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Bria

T he world is black. Everything is dark. But the pain is gone. And everything else has gone along with it.

I know what this is. I’m hovering between life and death. I’m in the in-between like that body in the corner of the damp, dark dungeon cell. A tiny thread still holds my soul to my body. But that thread is fragile and frayed, ready to snap in an instant and send me tumbling down.

There are voices, and there is light, and sound, and movement. But it’s too far away, I can see none of it. Cannot hear, smell, or feel any of it. At least not at first.

But after a while there’s green, a sea of pine trees, green grass, and moss.

Slate mountains and a crystal-blue river that stretches along lazily, one that cuts right through the thriving forest. A living forest. Filled with magic.

And there are people, lots of people, who buzz—magic filling their veins, emanating from them.

An electric wind swirls and whips around the entire area.

Something in me stirs with the wind and there it is again. That old, earthy feeling of Olaphina’s magic. Something deep and true, from the world before.

The Ancients.

But as soon as I see them and feel them, they disappear, darkness cascading over me again. Pulling me down, out of the in-between. And to what lies beneath, whatever that is.

It’s not that I want to go. In fact, I would much rather stay.

I want to live and be with my sister, my friends, my love.

But I accepted long ago that this was my fate, that one day I would die and that there was no way to keep it from happening.

I understand most people come to terms with their ultimate demise at some point.

I’d just come to terms with it a lot sooner, knowing it would hit me when I was young and vulnerable.

So now, I just let the darkness grasp me, twist its long fingers around my own and drag me deeper.

Away from the warm body that surrounds me, away from the world that I know and love.

All sensation leaves as I sink further and further into the nothing that awaits me. I can’t help but wonder if this is it. Will I be like this forever? Sinking and swirling through nothing, or will it all suddenly stop, and I will finally cease to exist?

I’m not really sure what to expect. How can anyone know exactly?

It’s not as if death comes for many who then live to tell the tale.

So, when warmth spreads throughout my body again, tingling through my veins that once pumped with blood, I assume it’s happening—that I’m finally gone, my soul leaving and moving on. To wherever it goes.

Perhaps to reside alongside Lilith and Kiara’s. Maybe in the Woods with the Ancients. I don’t know if they are alive or dead waiting to meet me. But they are waiting for me, nonetheless.

And I will wait for them. For my friends and family.

For Evander. I hope the prophecy comes true and they all have the chance to live in a world where magic reigns, where there is truth and happiness and joy.

Where no one is hunted, and they can be themselves.

There will always be conflict, no matter who rules.

I’m not na?ve enough to believe otherwise.

But I need this sacrifice to be worth it.

I need the loss of my life to allow them to experience this new world.

That heat radiating from the wound in my abdomen spiders along my veins and surges through my body. It spreads across my skin like the moonlight that had poured down upon me just minutes before, seeping into my bones and pulsing through where my heart once beat. Making it feel as if it beats again.

But that’s impossible. I’m dead.

A sharp pain shoots through that wound. It stretches through the space created by the sword, gouging along the edges of the hole, a thousand tiny fingers ripping and pulling at the pieces.

They tug the edges of the gaping wound and sew them back together, forcing the muscles and sinew to bind. To heal.

A thud in my chest resounds in my ears. I can hear it. But how?

Then again.

Fuck. What is it?

A steady beating now. Picking up speed as the heat surges along every single pore of my skin, every inch of my being.And that smell. I can smell. Roses and sandalwood.

My eyes snap open.

Everything is golden and white and glowing.

A shocking difference to the inky depths of darkness I was just experiencing.

There was nothing but cold and unknown there, but now there is nothing but warmth and light.

And as the glow starts to fade, I watch, training my tired eyes on where it’s coming from, to find the source of the ethereal light.

Ebony waves peek through the glow, beams of light sparkling along the violet hues embedded in the strands. They shine and shimmer like stars come to light on a dark night. And eyes filled with flickering green and gold stare back at me. Her whole body vibrates with energy and life.

Nimai.

I’m not dead. How in the fuck am I not dead ?

She has the power to heal just as Cato thought.

The living embodiment of Kiara.But I was dead.

Not just broken. Dead. How did she heal me from that?

As far as I know, Kiara had no ability to bring life back into the lifeless.

And I had been clinging to a thread, my soul tethered to my still, lifeless body by one fraying tendril.

I drag a ragged breath into my lungs, filling them with air, no longer struggling through the thick, sticky blood that settled there.

She sits back on her heels and looks at me, her eyes dazzling with the radiating light.

Blood stains my hands, my abdomen, most of my clothes and hers as well, the tear in my gown exposing the pink flesh she has sewn together.

There’s no longer a gaping hole pouring my existence out onto the forest floor, but new skin bursting with life.

A smile spreads across her beautiful face. She is striking. My heart clenches at the sight of her, and I register once more that it’s beating.

My heart is beating.

My chest is rising and falling. I reach a hand to touch her and feel as her hand moves to mine.

Her skin is hot, and a jolt of energy zips through my arm and to my core with her touch.

My face breaks into a similar smile, crinkling my eyes as tears flow freely from them, pouring down my face and tickling my neck as they pool on my gown.

“Mai.” My voice is ragged and cracks as I whisper her name.

“Hi, B,” she says back.

My gaze slides to Evander. I’m still locked in his embrace and his eyes are glued shut, his head thrust against the golden bark of the tree.

His hands cling to me, gripping me tightly, his face streaked with blood and tears.

Locks of chestnut fall across his handsome face, riddled with agony.

He’s too paralyzed by his own grief to realize I’m not gone.

I lift my hand up, wincing at the pain, the aching I feel throughout my entire body. I brush my hand down his cheek, seeing Olaphina’s ring glinting in the moonlight, the crystals shining brighter than they ever have before. There’s something magical about them.

Evander opens his eyes and I think he might drop me. Shock consumes his features, turning his tanned skin stark white as he scans my face and my body.

“You—” He chokes on the words, tears glistening in his eyes once more.

“I’m here. I’m alive,” I whisper as he buries his head in my hand.

Evander dips his head, pressing his forehead against mine and holds me tightly, causing my wounds to scream despite their healing. His breathing comes in ragged pants. He pulls back to look at me, the gold in his eyes sparkling, captivating as always.

“How?”

I shake my head, moving gingerly as the pain creeps into my bones. I don’t know how, and I plan to find out. But right now, it doesn’t matter.What matters is that I’m back. I’m alive.

“Gods above!” Quinn gasps, and I crane my neck to see him past Nimai. He’s standing, staring at us, his eyes widened pools of gold and green, one hand tangled in his long hair as if he had been tearing it out. “Fuck, Bria. I’m so sorry. I thought you were dead.”

Oh. He means when he told them to leave me. Bastard .

He’s not wrong though, they should have left.

A pair of icy blue eyes watches me from beside him and I finally recognize where that voice I heard had come from. The scream that danced along my skin and called to my soul as I died. Silas .

Seeing the two standing there makes my heart twist deeper. The thought that I had lost them all is making it hard to breathe.I want to drown myself in all of them, to never let them go.

But it’s then that I notice Quinn’s other hand is occupied.

His sword is drawn and there’s another person.

A figure on his knees in front of the men.

I struggle to sit up so I can see the figure, pain still radiating through my core.

Evander aids me, never letting go of his grasp.

I sit across his lap and look toward the kneeling guard, a gash across his brow that still seeps blood down his forehead.

His mouth is slack, awestruck. His slate gray gaze is fixed on my sister, who is still glowing an ethereal gold.

My mouth tugs up at the corner despite my attempt not to smile.

“I imagine seeing someone brought back to life without your god present must be a bit...shocking,” I say, my voice raspy and low.

Luthais slides his eyes to me and there’s that flicker again, just a flash of something like lightning before it’s gone. A loud alarm rings from the kingdom, a bellowing sound that reverberates off the golden trees and makes the ground shake.

“You need to run,” he demands, his eyes frantically darting between Nimai and me, the air rippling around him for a second. I swear I see it, but it’s gone before I can fully register the movement. Dying is a bitch and it does weird things to your mind.