Page 79 of When the Moon Met the Sun

He nodded, still smiling slightly as he grabbed my hand.

“My queen. My friend. My sister,” he murmured with a final dip of his head to me.

I had to turn away as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

Byn and I slowly got to our feet and stepped away from Ezra, allowing him a moment with Quinn as she moved to take up Byn’s place next to Ezra.

We’d accepted his fate, grateful that we got to say goodbye, and knew that he wouldn’t last but another moment or two. It was obvious by his reaction to Quinn trying to leave that he knew he wasn’t going to make it, and wanted to spend the time he had left with those he cared about, Quinn especially.

I doubted Quinn would accept his fate so easily.

“My gem,” he said softly to Quinn, reaching an arm up to wipe the tears from her face. His blood smeared where his fingers touched her blanched skin, but she leaned into his touch anyways, as if savoring every touch, glance, and exchange she had left with him.

“Don’t leave me,” she replied, her face still resting in his hand.

“I can’t hold on much longer, gem,” he responded, speaking softer than I’d ever heard.

Quinn’s shoulders shook from the effort of holding back her sobs, and fresh tears fell down her face.

“I never wanted to be the reason you cried,” he said to her, his voice full of despair.

“It isn’t fair. We didn’t get enough time,” Quinn said through her tears.

“Every moment with you was perfect. And if this was all the time we were permitted in this life, it was worth it. I’d rather have the time we did than go a lifetime not knowing you. Not loving you.” His voice cracked at the end.

“I’ll tear the Stars apart to find you again,” Quinn responded, unrelenting even to the end.

Ezra smiled. Pure, and genuine, and full of unyielding love. “I know, gem. I’ll be waiting for you.”

And with that, Ezra’s arm dropped from his wife’s face. He closed his eyes, and did not open them again.

Quinn’s screams cut through the air as she watched the life fade from her lover, a gut wrenching and heart aching sound.

The sun rose over the horizon, spreading its light like a gift upon us, as if our lives didn’t just change forever. And in the same moment, the rain began.

***

Teagan, having left Margo safely with Lychen further in the forest, approached Byn and me moments later. The three of us looked on with tearful eyes as Quinn endearingly pushed Ezra’s white streak of hair to the side, kissed his forehead one last time, then gently lowered him to the ground from where she had been holding him up.

Ever so slowly, she rose to her feet. Her armor and leathers were drenched in her husband’s blood, which was still smeared across her face.

She walked over to where the three of us stood, but she looked as though her soul was weighing her down. Her eyes were empty, void of any emotion beyond pure fury.

I could feel Byn’s own anger rising in my chest as he looked upon her, then back at Ezra’s unmoving form. Not directed at his friends, his family, but at what had become of them.

She came to a stop in front of me, meeting my eyes.

The lack of emotion and life in them sent a chill down my spine.

“Let’s finish our mission,” Quinn said firmly, though her voice was rough from overexertion.

“Are you—" I started, but she quickly interrupted.

“His sacrifice willnotbe in vain.”

I pressed my lips together, but nodded. “Let’s regroup,” I responded, turning to face Byn and Teagan, too.

That was when we all heard it.