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It was his voice in my head. His blood united with mine in a powerful oath, one that overthrows Mordere’s command. I understand what I’d surrendered, what I’d traded, what I’dgivenfor his protection. I wrestle with the bond, with that nebulous haze that surrounds his mind, and I ask, I seek, I knock. Somehow, I understand his name:Thanatos…no,
Natos,I whisper through that bond.
I love you, Elysia,he responds in a voice like a breath prayer.
I collapse into Thanatos’ arms, feel him wrap me in his outer Reaper robe, and bear me into the air to shadow me out of the arena because Death waits for no one. And I must marry Thanatos.
I will be his first and his last bride.
* * *
Nothing happenslike it did before. Thanatos does not give me time to prepare as Neoptolemus did. As if I require no preparation because he treasures how I am in this moment. The only similarity is the location of the ceremony—the intimate tower sphere with all its mirrored panel technology offering an untarnished 360-degree view. Just like last time, it steals my breath in whole new ways because there is no ash and no blood moon. Instead, it is silver!
A resplendent, celestial silver moon face shedding opalescent beams throughout the tower sphere, bathing it in an ethereal glow while clouds roll slowly and alluringly beneath our feet. The silver catches the light of strategically placed prisms until it’s as if little stars the size of my finger flicker and dance within the sphere to compliment the tresses of fog dressing the floor.
“Consider it a wedding gift, my love,” Thanatos reveals, his breath a hush of frost behind me.
“You…killedthe blood moon?” I breathe the words, bordering on a gasp.
“Just for tonight. It will resume its cycle tomorrow night. I must thank you.”
“Why?” What could he possibly have to thankmefor?
“You waited.” Thanatos assumes my hand, raises it to his lips, so he may place a tender kiss upon my knuckles. “Mordere may have said you would attend his party, but he didn’t specify when. You waited till nightfall, till the last possible moment to arrive on that staircase. It granted me much time to prepare for our wedding. First, would you care to see your gown?”
My gown! Oh, Saints!
I know I should revile him for this, for taking a choice away from me just as his brother had. Instead, violent emotion wells up in my heart as Thanatos’ shades only remove his Reaper robe as the gown forms on my skin. A gown of translucent crystals and a waterfall of frost to create the most beautiful bridal train I’ve ever beheld. The most perfect gown befitting the Mistress, no…the Bride of Death.
A crown of crystals enthrone my curls. Halcyon dust and flame currents abound all along my skin, and I weep, I weep, I weep because somehow, I know I would never want to wear anything but this gown! The tiniest trickle of no more than a trinity of liquid gold teardrops eases down my thighs to mirror the ones on my cheeks. No, I do not feel shame in my body’s response to Death’s beauty.
I gasp, I marvel, and I whimper when Thanatos turns my tears to roses, opens my hand beneath his, and offers me the tiny rosebuds of frost.
“Thanatos—”
“Natos please,” he requests, fingertips trailing along my cheek, stealing a shiver rippling through my body. “You call me Natos.”
“This is so…” I swallow, overcome by violent emotion…or the memory of violent emotion.
My chest heaves, a familiar pain creeping along the back of my neck, but Thanatos curls one hand to my lower waist, prickles frost along my spine, his fingers hovering a hairline above the skin to not quite touch. I weep all the more because he’s somehow stemmed the serpents from trespassing upon my heart, from sinking their non-venomous fangs into that unbreakable muscle. Not so unbreakable, I consider the prophecy.
If there is one thing I know, I will not break tonight. He will not destroy me. Tossing my curls back, I tilt my neck to the side and stare up at him, at those celestial orbs, so I may proclaim, “You will not break me down, Natos. You will notdestroyme.”
“Elysia,” Thanatos echoes in the stillness, finishing his frost trail at the nape of my neck below my curls. “I am not my brother. I am not Destruction. Nor did I simply prioritize the moon. You see, I invited somesignificantguests.” The Prince inclines his head to our right, to the staircase, where multiple familiar figures ascend.
Nearly breathless, overcome with gratitude, I squeeze Thanatos’ hand before I pick up the ends of the gown and crash first into the arms of my, “Uncle Heath!”
“Lyssi.” I hear the smile in his voice when Heath embraces me, the silk of his long vest gliding across the frost of my dress. “Please forgive me for missing your last wedding, but I had no intentions of missing this one.”
“Please give me away!” I implore him.
Uncle Heath chuckles. “Never, Lyssi. You will do that all by yourself, but I will be proud to stand as your man of honor, as it were. And Jesula as your—”
“Queen,” she finishes and curves one arm around my shoulder before side-eyeing Thanatos. “And I would like you to know, Halo, I did not bring my taser.”
My hands fly to my face, overwhelmed, more teardrops squeezing between the hairline gaps of my fingers. My heart is overflowing.
“Stop your fussing, sweet Ezer,” a new voice, foreign but domineering, proclaims.
