Page 62

Daimon

Senna had controlled the crowd enough to get them to migrate away from where Evelina and Carwyn were lying—impressive, considering the faerie wine crates had nearly been emptied by this point.

But Daimon couldn’t pull himself together enough to wrangle the crowd. Evelina didn’t look as if anything were wrong. Her face was peaceful, no crinkle on her forehead in sight. And he would know if something were wrong; he had no doubt that he would feel it in the depths of his bones.

Still, none of those things helped him calm down. He was seconds away from ripping someone’s throat out if they tried to speak to him. All his energy was centered on her, on praying to Eurydice that she would wake up perfectly fine.

“We should call for a healer,” he growled to Ellerry, his patience thinning.

The Keeper had pushed through the crowd the moment Evelina fell. Ellerry waved her hand in the air. She knew something and she wasn’t saying it.

“It won’t be long now,” Ellerry said quietly. “Patience, Commander. ”

He closed his eyes, panic filling his chest as he thought of her and only her.

His body swayed, his head growing light.

For a moment, he could see her. It was like a frosted glass had been placed between them, making her outline hazy. But it was her. He would recognize her anywhere.

She was standing on an empty hill, an odd pattern of stars above her head, flowing grass beneath her feet. She was crying softly.

“Eve?” Daimon whispered, taking a step forward. “Tell me you’re okay.”

She wouldn’t look at him, unmoving, as if she hadn’t heard him. Her eyes were sad.

“I’m sorry, Daimon,” she whispered desperately, like a rush of wind twisting around him and cascading over his skin. He shivered at the way her voice sounded saying his name, at the way her lips formed the word in a way no one else’s could.

But it didn’t feel like she was saying it to him.

“Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

This time, she turned toward him, as if hearing him for the first time.

“Daimon,” she breathed. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Everything has changed.”

He shook his head, not understanding.

“The crown is going to me.”

Shock rolled through him. “How do you know?”

“We’re in the Celestial Plane.” She gestured to the space around them. “Carwyn is gone and now the crown has gone to me instead.” The tears broke free, slipping down her cheeks. “ I will be the next queen of Valon.”

Even as the words left her mouth, they didn’t feel real. Daimon wasn’t just losing her on the border—a daily routine to which he had grown accustomed—he was losing every piece of her. It would never again be as simple as stealing her away for a ride through the clouds or sneaking off to the waterfall. He would never feel her lips against his, because she was bound to marry another. Would Senna get her smiles? Her laughter?

His stomach roiled with nausea.

Would he get to keep her love?

But he always knew, in a way, this would be their fate. She was exactly what the kingdom needed: a queen who would never put her needs first. A queen who would love her people so fiercely she would protect them until her dying breath.

Daimon didn’t know what words he could say in this moment—didn’t know what could properly convey the weight of his grief, or of his love. So instead, he said, “Dream with me, my queen.”

She stepped forward, and he bent down, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Always,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes and breathed her in. His shock dissipated and began to turn into something darker—more painful. Despair filled his chest, his lungs.

He opened his eyes and found hers already open, watching him.

“I don’t want to go back and face this. Not without you.” Her voice broke.

His heart twisted. He wanted to take her pain away.

“In another life, maybe,” he whispered.

She pulled away from him, her eyes flaring with anger and desperation. “No,” she gasped out. “ This life. You’re the other half of my soul, Daimon. You fill every empty space of my heart.” Her eyes widened when she realized what she said.

The other half of my soul.

“Evelina— ”

“You are,” she said, louder this time. “You are mine—my soulbonded.”

He swallowed as tears welled in his eyes. There would never be another he loved as much as he loved her.

She’d always been so much more than his first love. What they had was deeper than that, something he never thought he was worthy enough to have. Especially not with her. There was no doubt in his mind that his soul was made to love hers. He had always known she was the other half of his soul, the answer buried inside of him, waiting for him to accept it.

But he had never imagined Evelina loving him the same way back. How could the dark blood that ran in his veins be fit for a Woodland princess—a queen? She’d be binding her soul to his own, which was bound to Vidaris by fate. He would be dooming her soul to be as tainted as his, corrupting the goodness inside of her. Not only that, but the pain for both of them to be separated while bonded when he was inevitably forced to become the Lord of Shadows… They had both already lost so much, had endured so much pain.

“You’re going to be queen,” he said gently. “And Senna is going to be king. Being soulbonded won’t change the oath he’s already made to the crown.”

“I need you, Daimon. My soul is already yours to have.” She shook her head. “Our physical bodies may not be here, but I want to declare it here, beneath the stars of Eurydice, that I am yours.”

“My soul was never mine to give,” he added. “We’ve run out of time, Eve. Even if we wanted to do a bonding ceremony, the next equinox is months away.”

She reached forward and cupped his cheeks. “Then we do it here.” Her eyes lifted to the stars above. “We’re in the realm of the gods—we don’t need an equinox.”

He wanted this—blessed Divine, did he want to bind his soul to hers forever. But he knew it would be better to walk away. To let her live the burdens of their fate free of him—a soul always fading into shadow.

Still, as his gaze met hers, he found himself asking, “How do you know?”

She shook her head. “Do you have any doubts we were made for each other? That our souls are two halves of a whole?”

He looked into her eyes, seeing this beautifully courageous woman refusing to back down. She was so much braver than he was; the least he could do was jump with her.

Besides, he couldn’t lie. Not to her. If he were a better man, he would tell her they weren’t made for each other, wouldn’t be selfish enough to bind her soul to his.

But he wasn’t a better man.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and her hands slid around to the back of his neck.

“I can feel you.” He laid a hand over her heart. “Your pain is my pain; your joy is my joy. You were made for me, Evelina Manor—and I for you.”

She buried her face against his chest and he pulled her in close.

“Bond with me,” she whispered.

He leaned back and watched her closely. His heart raced. The word unworthy echoed through his head.

“You’re sure?” he asked slowly.

The corners of her mouth turned upward. “I’ve never been more sure in my life.”

His fears quieted with her words—she always had a way of doing that.

She crouched down and picked up a jagged rock from beneath their feet. There was no Sacred, no temple or special dagger. It was just them and the stars of the Divine.

“Just repeat after me,” Evelina began. Her voice gained an ethereal quality, as if Eurydice was echoing within her. “ I’m certain my soul mirrors yours .”

He hadn’t been to many bonding ceremonies, but the Manors had been to hundreds. His hands shook as he looked down at her. He didn’t know how he got so lucky as to be the one she deemed the other half of her soul.

“And I’m certain that mine mirrors yours,” he answered.

A gentle breeze swept around them. It picked up leaves and twirled around their feet in a circle. He felt warmth press against his chest, the same warmth he felt when Eurydice was present in the Sacred—as if she were here with them.

“ I’m certain that my soul is the same as yours, cleaved in two the moment they were conceived ,” she continued. “ I understand that this declaration can only be made once, and if wrong, it will forever separate us from our true mates by falsely choosing another. I make this decision confidently .”

He took a deep breath and the breeze strengthened.

“And I’m certain my soul is the other half of yours,” he whispered. “Forever to be separated from my true mate if we’re wrong. I make this decision confidently.”

Evelina held the rock to her palm and made a small cut. She handed it to Daimon for him to do the same. The rock was cold as it bit into his skin.

She held her palm in front of her and made a fist, squeezing until blood fell on the grass beneath. She motioned for him to do the same and he mirrored her movement.

He remembered this part of the ceremony. If the blood sought the other’s out and became one, then their souls would be sealed together, marking that of a true bond. But if they ran parallel to each other, then they weren’t a match, and they had forever sundered their souls from their true mates.

The wind around them settled suddenly. Time stopped as their blood dropped to the ground below. It stained the bright green grass a deep maroon and glistened in the moonlight.

Daimon’s stomach twisted as the blood began to move. He looked up at Evelina, unable to watch. Her gaze was fixed on the ground, a calm smile on her face. She gasped and he looked.

Their blood was inches apart, but quickly closing the distance. The separate streams trailed toward each other and collided.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through his body the moment they became one. He could feel his soul being stitched together with hers, like a thread that was loosened finally being pulled tight.

He cradled her face in his hands and dropped his forehead to hers.

“It worked,” she murmured, her voice returning to normal. “We have to accept the bond to seal it.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I accept this bond with every fiber of my being.”

She reached up and gripped his wrists, clinging to him as she said, “And I accept this bond without any doubt in my heart.”

A gentle breeze swept around them again. The moon’s light flared brighter, as if Eurydice was blessing their bond.

Evelina held her palm out; a new stark-white scar had formed where she’d cut it with the rock. He held his out beside hers, finding the same scar on his hand.

There were still things he wanted to say—promises he wanted to make—but he could feel something dragging him out of this place, pulling him away.

Evelina suddenly disappeared from his arms, as if she hadn’t been there at all. He stumbled forward, reaching out for someone who wasn’t there. Storm clouds rolled over the moon, the gentle breeze turning frigid and harsh.

“ Everything is about to change, son of Nyx, ” a raspy voice taunted in his mind.

He spun around, his heart racing. “Who’s there?”

“ Your soul is mine to give, son of Nyx. And anything bound to it is bound to me. ”

He twisted and turned, searching, his heart racing.

“ Time is running out. The day will soon come that you will take your place by my side. ”

His mouth went dry. “Vidaris?” he whispered .

His body felt as if it had been struck by lightning. His eyes flew open and he took a step back, stumbling as the ground gave out beneath him.

Daimon jolted awake. He was back at the lux, everyone’s focus on Evelina and Carwyn. Everyone except Ellerry. The Keeper was watching him closely.

He looked down at his palms, finding both smooth and without blemish. There wasn’t the scar of the soulbonded. Had he dreamt it all?

Daimon glanced over at Brielle, who was shaking her head in warning. She opened her mouth—likely to tell Daimon to relax—when Evelina gasped, pulling everyone’s attention.

“Evie,” Lyria gasped.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. The group huddled over her and pressed in tighter. Daimon reached for her, grabbing her hand. Evelina’s skin grew hot, almost too warm to touch. Her eyes were open, but they weren’t focused on anything, just gazing up at the night sky.

Suddenly, she moved, rolling onto her side to face Carwyn. She pushed herself to her knees and pulled Carwyn to her chest, slowly rocking back and forth.

“Evie?” Lyria dropped to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Evelina jumped at the contact. Senna lowered to her other side, grabbing Carwyn’s hand. Daimon watched as Evelina’s eyes followed his touch, wishing he could protect her from the pain.

“Evelina, what happened?” Senna pressed. “Why isn’t Carwyn waking up?”

Evelina shook her head, her voice cracking as she said, “She’s gone. ”

“What do you mean she’s gone ?” Lyria asked quietly.

Evelina gently set Carwyn down. She tucked a strand of Carwyn’s hair behind her ear and leaned forward, gently kissing her forehead. Daimon helped her to her feet.

“Carwyn’s soul will not be returning to this plane,” Evelina said. Her voice wobbled, but she took a deep breath. “She’s with our mother now.”

Gasps rippled, followed by murmurs from the crowd. Lyria broke into tears, her hand flying to her mouth.

Daimon hadn’t dreamt of being in the Celestial Plane with Evelina. She was about to become queen. His hands shook and he tucked them into his pockets.

Ellerry placed a hand on Evelina’s back. Evelina twisted around, her panic palpable. Ellerry gave her a solemn nod as Evelina’s forehead pinched, gathering the strength to speak to the crowd. Daimon wished he could stop her from saying the words that would change them forever. Instead, he took a step back, realizing this was a moment she could only face alone.

Evelina took a deep breath and said, “I am to be queen.”

A blazing crown of white flames ignited above her—the Eternal Crown that had been forged by the gods and goddesses themselves, gifted to the fae to be passed down from generation to generation. It hovered just above her head, formed into sharp points all the way around.

All eyes were set on her, on the crown she now wore.

Ellerry leaned over and whispered in her ear. Evelina nodded, reaching up, her fingers skimming the bottom of the floating crown.

“The Eternal Crown has chosen its successor,” Ellerry shouted. “Long live Queen Evelina Manor!”

Evelina’s eyes found Daimon. When their gazes met, he could hardly breathe, his lungs fighting to work. Gone were the hazel irises he loved, and in their place were halos of fire matching that of the crown. Her brows drew together sharply, causing the crease between them to deepen. He longed to smooth it out, to stroke his thumb over it until her worries melted away.

He slowly lowered himself to the ground, kneeling before her. Among a sea of people, there was only them.

“My queen,” Daimon murmured.

Slowly, the crowd followed him and began to bow. One by one, they dropped to their knees, shouting their wishes for Queen Evelina’s long reign. Once the entire crowd had bowed, the full weight of what was happening came crashing down on Daimon.

“The Valon Empire has been forged by blood and strength,” Evelina addressed the crowd, her voice steady and sure. “We are not weak, and neither is our land.”

The ground rumbled beneath their feet, the vibration slowly growing stronger until glasses of wine toppled off of crates and crashed to pieces against the rocky soil. Flowers bent toward the crown, trees swaying as if reaching out for Evelina.

It was as if life were being breathed back into the forest, rippling out into the empire at large. A new queen brought a rush of fresh Essence, especially with a fae as strong as Evelina. Her light was intertwining with the land, dispelling the darkness that had been slowly sucking the life from it.

The land welcomed her, and so did its people.