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I’m going to mark you in every way imaginable, so that everyone knows you’re fucking mine.
And here it was. The moment he officially won me or lost me. If he ordered me to stay and took away my will, it didn’t matter how much things had changed between us. Nor would it matter how much I needed him. I would never speak to him again. Never look at him again. This would all be over before it had even had a chance to begin. That would hurt, but nowhere near as much as his betrayal would.
“I know. But humans still make promises to each other, even though they can be broken, don’t they? Because they trust the other to honor their word.”
“Be unrelenting and unmerciful in the face of the wicked dead,” Fisher said.
“And if you should find soul sundered from flesh, order a drink for us at the first tavern you come across in the afterlife. We’ll settle the tab when we get there.”
“Don’t you dare die on my watch, Saeris Fane! Fisher will never forgive me if his sole reason for living is torn to pieces on her first fucking battlefield.”
“Gods alive, Carrion. Do not tell me you have a thing for Danya. She’s fucking awful.” “Eh.” He shot me a rakish grin. “I love a girl with a sharp tongue and a bad attitude. Kinda makes my dick hard.”
“Not you! Me!” He thumped himself in his chest, suddenly furious. “My weakness! My vulnerability! I’ve known for centuries that you were coming. That you were just going to show up one day and change everything. You’re the chink in my armor, Saeris. The soft spot where the knife slides in. You are the thing that Malcolm will hurt in order to hurt me, and I couldn’t… couldn’t fucking bear it!”
That’s what Oshellith means in Old Fae, Saeris. Most Sacred.”
I covered my face, and I gave in. I sobbed. The name he gave me, the name I hated, was a declaration of what I meant to him even then.
Even the strongest warrior’s heart can break. His soul can still be crushed.
“She said, when I needed you most, you’d come blazing into my life like a meteorite, riding on a wave of chaos that would turn my whole world upside down. That you’d shine so brilliantly that you’d light up hell itself and guide me out of the darkness. She had no idea what your name would be. Just that you’d have dark hair, and a beautiful smile. And that I’d love you with a fierceness despite myself.”
“Fuck the fates. They don’t get to decide shit for me. I decide what my future is going to be.”
“Urgh. He would not try and fuck a witch.” “No, he’s right,” Carrion said with a sigh. “I would. Y’know. Just to say that I’d done it.”
“Of course we’re coming,” I said. “Everlayne’s our friend.” “I’ve actually never met Everlayne,” Carrion chipped in. “But I’m still coming. Solidarity and all that.”
“And you?” he said to Carrion. “You’re ready for that?” “Sure. Why not. I’m too pretty to die old, anyway.”
“I didn’t know if you’d want me in your bed,” I told him. “If it were up to me, we wouldn’t spend another night without each other again.”
My soul was on fire, and I didn’t care if I burned for all eternity. So long as I was burning with him, then so be it.
If I wanted him to be, he would be the axis around which I revolved. I would be his. Two counterparts, independent of one another. Already whole, but together stronger than we could ever be apart.
He would claim my better days and carry me during my worst.
You’ve got me, Little Osha. And I’ve got you.
“Nobody will ever fuck you the way I’m about to fuck you, Saeris Fane. I’m about to introduce you to all seven gods. When you meet them, don’t forget to tell them I’m the one you worship on your knees.”
“I’ll be grateful for every second that I can say that I belong to you, Saeris Fane. Eighty years or eighteen hours. It doesn’t matter to me. It’ll still be the highest honor of my life. But don’t—Are you about to have a heart attack? Your pulse is flying.”
“I’m in love with you, Saeris Fane,” he whispered quietly into my hair. “And I’m already half-mad, anyway. What’s a little complicated thrown into the mix?”
“Please, for the love of the gods, don’t say anything. Just let me have my fantasy. Just for tonight.”
Fear the shadows, bitch. I’m made of them.
“My name is Carrion Swift. But there was a time when I was known as Carrion Daianthus. Firstborn son to Rurik and Amelia Daianthus.”
“I love him,” I said. “I can’t bear for him to die.” The Kingfisherrrrr, the whisper buzzed. Yes. Your mate. I stared into the dark, feeling hopeless. “Yes,” I said. “My mate.”
Our Kingfisher? Our Kingfisher? This sick piece of shit couldn’t claim any part of my mate. Fisher was mine.
“I can handle the consequences of breaking a promise if it means you live,” he said out loud. You said in your letter that we’d have time after this life. That there was more for us.
I told you I’d never forgive you if you forced me to do something I didn’t want to do again. Never is a long time, Fisher. If you sacrifice yourself for me, I’ll reject our bond in this life and the next.
“There are two kinds of forever, Alchemist. One is heaven. The other is hell. It doesn’t matter what I do. Make sure you choose your version of immortality wisely.”
“Ow! What was that for?” I shoved a finger in his face. “Because you’re an asshole. I’ve known you since I was fifteen!” He shook his head, hands palm up in the air. “And? I’ve known you since I was a thousand and eighty-six. Do I win a prize?”
“Human, Fae, or vampire. It doesn’t matter how long you live, Saeris; you will always be most sacred to me.”
