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F irst Teryn was swallowed by darkness, his consciousness faint and floating in nothingness. No thoughts. No memories. Just a much-needed sleep. A final rest.

Then light bled into the void, splitting it into shards. It burned brighter and brighter until it was all that there was. All Teryn could see. It dimmed at the edges of his vision, shrinking inch by inch until it narrowed into two points of light.

Teryn’s mind felt slow, heavy, as he took in his surroundings. They were familiar like a dream, and just as hazy.

A dark meadow bathed in fire and moonlight.

A beautiful woman crouched upon the earth.

Before her were two halves of a broken crystal from which the points of light glowed. The woman moved slowly, as if the passing of time had been reduced to a leisurely crawl. He watched as she gathered up the two halves of the crystal and brought them toward the blazing fire that lapped over the walls of a tent. It was strange seeing flames move so slowly, but even stranger to watch the woman. The longer he looked at her, the more certain he was that he knew her. The feeling only grew as she moved farther away from him. The wider the distance grew between them, the more desperate he was to draw her back.

Something warm and heavy condensed in his chest.

A name formed in his mind.

Cora .

And he remembered.

His memories brought a hollow ache, one that deepened when his eyes fell on a body sprawled in the grass nearby. He hadn’t noticed it at first, not with his attention so absorbed by Cora, but now he saw his own slack face, eyes closed. Was he…dead? The world didn’t look how it had when he and Emylia projected themselves outside the crystal. There was a haze between him and the plane of existence he watched. A discrepancy between time and space that sent waves of panic through him.

Stark illumination drew his attention away from his body. Even though Cora had taken the broken halves of the crystal to the fire, the two points of light remained on the earth. Beside it, another familiar figure kneeled. This one, however, didn’t belong to the living world.

“Emylia,” he said. His voice rang hollow, lacking all resonance.

She met his eyes briefly, lips pursed tight. While her form appeared as solid as it had inside the crystal, the edges rippled like smoke. She collected the pieces of light in her palms, as gingerly as one would handle their most fragile treasure. “I must act quickly,” she said, voice as hollow as his. “We don’t know what he’ll become without his heart.”

A bolt of alarm shot through him. “What who will become?”

It was fruitless to ask; he already knew the answer. A dark shadow drew his gaze to the center of the meadow. It towered twice his height, a shapeless mass of writhing tendrils that lapped out in every direction, fluttering at a violent pace as if on an invisible storm wind.

Emylia strode straight for the shadow, her moves not restricted by the sluggish momentum that had fallen over the plane of the living. Belatedly, Teryn followed her, felt the buzzing pressure between his feet and the earth beneath them. “What are you doing?”

“An ethera without a heart-center becomes a wraith,” she said, “but Morkai…he could become something worse. I have to save him.”

Teryn hadn’t a clue how Emylia planned to save the sorcerer, nor did he think Morkai should be saved at all.

He could become something worse .

Teryn didn’t like the sound of that.

His ethera constricted with fear as they approached. The shadow that was Morkai’s ethera gave no reaction. It had no face. No eyes. Nothing to suggest it was sentient at all.

Emylia stepped far closer to it than Teryn dared, the two orbs of light cradled in her palms. She stared up at the shadow. A desperate emotion twisted her features, tugged the edges of her lips, turned her eyes down at the corners. Whether it was hope or terror, Teryn knew not.

“You sacrificed the first half of your heart-center to save my soul,” she whispered, voice trembling.

The shadow shifted, drawing closer to her as if to hear her better. The undulating tendrils began to contract, shrinking more and more until the shadow was only as tall as Teryn. Little by little, the edges of the shadow became smooth, taking on the semblance of hands, legs, a torso. It resembled a wraith now, its body colorless and semi-transparent. Only its face remained hidden behind the rippling tendrils.

Emylia spoke again. “You sacrificed the second half of your heart-center when you tethered your soul to the crystal. In return, you became heartless.”

The wraith lifted a hand and brushed it over his shadowed head. His fingers smoothed the undulating tendrils, leaving gray flesh behind to form Morkai’s face. Teryn tensed, eager to evade Morkai’s gaze, but the sorcerer only had eyes for Emylia. Morkai stared down at the seer, expression cold. “Don’t you dare condemn me, Emylia. Everything I’ve done has been for you.”

Her brows lowered into a glare. “You didn’t do this for me. I never wanted you to do the things you’ve done. I never wanted you to become Morkaius.”

“You were the one who helped me learn how to become Morkaius. You gave me the knowledge I sought. How could I not use it to bring you back?”

“I regret what I channeled for you. I regret it with all my heart.”

He bared his teeth. “You told me you loved me. That you’d do anything for me.”

“You used me. Manipulated me.” Her chest heaved, shoulders tense.

Morkai’s throat bobbed. “Is that really how you feel?”

She nodded.

Rage flashed over his face, but it didn’t linger. His jaw shifted side to side. When he spoke, his voice quavered with emotion. “I can’t apologize. I did what I thought was right. Nothing you say will change that. Hate me now if you must. I will continue to love you as I always have, and I will cling to the love you gave me when you meant it.”

Her chin wobbled. Tears glazed her eyes. “I don’t hate you, Morkai. I could never hate you. Long ago, you were the man I loved.” She stepped closer. Morkai flinched, his ethera going rigid. He recoiled as she lifted a hand but froze as she brought it to his cheek. Shadows rippled beneath her touch. Her lips curled into a sad smile, her eyes mournful. “I loved Desmond and always will.”

Morkai’s expression softened with a startling tenderness. “Emylia?—”

“But you’re not him.”

With the hand that still cradled the light, she thrust her fist into Morkai’s chest. He cried out, stumbling back. Emylia retreated as well, hand now empty.

The points of light glowed from within Morkai’s chest, burning brighter and brighter until they merged as one. The light coursed through him, from his chest to his hands, feet, and head. Color spilled over his gray flesh, painting his pale eyes, his dark hair, a simple shirt, and a pair of trousers. Years filled out his cheeks somewhat, until he appeared a slightly younger version of himself. Teryn recognized this manifestation from Emylia’s memories—it was Desmond. Though the edges of his form weren’t fully solid, he was no longer transparent like a wraith.

He fell to his knees, hand clutched over the center of his torso. “Emylia.”

She ran to him, framed his shoulders with her hands. “Des!”

He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. Elation filled his gaze, tugged his lips into a smile. He trailed his fingertips over the curve of her cheek, her neck?—

His hand fell.

Clutching his chest again, he sat back on his heels. “What did you do to me?”

Emylia’s brows knitted together. “I gave you back your heart, Des. You won’t be a wraith. We can move to the otherlife, side by side.”

His face twisted, teeth bared. His voice came out strangled. “Why does it burn?”

Her eyes dropped to Desmond’s chest, where white light began to glow through his ethera. “Des, what’s happening?”

“It hurts. Gods, it hurts. What have you done?”

The light burned brighter. With a shout, he threw his head back. The white light spilled from his mouth, spiraling over his form. Desmond’s limbs flailed, arms fluttering as if made of paper, while the light streamed from his hands and feet. Emylia gripped the edges of his burning ethera, but every part she touched crumbled into ash.

It continued to burn until nothing remained, neither light nor shadow. Not even ash lingered.

Emylia sat before nothing, clutching at air. She trembled, staring at the place Desmond had been a moment before.

Teryn watched, not knowing what to say. What to feel. He wasn’t sorry to see all that remained of Morkai burn away. He wasn’t sorry Desmond’s soul couldn’t be saved. Then again, he wasn’t happy either.

He was…numb.

The edges of his consciousness began to fade.

Where was he? Where had he been?

Hadn’t his heart ached for someone?

Hadn’t there been flames?

A field?

“Teryn.”

He opened his eyes. When had he closed them?

Emylia stood before him, sorrow etched into the lines of her face. “Don’t fade away, Teryn. I couldn’t save him, but it’s not too late for you. You can still go back.”

He blinked a few times, willing his mind to clear, but the haze was growing, eating at his awareness, his memories.

A tingling sensation buzzed over his shoulders, and he found Emylia was shaking him. “Don’t fade away! You have to go back.” She forced him to turn around, and his eyes landed on something not too far away.

A woman with dark hair bent over a body. Tears filled her eyes as she gently slapped the man’s cheeks.

No, not just any man. That was him .

And that woman…

“Cora.” Her name warmed his ethera as it left his lips.

His mind sharpened again, his memories melting back into place.

“Hurry, Teryn,” Emylia said. “Connect to your vitale. Feel your heartbeat, the air filling your lungs?—”

“There’s nothing.” The realization cleared his mind further, this time with fear. Where once he’d felt his blood and breath, there was only a hollow void. His vitale…it was lost to him.

There was no heartbeat.

No breath.

No pulse.

He was…

Teryn .

The sound was felt more than heard. It sent a shudder through him, sent awareness through every inch of his ethera. From somewhere deep inside his soul, a heavy thud echoed.

He glanced at his body, saw Cora’s lips beside his ear. Tears trickled down her face. A single drop fell upon his cheek. Something buzzed against the same spot on his ethera.

Teryn .

Another echoing beat. A thud that hammered in his chest.

“There’s still so much more for us to do,” Cora whispered. “So much more I need to tell you. I’m not done with you yet. Do you hear me? You promised to court me. Remember? I won’t let you break that promise.”

A thud.

A pulse.

A breath.

“Come back to me, Teryn.”

A rushing intake of air.