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“Am I…?” I cleared my throat, causing the sultry taste to fade. “Did I die?”
“What?” His arm tightened around my waist. “Fates, no, Sera.”
I wiggled again, feeling a soft mattress under me. We were on some sort of sofa. “Where are we?”
“The Thyia Plains.” Ash shifted me in his embrace, and my head suddenly came to rest in the crook of his arm. I stared up at him. His hair was a rich, warm, reddish-brown and fell against the cut line of his jaw. The golden-bronze hue of his skin was paler, and I saw concern etched into the striking lines and angles of his face. “Keella thought you’d be more comfortable here. We’re on the veranda of her palace.”
My gaze inched away from his, running over the terracotta stone floor and then beyond to the cliffs that stretched out on either side. I saw Ehthawn. The draken was curled on one of the rocky bluffs, his head resting on the sun-warmed rock. I would’ve thought him asleep if not for the one open crimson eye and the idle twitching of his tail. I scanned the other cliffs, not seeing Nektas or the other draken.
Ash smoothed his thumb down my cheek, the coolness of his touch surprising me. It was even colder than before.
I swallowed, glancing down at my hands—my empty hands. My stomach twisted. “Where is The Star?”
“Keella and Attes have it,” he said, and I relaxed. “How are you feeling?”
“I…I don’t know. Okay?” My gaze flicked back to his. “I passed out, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
My mind cleared of the remaining fog, and I stiffened. “Oh, gods, I’m sorry.”
His dark brows furrowed. “For what?”
“For passing out right in the middle of freeing your father.”
Ash’s expression smoothed out. “Sera—”
“I saw him touch you. He was talking to you, wasn’t he? In a way no one else could hear?” I could clearly see Eythos’s soul drifting upward. “Please, tell me you didn’t focus on me when I passed out.”
“I could hear him—his voice.” Ash’s thickened. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear it again, but I did. Thanks to you.”
“I really didn’t do much.”
“Liessa,” he chided softly, drawing his thumb across the skin below my lip. “You did everything.”
A knot lodged in my chest. “But then I had to go and pass out, ruining what was a beautiful moment. So that undoes—”
“It undoes nothing, Sera. You didn’t interrupt anything. His soul was leaving this realm.”
“Are you sure I didn’t—?”
“I’m positive.” Ash dipped his head, kissing my forehead. “He couldn’t linger here. He didn’t want to after all this time.”
I imagined not.
Gods, I really hoped he wasn’t lying to me. “What did he say to you?” My eyes widened at my question. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me. I’m sure it was private—”
“He told me that he loved me.” Ash drew his fingers along my jaw. “That he was proud of me—of the man I’ve become.”
“Oh,” I whispered, feeling the knot make its way to my throat. Tears pricked my eyes.
He stretched his neck to the side. “I almost couldn’t believe he said that, to be honest.”
“Why?” I lifted a hand, relieved that it didn’t take as much effort as walking up those damn Temple steps had. “Of course, he would be proud of you.”
“I’ve done a lot of things that no one would be proud of.”
My heart ached for him. “You did things others made you do.”
