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Chapter 41

Aaliyah

I dabbed the back of the wet towel against Prince's sweat-slicked forehead as he pulled in another horrid, broken breath. His eyes were vacant, his body a continual mess of trembles as his eyes rolled back, and another memory took hold.

It was agonizing, every second of him fighting this, every Rend we were forced to watch. They hadn't stopped again since Mags had left, as if suddenly on repeat. The pull, the Rend , the memory.

A few brief seconds of peace before it began all over again.

"Please, sweetheart. You need to rest," Adrian pleaded, his voice hoarse. He was the latest that tried to pull me away.

They'd all given it their best, but I wasn't leaving his side. I refused because I knew he wouldn't leave mine. I held Prince's hand tightly, unwilling to let go or look away until he pulled in his next breath.

Sleep had been a luxury, and I'd been spoiled by it since we'd gotten to the Eternium. Even then, the few sporadic hours in the arms of my men weren't enough to stop the press of exhaustion now. The idea of letting Prince out of my sight, for even a second, made me ill. What if he didn't come back on one of the Rends ? I rubbed my eyes, hand shaking as I ran a thumb over the back of Prince's hand.

What if this was the last time I'd get to see him whole?

"I can't, Adrian," I whispered, looking at him, filled with remorse at the way his face crumbled. "I can't leave him."

Prince's cool body was enough to ground me again, but the memory of his ghost still stuck to me. Eirik was the only other one in the room, perched against the door, watching over us like he had been since we'd moved Prince into the bedroom.

He'd been silent, but his presence helped, kept me sane for each and every Rend. He looked on now, a stark hope in the way his purr hitched when Adrian grabbed my free hand.

"He wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. The last thing he wants is for you to fall over sick." His voice cracked as he spoke, bringing my hand to his forehead in a plea that had me sagging forward. "Please, love. Just a break, a small one, then."

I ran a hand over Prince's knuckles, looking up to catch the eyes of his ghost. He watched on with worry, a dread that I'd learned to catch in his eyes. The expression he made was only amplified when he raised his hands, as if going to speak to me in the language we'd made.

He hesitated, as if trying to find the words in a voiceless place, before he brought his hand up, pointer and middle finger directed at his eyes … All clear.

Prince was back in his body just as quickly, another gasping breath as he bowed off the bed. I dabbed his forehead again, pulling away from Adrian with a slow shake of my head. I hated the way his face fell.

Prince coughed, reaching up to grab my hand, pulling it down to his chest as he opened his eyes. He swallowed, a fight clear in the way he gritted his teeth before he spoke. "Do it— Aaliyah?—"

"Prince," I whispered. I held on to the touch of his skin, the feeling of him because I knew what it was like to be without it. I couldn't do it again.

He groaned, a tremor working its way through him.

"Don't worry about me. It takes more than a few shitty out-of-body experiences to keep me down," he whispered, pulling me softly into his arms, until my head was seated in his lap, just like I'd done with him yesterday. His hand ran over my hair, plucking through the tangled strands. Exhaustion hit like a wave, and I breathed into the feeling of him while he was lucid for a moment, fighting the next part of the Rend. "Please, he's right. You need rest, as much as you can get. The First Rights are tomorrow. We need everyone at their best."

Prince pulled away, enough to look me in the eye, the silver burning fiercely. He pulled up his hand, pressing it to my chest. Ring and pinky finger tucked in.

It wasn't just my gasp that echoed in the room as Prince's solemn vow echoed. "Forever."

I nodded, lifting my own hand against his chest.

"Forever, Prince."

There was silence around us before the creaking of floorboards alerted us to Osiris moving closer. I hadn't even realized he'd walked in until he was kneeling next to my side. He examined us, eyes focused on our hands. His own twitched before he reached for the dark ink on his wrist.

"That's my caster hand," he whispered.

The flashes of his spell-casting were quick to find me, each moment a mantra of their own. I recalled the specific one that had tied the connection together before. When he'd wanted to show me what my power was capable of.

When I'd leveled the forest around him.

It was how he'd cast spells, a tie that had undeniably been in Prince's mind when the first press of his hand against his chest came. Forever. An ode to his brother, to his last life.

"That, I do remember. It is, brother," Prince responded, with a wry smile lighting up his face. He shivered again, a bead of sweat sliding down his face, over his top lip. "A reminder of you guys."

Osiris's eyes widened, the calculated numb fading away enough for the blues to lighten, and a smile to slip onto his face.

The memory pulled Prince under, his eyes rolling back. I couldn't leave him … not like this. I tucked low, keeping his hand in mine when I was pulled away. The protest was hot in my throat, my arms shaking as I stood.

"Fallon and Adrian will watch over him," Osiris started softly, brushing the hair away from my face.

One look told me I wouldn't be getting a better deal. There was a firm warning to his expression, the sureness in his words enough to make me sigh. I ran my hands over my face, looking at Prince one more time as he opened his eyes again.

His smile was bright, stretching over his lips in a cocky grin that screamed I've got this.

Did I ?

The room seemed to collectively take a breath as I nodded, hesitantly. Osiris led me out before I could change my mind, Eirik close behind. Adrian and Fallon stayed right by Prince's side, exactly like Osiris had said. Fallon took up the wet rag, dabbing Prince's face, and Adrian kept close, looking at the wristwatch on his hand, counting under his breath.

They'd take care of him.

Not that it made it any easier to leave.