Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
He snarled in frustration as I went to him. “Do you want to bury him, kitty cat?”
His eyes snapped to mine. His whiskers flared as he looked from the bones to me and then to Lucien. Growling quietly, an image of a fire appeared in my head. A fire freeing whatever was left of Dillon’s energy in his earthly remains.
Lucien sucked in a breath as if he’d seen the image too. “You want to cremate him?”
Whisper nodded, giving us no doubt whatsoever that our bond with the beast was no longer normal but elevated...just like everything else.
We’d brought him back to life by sharing our energy. Did that mean he was now immortal too? Would he one day fade again unless we kept sharing that energy? Why had I been able to summon his soul when I couldn’t summon Dillon’s? Was Dillon okay wherever he was? Why could I hear so many histories and stories of those who’d passed on? What did that make me—?
“Now who’s asking too many questions?” Lucien chuckled. “Your thoughts are ringing in my ears.”
“Ugh, you’re right.” I laughed under my breath, pushing away the endless theories. There was time to figure it out. If we truly had survived the Requiem ascension, then...we had nothing but time.
“Perhaps we’re all connected thanks to whatever Snowflake Corp injected us with.” Lucien shrugged. “Maybe we formed a trinity—a bond that’s unbreakable, even in death—and that’s why we were able to bring back Whisper. I know I would do absolutely anything to bring you back to me. I never stopped loving you, wanting you...and now that I’ve found you again...” He shook his head. “I honestly don’t have the words for how fucking happy I am.”
Smiling, I stepped into his arms. “Same.”
He hugged me tightly, pressing his lips to my hair. “I’m not in pain anymore. The fire isn’t killing me. The power is eager and willing to do whatever I want. I feel better than I have in my entire life. And having you back in my arms...knowing that nothing can take you away from me again.” Nuzzling his way down to my throat, he whispered against my skin, “I love you so fucking much, Rook.”
My heart overflowed with affection. My body lit up as if he’d turned on a silver lightbulb inside me.
He chuckled. “You’re glowing again.”
“Your fault.”
“If words can make you glow so brightly, I wonder what would happen if I dropped to my knees and put my tongue between your—hey.” He scowled as Whisper headbutted Lucien’s hip, cutting him off. “Cock blocking me now?”
Whisper scowled, sending a picture of a fire into our minds again.
Disentangling myself from Lucien’s searing embrace, I scratched the panther. “You’re right. We’ll say a proper goodbye to Dillon, and then...” I trailed off because I had absolutely no idea what came next.
“And then, we’ll go home,” Lucien finished for me.
Home.
I didn’t need to ask where that was.
My home was with Lucien and Whisper, and it didn’t matter where we were.
Aching contentment filled me that I was home.
That we’d somehow found each other again.
Somehow survived.
With a simple thought, Lucien set Dillon’s bones on fire, purging them and freeing him.
As smoke coiled into the sky, I bowed my head and sank into the whispers of death.
I heard their histories and felt their possibilities and power rose like a wave.
We were no longer prisoners of the Requiem gene.
No longer dying.
We were the first to survive—or at least come back—which meant we might be the first immortals to ever exist.
And if that was the case, then...this was just the beginning.
Chapter Forty-Nine
WE STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DRAGON courtyard and...I didn’t know what to feel. Ashfall Cliff had turned into a ruin—eaten away by time and left to fall into rubble. The stone Whispering Dragon was the only thing still intact—its scales softened and faded, a few of its whiskers broken from wind and storms.
The pavilions, carved corridors, koi ponds, and blossom gardens had all decayed into unrecognisable heaps. Dead leaves swirled in the breeze. Roofs collapsed inward. And tree roots broke through the marble tiles.
“You alright?” Rook asked gently, slipping her hand into mine just like she had the day we’d first returned home and I’d been so close to burning up. She’d sheltered me from all the staff who’d welcomed me home like a prince. She’d tried to help me as I reached the first burnout, and I’d run when she’d passed out under her own Requiem pain.
All of that seemed so, so long ago, yet somehow also felt like just yesterday.
Squeezing her fingers, I cleared my throat and nodded. “I’m fine. I mean...I had my suspicions after we walked our way through Iceland. But...seeing it like this is a bit of a shock.”
We’d travelled here the old-fashioned way—until we hadn’t.
Three things had happened, which only proved we were no longer human.