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It’s going to be enough.I’mgoing to be enough.

All the color has drained from my mother’s face. It’s replaced by doubt and fear and concern, everything I need to know about her faith in my abilities. “Allison—”

There’s nothing left to say—either on her end or mine—nothing but pleas and warnings I won’t listen to, and reassurances she’ll never believe. No. The time for all of that has passed.

Instead, I step forward and hug her tightly. “I love you, mom.”

When I pull away, there are tears dampening her face. “I love you too, Allie.”

I’m… okay. It’s the third time now we’ve said goodbye like this, and nothing much has changed. Maybe it never will… and maybe that’s okay, too.

We part, and Eren retakes his place beside me.

“An hour?” I ask her again. “If nothing comes of it, well, you’ll do what you think you have to.”

In an instant, Esme Hawthorn regains her composure as High Priestess of the Crescent Coven. She takes a step back and nods magnanimously, face settling back into calm determination.

“An hour.”

Chapter 42

Eren

Allie’s mother still doesn’t believe in her.

That fact is clear enough as Esme retreats to speak with the other coven leaders, leaving Allie and I alone to face the Veil.

Beside me, though, Allie doesn’t waver for a moment. No, when she turns back to me her face is dry, her eyes clear, and her intent crystallized and unmistakable.

It’s time to step into the Veil.

Before we venture back inside, I take a few final moments to study her, savor her, breathe in the sweet scent of her magick. Like she knows what I’m doing, she stretches up to wrap her arms around my neck, pulling me into her.

Bliss. Pure, utter bliss. Each passing second might contain decades. Each moment in each other’s embrace might last the rest of our lives.

When I pull back, it’s a queen I see before me.

Magnificent. Regal.Mine.

I can’t help but think of the last night we spent in these woods, of everything I felt when I saw her for the first time. I thought I’d been certain, then. Seeing her—Goddess-chosen and glowing—I thought there was nothing that could have ever eclipsed that moment.

How wrong I’d been.

Allison Amethyst Ashblood is a woman for the ages, and there’s no one I’d rather have beside me tonight. Here, now, with everything in the thirteen realms stacked against us, I’d choose this—chooseher—a thousand times and a thousand more.

We step together to the edge of the Veil, and she glances up at me. Neither of us has spoken about this next part out loud, though I think we’ve both always known how it would be, how it had to be.

“You’re coming with me, demon?” she asks.

“This is a bargain, isn’t it? With a demon prince? Stands to reason I should accompany you for it.”

Allie’s answering smile shines brighter than the Veil.

“We do this together, my mate,” I tell her, taking her hand. “Whatever may come of it.”

Chapter 43

Allie