Page 171 of Walking in Darkness

“But it seems so unfair. For Josephine and Ellis. I wanted ...” She trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it.

“We all did, but we can’t know all things. We can’t know the full purpose of Ellis’s path. Of his journey. But the one thing I do know is he would have been proud to have given his life like this.”

Silence covered us for a few moments as we grieved for the man who’d meant so much to us.

Then Aria blinked, her hair swishing over the pillow as she gazed over at me. “What do we do now? Will there still be Kruen to fight?”

“That, I don’t know, Aria. Not until we sleep. But what I do know ...?” Shifting, I rolled on top of her. The thin towel was the only thing that separated us. I brushed back the pieces of hair clinging to her face, voice low with devotion when I said, “I’m going to keep every promise I’ve made you. I’m going to give you all the good things in life. The love and peace you deserve. A home.” I glanced away for a beat before I returned my gaze to her. “A family.”

Affection billowed through her features, and she reached up again, this time brushing her fingertips over my lips. “Together.”

“Always, always together.” I let a slight smile take to my mouth. “You just have to decide where that’s going to be. I’m guessing some deserted island where you can bury your toes in the sand.”

Joy swept through her expression, this lightness we found once we realized the chains that had bound us had been released.

The fear that she would be running forever.

That there would be nowhere to hide.

That one day her calling would catch up to her and bring her to her end.

But she had prevailed.

She had the power, just like she was promised.

“Well, a deserted island does sound pretty nice, but maybe only part-time.”

My grin grew. “Ah, yeah, that’s right. My princess needs two houses.”

Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip, her neck and cheeks flushed with the blood that rushed through her veins. “Princess. Nol. Wife. Whatever you want to call me.”

She hiked a playful shoulder.

Sincerity took over when I murmured down at her, “What you are is my everything.”

And there was no teasing after that. There were only impassioned kisses and searching hands and healed hearts.

Writhing bodies and sweat-slicked skin.

There was only us.

Together.

Forever, in every way, no matter what that looked like.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Aria

Pax’s arms were curled around me where we lay in the middle of the bed.

Legs and hearts tangled.

Our breaths long, steady, and in sync.

Night pressed in, hovering in the room, lulling and coaxing our exhausted bodies toward the bliss of sleep.

For my whole life, there had always been a bare space in between asleep and awake.