My voice cut off as a crash echoed from somewhere in the temple. Thorne. Fighting alone while I tried to reason with a goddess who’d lost herself to this place.
Irri’s gaze drifted to me, then suddenly sharpened as moonlight spilled across my face. She reached out with trembling fingers, nearly touching my cheek before pulling back. “Those eyes,” she whispered. “One green, one blue. My Sylvie had eyes like that.”
“Yes,” I said, seizing the moment of clarity. “Sylvie. Your daughter. She’s part of why I’m here.”
Something ancient and terrible flashed across her face. “My daughter? My beautiful, broken girl?” Her hand pressed against her heart. “I think she died.”
Tell her I’m here. Tell her I never left her.
“She’s here,” I said softly, tapping my temple. “Part of her, at least. She wants you to come home.”
“Home?” The word seemed to confuse her. She looked around the crumbling ballroom as if seeing it for the first time. Then let her hands slide down her beautiful red gown. “This isn’t home, is it? This place of forgotten things?” Her eyes met mine again, more focused now. “You say Alastor awaits?”
“Yes. He’s been waiting so long. But we have to hurry.”
Another crash shook the temple, closer this time. Irri didn’t seem to notice, but my heart clenched with fear.
“Perhaps…” she said dreamily, reaching for my hand. “Perhaps it is time to remember what was forgotten.” Her fingers were ice cold as they wrapped around mine. “Lead the way, little lost one with my daughter’s eyes. Take me to my storm-eyed love.”
I squeezed her hand and turned toward the door, praying we weren’t too late. Praying Thorne still fought. Still stood. Praying that whatever these next moments were, they were mine alone to choose. The voices in my head hummed with anticipation as wemoved through the temple’s winding corridors, drawing closer to the moment of truth. To betrayal or salvation. To an ending.
I sprinted back through the temple’s winding corridors, Irri’s cold hand still gripping mine. Each heartbeat felt like an eternity as we raced toward whatever fate awaited us. The sounds of combat grew louder, and when we finally reached the massive chamber, my heart nearly stopped.
Thorne stood in the center of the room, his power manifesting as a sphere of golden light that barely contained the beast. A streak of red trickled from his head, his usually immaculate appearance marred by blood and dust. His magic flickered. His eyes found mine, relief flooding his features before his gaze shifted to Irri. The sphere wavered. His power was fading again.
“You are broken, Keeper,” Irri said, her dreamy voice carrying an edge of accusation. “Your power wanes like moonlight.”
“Irri,” I said urgently, “Alastor’s been feeding you power for a long, long time, hasn’t he? Can you use it and help us stop this thing?”
She tilted her head. “Why would I stop it? The Keeper trapped me here, in this place of endless forgetting.” Her eyes grew distant. “Or did he? The memories blur, you see.”
The monster slammed against Thorne’s failing barrier, and he stumbled. The golden sphere shattered, and the creature’s massive body crowded over him. My breath caught in my throat as he turned to me, those hazel eyes holding nothing but defeat and regret.
“I’m sorry,” he said, the words carrying the weight of centuries. “For everything. For every life, every lie, every moment of pain I caused you. I loved you. Through every life and every death, I’ve always loved you. And I always will, even when there’s nothing left of me to remember.”
I lurched forward, desperation clawing up my throat. “No,” I choked out, shaking my head as if denial alone could hold back the inevitable. “You don’t get to say goodbye. You don’t get to?—”
The beast reared back. A breath, a heartbeat, and it would strike.
Thorne smiled, small and aching, like he already knew how this would end. “It was always you.”
The words splintered through me, shattering the last of my restraint. “Then fight for me, damn you!” I begged, gripping his name like a prayer. “Thorne?—”
Power surged around him one last time as he tore open reality, creating a flickering doorway home. The Remnants in my mind erupted in celebration.
Now! Take her through! Leave him to his fate!
I grabbed Irri’s arm, shoving her toward the rip. She went without resistance, floating through like a leaf on the wind. I knew I should have gone. Escaped. Finished this. But when I turned back, the scene before me froze my blood. The creature engulfed Thorne. He disappeared into its mass of broken things and forgotten dreams. The voices in my head reached a deafening crescendo, demanding I leave, screaming for me to take my revenge and go.
But I couldn’t.
Don’t be a fool!Sylvie shrieked.
He deserves this!
He’s gone now. Just go.
Could I do this? Could I really leave him here, knowing he’d suffer for eternity? He’d lied, manipulated, played games with my life. But he’d also loved me through centuries, through countless deaths and rebirths. He’d tried to protect me, even if his methods were wrong. The vision of Winter’s death played through my mind, how devastated he’d been, how he’d beggedher not to leave him. Not his blade that killed her. Never his blade.
