She stared back at him. “When I say never, I mean no more of Blackworm. Not just your eyes changed; your genetics changed. This body is yours now. And I never want to see it laid out in state again.” She shuddered and leaned in tohim. “Nor said that’s how a Thorkon warlord would spend his last night—laid across his throne—before immolation.”
He held her tight. “I’m not a god anymore,” he reminded her. “This was my third and last death. I won’t get another chance at life. But…the only life I want is with you. If you want that too.”
She tipped her head against his shoulder and cupped his cheek. “Oh, Tynan. I wouldlovethat. Because I loveyou.” Tucking herself against him, curve to hollow, her voice broke when she explained, “I didn’t say it before, and then I thought I’d never have the chance. Now…I will tell you every day, every hour how much it means to me to be with you in a universe so vast that it’s statistically impossible that we’d ever find each other. Not to mention”—she poked his chest again, asif she needed to reassure herself that his heart still beat there—“you weren’t eveninthis universe anymore, black hole boy.”
“I won’t leave you again,” he vowed. “Through any dimension, I will be with you.”
“I just want you here,” she said, “and now.”
“I am.”
“Prove it.” Her dark eyes sparkled.
Rising swiftly to his feet—and much to his smug delight, she squeaked and wrapped her arm tightaround his neck—he spun away from the throne. “Before, you wanted me to show you the secrets of this castle. Grab a lantern.” He dipped, startling another squeak from her, but she snagged one of the bright little globes.
“We don’t need your secrets anymore,” she told him as he carried her deeper into the keep. To his delight, she didn’t struggle to be put down, just kicked her bare heels playfullywhere her legs dangled over the crook of his elbow. “Everyone believes you are Tynan.” She pursed her lips. “Of course, they also believe you’re dead.”
“We’ll convince them otherwise later.” He took one of the ramps leading downward and repeated her words. “I just want you here, now.”
***
The ramp turned into a steep downward spiral that left Lishelle dizzy. Or maybe that was just beingin Tynan’s arms again. She would’ve made him put her down, but she wanted to stay as close to him as possible, her body pressed against his.
Alive alive alive.
The chant of his impossible return beat in her heart like a drum keeping time. Maybe someday she’d want to drink too much and debate the reality of what she’d seen/dreamed/hallucinated. Had she seen heaven? The other end of a wormhole?
For once, she didn’t care to look too closely. She had him back and that was—for now and for always—enough.
Following the spiraling stairs, they descended almost as far as they’d climbed upward earlier in the day, and she sensed the awesome weight of the mountain above them and all around. The lantern she’d chosen suddenly seemed very small. But this time she didn’t ask where they were going.Because she was with him.
One of the ubiquitous archways deposited them into a cavern too vast for the lantern to reach through the darkness. The mineral tang of stone smelled like a lightning strike.
For a moment, vertigo spun in her, and she clung to Tynan as he let her legs slide down his front to stand on her own. Under her bare feet, the rock was warm, though not as warm as his wide chest.A few steps away from them, the cavern floor turned as slick and shiny as obsidian. A good excuse to hold on to him.
He kept one arm looped behind her. “Turn off the lantern.”
She wanted to protest that they’d be blind, but he’d said he wanted to show her some secret. Reluctantly, she touched the power control on the lantern.
And in the resulting darkness, the cavern filled with stars.
Shegasped in wonder. Turning in a slow circle in the shelter of his arm, she stared up at the spiraling galaxies traced across the stone sky. “Glowworms!”
“And lichens,” he said. “And some of the rock inclusions are photoluminescent as well.”
She finished her circle to look up at him. The glimmering lights were bright enough to bring out the royal blue of his eyes. “It’s amazing.”
“Once a year,there’s a night flower called lamanya that blooms down here, as fiery yellow as that ring on your finger. I want to show you.”
She smiled. “I want to see it.”
He blew out a breath. “This is in better shape than the rest of the ruins, but… I want to make the castle the glory it once was. Will you live here with me as my lady?”
Her whole body seemed to glow. “Yes, Tynan. I will stay with youhere.” Or anywhere, but she supposed that was obvious from the way she tightened her arms around him.
“We can visit Azthronos Prime or the station whenever you want to see your friends.” His brow furrowed. “And I’ll have to figure out my claim to the castle since right of conquest is probably frowned upon in these days.”
She grinned. “Probably, but talking to the duke would be a good first step—afterthe wedding. He and Rayna are always wanting to improve the duchy, and the historical shrine of the God of Beloveds should be known everywhere.” She rested her chin on his chest, reveling in the steady thud of his heart. “The universe needs more love.”
