Chapter Forty

Trees were smashed to pieces. Blood coated everything. There were bodies everywhere. I stood in the middle of a battlefield that held only five soldiers. The rest were either corpses or they were standing among the carnage, looking as lost as I was.

“Ember!” Rath shouted and swept me up in his arms. “Oh, Goddess, thank you.”

“Rath?” I pushed him away. “What's . . .” I trailed off when I caught a glimpse of pale blond hair on the grass. “Ara?”

“Don't look!” Xae stepped into my view and took my face in his hands. “He sacrificed himself for you. For all of us.”

“What?” I whispered.

“You reached through the ward, Ember,” Keltyr said. “The Corrupter took your hand and yanked you away from us. And then you two were surrounded by his army. We were fighting to get to you when you started screaming.”

“Ember, I'm so sorry,” Taroc said, his head bowed. He nuzzled my face, and that's when I noticed that he was naked. There was blood on his lips. He clenched his hands into fists. “I took dragon form. I needed to get to you. I was striking at the dead when Aranren . . .”

“When Aranren what?!” I screeched and tried to push past Xae.

They held me, and I fought them until Vex grabbed my face and bent his forehead to mine. “He's gone, Ember. He jumped into Taroc's jaws as Taroc was biting down. It happened quickly. A second and then it was over.”

“No,” I whispered. “No, please.”

“The Corrupted have been cured!” Gray shouted as he came running up with Lord Jathalion. “All of them just came out of it. No wraith lords needed.”

“We were under attack,” Jath said. “Something brought down the ward. A horde overran the citadel. Too many of them. I thought we were going to die. The General even gave the command to fade the Creen to safety. But then the Corrupted stopped. They went still, and the dead turned dead again.”

Wraith Lords began to appear around us. They stared at the damage and then at each other.

“Is it over?” someone asked. “Did he do it?”

“Yes,” Rath answered. “Death is caged and imprisoned by the Goddess. The war is over. It's truly over.”

The Wraith Lords and the humans of the watchtower cheered.

I did not. It was all coming to me from a distance. The only thing I could think of was Ara. I went calm, but only because I knew I had to. Then I stepped back from Vex and said, “I need to see him.”

My lovers shared a heavy look.

“His body is mangled, Ember,” Xaedren said. “You don't want that to be the last sight you have of Aranren. Believe me. It will haunt you and poison your good memories of him.”

“I have to see him,” I said again.

“Fuck me,” Taroc cursed. “Let him pass, Xaedren.”

Xae sighed but then stepped back.

There he was. My beautiful Aranren. Pieces of him lay scattered on the ground. I placed a foot in front of me, then another. I knelt beside a tangle of blood-soaked blond hair and stroked it back to reveal Ara's face. His eyes were closed, his lips gently parted as if he were about to kiss me. He looked peaceful.

With a broken sob, I pulled Ara's severed head into my lap and bent over it. I kissed his forehead and poured my love into that empty shell. Ara's soul was gone. With the Goddess. I hoped she cradled his soul while I did the same with the body that was once blessed enough to house a beautiful spirit.

“Ember,” Xae said gently.

“Bring me the rest of him,” I said.

“What?”

“You heard him,” Vex said. “Let's show the remains some respect and reunite them.”

The other wraith lords had stopped cheering. They gathered around us and silently—reverently—witnessed a hero being laid to rest. I would make sure they knew it was Aranren who had saved us, not me. I would be dead if Ara hadn't found the strength to fight Death one last time. He knew it was the only way to end the war. I think he'd always known.

When Ara's body was reassembled as much as it could be, I laid down beside him and held him. I must have looked insane. Hideous. But I didn't care. I needed to hold Ara one last time. I closed my eyes and pretended he was there. People gasped, but I ignored them. And then my mind must have broken because I heard Aranren speak.

“Ember,” Ara whispered.

“I love you,” I said and nestled closer. “Goodbye, Ara. Thank you.”

His voice turned teasing—utterly inappropriate for a corpse. “But I've only just returned.”

I frowned. “I have to let you go.”

“Never, my love. Never let me go.”

“Ember,” Xae said again, his voice breaking.

“Just a few more minutes,” I begged.

“Holy fuck, Ember!” Graysen shouted. “He's alive! Aranren is alive. Open your fucking eyes, you dumb asshole!”

I jerked back and met Ara's pale stare. Still ice blue but love warmed it. His elegant hand lifted to stroke my hair back, and he placed a chaste kiss on my lips.

“What the fuck?!” I shrieked and scrambled away from him.

Ara sat up, a glow settling into his skin at the places where he'd been torn apart. He smiled at me. “You were right, my love. She is beautiful, kind, and generous. She forgave me.”

“Ara?” I whispered. “You're really alive? But no one could come back from that.”

“Not without divine help.” Aranren got to his feet, cracked his neck, and stretched his back before he reached a hand down to me. “Evidently, I have redeemed myself and earned a second chance at life. You are my reward, love. And I am yours.”

I took Ara's hand and leapt up with a shriek of joy. I fell forward, but he caught me, and then my other lovers were closing in around us, forming a ring of love that nothing could break.

“Thank you,” I prayed to the Goddess. “Thank you.”

“Divine prophecy has been fulfilled,” Earth said in a dramatic rumble. “Death has been conquered by the Spark of the Goddess and the Corrupted One. Varr is free at last.”

“In other words, it's time to party!” Fire shouted.

Cheering came again, but I was still distracted. This time, it was by love. And not just that of the men embracing me. A shiver of love washed over me and it was distinctly feminine. And full of Spirit Magic. The Goddess was pleased.