Then, a pained cry echoes through the room, and reality crashes back down at full force.
I spin around, my heart jolting when I see that Zoey is no longer sprawled on the floor.
Instead, Aerix has her in his arms. Her blood trails from the wound on her thigh, a stark crimson against her pale skin, her arms looped around his neck as he carries her in a rush up the stairs that lead to the rooftop.
SAPPHIRE
I exchangea quick look with Riven, and we rush to the stairs, chasing after Aerix and Zoey as dread tightens around my chest.
The staircase winds upward, narrow and steep, the stone slick beneath my feet. Sunlight spills through the open door, and the moment we burst outside, icy wind hits my face, sharp and biting, stealing my breath away.
Aerix has settled Zoey onto the rooftop’s stone floor, crouched beside her as he cups her face with one hand, brushing back strands of her dark hair while icy wind swirls around him.
“Zoey. Wake up.” His voice is low and urgent, shaking with intensity, even though Zoey’s nearly healed from the wound I inflicted on her. “Come back to me. Please. You have to come back.”
I freeze, stunned. Because Aerix’s voice is thick with fear and need, with a love so consuming it borders on madness.
“Please, Zoey,” he murmurs, pressing a trembling kiss to her forehead. “I can’t—I won’t—exist without you.”
Riven’s hand is in mine—I don’t remember when it got there—tightening as he watches the two of them together. And I realize, in one devastating moment, that Aerix isn’t faking this.He truly, desperately, loves Zoey. I can feel that love, even from here.
Her eyes open and find Aerix’s, locking onto him with pure devotion.
“Zoey.” Her name is a breath on his lips, relief flooding his features as she returns to consciousness.
“I’m here,” she whispers back, soft, steady, and unshakable. “I’m right here.”
Aerix exhales, the sound shuddering from deep within him, like he’s been holding his breath for an eternity. Then he leans down and captures Zoey’s mouth in a kiss that’s raw, possessive, and gentle all at once. It’s the kind of kiss that doesn’t just speak of love—it screams of desperate, obsessive devotion. His hands cradle her face like she’s something sacred, his wings curling around them both, creating a cocoon of midnight feathers that shields them from the winter wind.
When they break apart, he helps her to her feet. And now she stands steadily beside him, her hand clasped in his, their shadows merging into one long silhouette across the stone rooftop as her eyes meet mine. There’s a sharpness in them that I don’t like, along with anger for everything that happened between us in the room below.
Although in her defense, I’d be pretty pissed if she used a celestial weapon on me, too.
“I love Aerix,” she says to me, her voice unwavering as she repeats the same thing she said to me below. “And I choose him.”
“Zoey…” I plead, even though deep down, I already know it’s useless.
“No,” she snaps, her eyes flashing with anger. “Listen to me, Sapphire. Aerix is my family now. He protected me. He gave me strength I never imagined possible. He gives me love like I’ve never known. I’m not leaving him—not now, and not ever.”
Beside her, Aerix’s expression softens, his gaze fixed on Zoey with a kind of ruined awe that goes far beyond ordinary affection. He’s hanging onto every word she speaks, drinking in her devotion like he needs it to breathe, as if she’s the only source of life in his world of darkness.
“Now,” he says to her, quiet yet powerful. “Tell them.”
My muscles tense, magic gathering as alarm bells ring through my mind.
Zoey lifts her chin, focused entirely on me. “I’m pregnant,” she says, the words landing like a thunderclap between us. “It’s Aerix’s.”
Everything around me spins, blurring out of focus. Shock courses through me, and I stumble back, gripping Riven’s hand harder for support, the world tilting as I struggle to process what my best friend just said.
“No.” Riven shakes his head. “That’s impossible. Vampires can’t carry children.”
“It’s possible,” I whisper, my voice distant and hollow even to my own ears. Because of course it’s possible—I’m living proof of it. “My father’s a vampire, Riven. I’m half vampire, even though that was supposed to be impossible, too.”
“That was different.” His brow furrows. “Your mother is a fae queen with access to ancient magic and knowledge. She had to create a special potion to make it happen.”
“Anything is possible,” I counter softly, my eyes drifting back to Zoey. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all of this, it’s that the rules we think we know are constantly being rewritten.”
Zoey steps forward, Aerix’s hand still tight around hers, just like Riven’s is around mine. “It’s true.” Her eyes burn with sincerity, pleading with us to believe her. “I wouldn’t lie about something like this. You know I wouldn’t.”
