one bit. But that didn’t matter. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
Ansin bobbed his head.
I mulled for a long moment, unsure of where to go from here.
“So, are you going to read the book?” Ansin asked, looking tense—pulsing jaw, rigid back, and chest puffed out.
Why was he reacting like that? “If I do, what will happen?”
“I’m sure it’s like the Seer who wrote it said; you will master your gifts and see everything.”
“Okay. And?”
“According to my mother, you will kill me. Then you will go after anything that might stand in Draco’s way. Which is why my people wish me to kill you.”
“Oh. I see.” I took a deep breath. I didn’t know what was more shocking, that he’d told me or that he still spoke to his mother.
“What have you decided?” I asked.
“That I would rather die than kill you.”
“But aren’t you worried about what I might do? I’ve seen the future. I turn into a monster.”
“I am not worried.”
“Why not?” I asked.
His gaze softened, and I watched the golden circles around his irises bloom. His dark eyes turned to a deep amber. What was happening to him?
“I love you,” he said. “And I do not care if you were Hagne in a past life. In this one, you are Jeni. You are kind and filled with hope. You are everything I wish to be again. So if I can change my path, then so can you. Especially with me by your side.”
There he is, my ride-or-die Ansin. It was the version of him I fell in love with.
Wait. My heart skipped a beat. Oh my god. I love him. I remember now. I started having feelings right before Ansin took away my memories. He kept telling me he didn’t want to move forward with the plan, that I was strong enough to get through it all and find another way to change my fate. Finally, he agreed and helped me plan everything. He never asked for anything in return.
That was when I began to see this other side of him, my “ride or die” Ansin. I almost backed out of the whole idea at the last minute because I didn’t want to lose whatever was growing between us. Ultimately, I decided I couldn’t be selfish. The plan wasn’t just about forgetting my pain; it was about setting the world on another path. One that would be Ten Club free.
My eyes teared, and my heart swelled. I felt the thick wall of mistrust and despair for all the things I’d lost melting away. “Ansin?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to burn the book. And then you and I are going to start over, beginning with me giving up my gifts and breaking all ties with the Seers.” King once told me how Mia had done it. And if she could, then so could I.
“Are you serious?” he asked.
I couldn’t tell if he liked the idea or hated it, but I didn’t care. I was doing this. “I remember considering the option after I had my vision, but I was too afraid to be left alone, powerless.” The world had always felt like a terrifying place.
“And now?”
“Now I have you.” He was more than enough badass for the both of us. Plus, I could trust him with my life. I already had. “And you have more than proved yourself to me.” It was why I could now let go of my gifts. I wasn’t afraid anymore.
Ansin stared, the color of his eyes flickering. “You are sure this is what you want—a life with me?”
I nodded.
I watched as his entire body seemed to relax, and his breathing intensified.
“Say something,” I prodded.
“I fucking love you.”
I tried not to laugh. “I fucking love you back. And, also, I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
King
“I don’t believe it. You and Hagne?” After hours of lovemaking, Mia leaned against the wall of the primitive room with a firepit, straw bed, and open window facing the deep blues of the Mediterranean. It was the room where I almost lost her once and where I fell in love with her a second time, three thousand years before my final death.
We’d spent hours talking earlier, and I felt relieved that Mia had taken the news so well. I had slept with and had a set of twins with another woman—the woman who murdered her and her children. It did not matter if Mia was already dead when it happened. It was an unforgivable betrayal. At least in my mind. Yet Mia seemed more concerned about Draco and what would become of him.
“Are you absolutely sure that Jeni is Hagne?”
“I’m certain, Mia. I could never mistake her unique combination of powers or her evil temperament.”
