Page 124 of Obsidian Dream

Khalida stoically stared ahead.He knew she hated this place.It brought back too many memories of times when she was alone and grieving.

He should have been here with her, but that was now moot thinking.They were no longer the young Atlanteans they once had been.Lust had turned to love, and then hate, and had been reforged in a burning inferno—reborn into what they had now.He stopped and took a deep breath.In front of them, hundreds of candles flickered in the slight breeze.They had been lit in a vigil.Sidra would no longer be in darkness for as long as he and Khalida breathed.The North Star inked on his chest had been completed in honor of Sidra, who had been named for the stars, and just like the ink, she would forever be a part of him.

“Are you positive?”she asked, a note of fear entering her voice.

He dragged Khalida closer to him, placing a soft kiss on her forehead as she wrapped herself around him.Their hearts beat as one.The consort mark burned hotly on his wrist.Never again would they be separated for centuries.

“If you want a family, we can find a way.But what I said hasn’t changed.Not one iota.We will always be enough for me.”He wiped a tear from her face.It would never cease to amaze him that Khalida trusted him enough that she no longer hid behind the stony façade.It was a gift he would never get enough of.“From now until the end of time.Until we return to the ground and become star dust.I will always find my way back to you.”

“I love you,” Khalida whispered.

It didn’t matter how many times she had whispered it in the last two weeks, it always sent a thrill through him.

“I’m ready to say goodbye.”

Khalida nodded, tightening her hold on him.“For this lifetime.”

He closed his eyes.“Until the next time we meet.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

LUCIEN

Lucien lounged comfortablyin the metal chair as he ordered another espresso.Half hidden by the giant umbrella, he continued to people watch.He had to give it to the Italians—they knew how to make decent coffee.

The throngs of tourists within Rome hadn’t decreased since the unfortunate gas explosion at Palatine Hill five days earlier, despite the almost catastrophic damage done to the ancient ruins.Instead, it appeared they had all decided to visit the Fontana di Trevi today.

For a second, he seriously considered making them all disappear, but then he remembered humans had finite lives.Let them enjoy the beauty of human art—it wouldn’t always be at their disposal.

In the small coffee shop nestled within the ancient sandstone building, above the barista, a small screen replayed the news.It was repeated every hour on the hour and hadn’t changed.He dipped his spoon in the apple sorbet, taking quiet delight at the crispness of the taste.The humans were not all that wicked if they had created this delicious treat.On the screen, the image flashed to the ruins of Palatine Hill.By the grace of god and the luck of the eternal city, no tourists had perished from the unforeseen accident.It had shut Rome down for six hours, but together with the support of House Mneseus—particularly the Delacroix family—the Italians were now in the process of rebuilding the ancient site back to its former ruinous glory.

Personally, Lucien would have preferred if they steamrolled the entire site and built new buildings, but he understood the human need to connect to their past and evidence of their legacy.It was a hubris that humans and Atlanteans shared.

He pulled out the pendant from his pocket.It was cool to touch.In his hands, it was just a pretty piece of orichalcum.But somehow within his niece Rieka’s grasp, the pendant came alive.He held it up to the sky, softly smiling as the sunlight danced along the edges.

It was more than eleven thousand years since Atlantis had fallen, and somehow Rieka had done the impossible—awoken the Anki and set in motion the return of the O’hurani.He couldn’t have planned it better, even if he had tried.He was one step closer to claiming Atlantis.