Page 49

??The Death Certificate of Love

Ember

It was quiet.

Too quiet for a battlefield.

No screams. No magic. No fire. Just... stillness. Soft, clean, and endless.

And stars, so many stars above me, like a sky dipped in silver ink.

I stood barefoot in a place that didn’t feel real. My wounds were gone. The blood. The pain. The weight of the world. It had all been stripped away like an old coat I never asked to wear.

“Hello, my firefly.”

My breath caught.

I turned around.

She stood there in a halo of soft white light, her long braid falling over her shoulder, eyes as fierce as I remembered, and as kind. Beside her, a man I’d only seen in photos.

His arm wrapped around her waist like it had always belonged there. His smile looked exactly like mine when I was pretending I wasn’t scared.

My mother.

My father.

Both Watchers . Both alive , just not here.

“Mom,” I whispered, and my voice broke.

She stepped forward, wrapping me in a hug that felt like home and goodbye all at once. “I’m so proud of you,” she said against my hair. “We all are.”

I blinked and looked beyond them.

Others stood in the distance, more Watchers. Their magic shimmered like stars under their skin. One of them raised a hand in salute. Another bowed.

“You’re not done,” my father said, voice firm but warm. “You have more to do. The war isn’t over.”

“But the Gate—”

“Is closed,” my mother said. “You won the first battle. But there will be more. There are always more.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“You are,” she said gently. “Because you’re not doing it alone anymore.”

And just then, I heard it, his voice. Dorian’s.

Not through the stars. Not through the trees.

Through my soul .

“I love you,” he said. “I always have. Before the Gate. Before the prophecy. Even before I knew what this was. I love you. I choose you.”

I gasped.

The light flickered.

“I have to go,” I said, tears in my eyes.

My mom squeezed my hand. “You’ll find us again. When the time is right. But for now... live.”

I kissed her cheek. Hugged my father one last time.

Then I turned toward the voice that had never let me go.

Toward him .

I woke with a gasp, lungs dragging in air like it was the first time I’d ever tasted it. My body ached, throbbed, but it was alive .

And I was in his arms.

Dorian was holding me like he’d never let me go. His forehead pressed to mine. His lips murmured things I didn’t quite catch. His blood was smeared across my skin, mingling with mine like a vow inked in crimson.

“Did you just say you love me,” I croaked, voice raspy and raw, “or was I hallucinating?”

He froze, eyes wide with the kind of fear only I could drag out of him. “You heard that?”

“I died , Dorian,” I teased weakly. “Didn’t go deaf. You were yelling it like a dramatic widow in a gothic novel.”

He gave a breathless laugh, equal parts relief and exasperation. “You died , and you’re making jokes?”

“You’re the one who gave me a love confession while I was technically a corpse. That’s prime banter material.”

He growled softly, nuzzling my hair, and I felt the tension in him tremble free. “Yes, Ember. I love you. I always have. You terrify me, infuriate me, drive me to madness, but I love you, my Little Thief.”

A tired smile curved my lips. “You always call me that… why?”

He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes, brushing my hair back from my face like I was something breakable. Something sacred. “Because you stole everything, Ember. My peace. My purpose. My mind. My fucking heart. And the worst part is, I let you. Gladly.”

I smiled, weak but whole. “Good. Because I’m keeping you.”

He chuckled, brushing my hair back from my face. “I saw you in that alley, wide-eyed, trembling, soaked in someone else's blood, and even then, even in that ruin, you captivated me like the world had narrowed down to just to you.”

I sighed, letting myself melt into his warmth.

For once, the monsters were gone.

For once, the Veil and the Gate were closed.

And for once... I knew what it felt like to be loved back.