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I wanted to let out a cheer when Valen caught the fleeing man and sliced his axe through his skull. In the end, he got what he deserved.
The most poignant moment was a memory that took Valen’s breath, one that brought him to pause. It came when smoke parted and he saw Elise across the battlefield, breathing heavily, a blade in her hand. She looked nowhere but at him. Valen didn’t blink.
She leapt into his arms, and he clung to her, kissing her as if she might disappear. I witnessed their unity as they grew their new kingdom. Witnessed laughter, love, and adoration between a young king and queen.
But a hollow, agonizing cry shook the memories back into the darkness.
Valen looked over his shoulder with hesitation. “It remains. I feel it, pulling me back. I don’t know if I can be free this time.”
“You can. I’m here to help you. Remember what Calista told you.Until blood’s desire is shadowed, forgotten, and gone—”
“Only then, will our earth king, at last, move on,” he finished.
“But she also told me to step into the shadows and beastly ways could be forgotten.” I lifted my palm. Ribbons of darkness wove like mist around my fingers. “I am a memory thief. I have shared my crown with you. Let me in, Valen, and let me do what I am best at.”
Valen studied the shadows on my hand with reservation.
“I can take this pain from you,” I whispered. “But you must choose to let it go first. You cling to it as if you believe you deserve this. But that isn’t true, Valen. You have a life waiting for you. You have love.”
Valen’s breaths grew ragged. He closed his eyes. “It holds me here. You don’t understand the pull to bloodlust. Itconsumesme.”
“Greater things await you. Things you have fought for, bled for. Do not let darkness win.”
“I have let it back in,” he said, voice rough. Almost monstrous. Like he was shifting into the hollow creature again. “Elise . . .gods, she deserves more than this. I . . . chose to ruin us.”
Hells, I was losing him. He curled over his knees again, gasping.
I gripped his arm. The muscles beneath my palm flinched under my touch. “Choose her, Valen. This doesn’t own any piece of your heart and mind. Those pieces belong to her. She is waiting for you.”
His teeth clenched. The cloud billowed closer.
Gods, Elise would need to forgive me.
“Valen.” He turned his haggard face toward mine. “You must let it go. They need you. Your wife and . . . and your child.”
He blinked several times. “You know?”
Now, I was stunned. “Wait,youknow?”
The smallest glimmer of a smile teased the king’s mouth. “Elise hates seed bread.” He straightened, as if speaking of his wife forced the darkness away. “I found herbs a few days after we arrived and worried she might be hiding an injury from me, so I asked Niklas what they were used for.”
“You haven’t said anything.”
His smile widened. “I do not want to spoil whatever grand reveal she has planned. I did mention my suspicion to Sol when I agreed to be cursed once again. It was the only way I could stomach the idea. If it did not go according to plan, I needed to know he would keep her—them—safe.”
“Then remember what you were shown here,” I said. “Elise loved you despite the curse. She chose you despite lies, war, and the risks. You think she deserves more? She does not want more than you. She wants her life with you.”
His brow furrowed in emotion. “She is resilient. She is my everything, Malin. I am king, but I would be nothing if not for her.” The darkness shrieked when the king laughed, ignoring it at long last. Valen shook his head, smiling. “A child. I can hardly believe it.”
“She feared you would insist she stay back. That is the only reason she’s kept it from you.”
“I assure you, there is a piece of me that would like to send her back to the North this instant, but we are stronger together, and . . . in truth, I do not know where any of us are safe until this fight is over.”
It would end soon. I could feel it deep inside. This battle was coming to a head.
“This curse is your past.” I pointed at the fading darkness. “It served a purpose; it created the family you have now. But it is time to let it go for good.”
He studied the mist for a pause. “You’d think such a thing would be simple. That I would be running from this wretched thing. But the longing for blood is like another piece of me.”
