It didn't matter. She was back.
Not in the way I now remembered we were reborn on Darlam, but still. Alice—Allisaahn—had been returned to me. Different, yet the same. This wasn’t an accident—it wasn't even a damn miracle, it was fate.
I brushed a strand of her hair from her face, marveling at the way her lashes fluttered against her cheeks. She was real. She was here. And by the stars, I loved her. I loved her so much that my chest expanded and constricted at the same time. She was my everything. I could hardly believe it had taken me this long to realize it. How could I not have seen it the moment I laid eyes on her? But she was here now, and she was mine. The realization settled deep in my bones, like something that had always been there, waiting to be acknowledged. I had spent the last few weeks fighting it, resisting it, pretending that what I felt was just a side effect of the mating marks, a biological reaction, nothing more.
But that was a lie, too.
This wasn’t just the marks. It wasn’t just biology. It was her.
The way she met my sharp edges with her own, never backing down. The way her mind worked, always seeking answers, always needing to know, just like me. The way she had fought to stay alive, survived against all odds, and still somehow found a way to fix things—even when she had nothing. She was Allisaahn in a thousand small ways. At the same time, she was Alice. My Alice.
And I had almost left her behind.
I clenched my jaw, rage simmering just beneath my skin. The Ohrurs took her from me. They killed her. Worse, they stole my memories, erased my past, and twisted me into their obedient weapon. And I had let them. I had followed orders, never questioning, never doubting.
Until now.
Now, I saw them for what they were—liars, manipulators, parasites. And I would burn them to the ground for what they had done. I would find out everything. Why they took me. Why they erased my people. Why they covered up Darlam, locking it away like a forgotten graveyard. And most of all, they would feel my vengeance. For what they did to me. To her. To all the others.
Alice stirred beside me, murmuring in her sleep. Her body shifted closer, as if seeking my warmth. I tightened my hold on her, grounding myself in her essence.
She was mine.
She had always been mine.
And this time, no one—not the Ohrurs, not fate, not gods—would take her away from me again.
I was just about to join Alice in sleep when the air in my quarters grew heavier, charged with an unseen force; the temperature dropped just enough to prickle my skin. A presence pressed against my mind—familiar and impossible all at once.
All my alarm bells went off. We weren't alone.
I tensed, my hand reaching for the blaster on the side table, but then I forced myself to lie still as I realized this wasn’t an intruder, not in the physical sense. It was something else. Something deeper.
And then, he was there.
Not in the way a man stands in a room, flesh and blood, but within me, inside my mind. A projection of will and power, woven into existence from something far greater than mere consciousness. His form hovered in the periphery of my vision, blurred yet solid, like the memory of a dream just before waking.
Xyrek, I'm Zapharos. His voice was a whisper and a roar, ancient and powerful, yet somehow personal. It was as if he had always known me, as if he had always been there.
You and the others are not alone in this.
A growl rose in my throat. "Get out of my head," I snapped. "I don’t need some cryptic ghost trying to make me feel better."
Zapharos chuckled, and the sound vibrated through my skull.You are the same as always. Stubborn.
"You say that as if you know me," I gritted out, clenching my fists. "I have no idea who you are."
I am Zapharos—one of the most powerful Arkhevari.
Arkhevari?
Could this really be true? Thanks to my newfound memories, I knew that the Arkhevari were the gods who came to Darlam and gave us the gift of eternal love. I was too irritated that he was inside my head to be as humbled as I probably should have been.
You and Alice need to be prepared.
My breath hitched. Alice!
"You leave her out of this." I sat up with a start. Alice moaned, and I forced myself to relax. There was no reason to wake her.
