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Chapter 24

24

O f course, some endings are only the beginning. I, Moira Talmhach, had sacrificed myself to save my mate. It was only fitting, really. I had killed him, after all. It just turned out my blood had also brought him back.

And so he brought me back.

Bright light shone on my face, and my first thought was one of severe annoyance. My mouth was as dry as sandpaper, and my head felt as though it had been shoved into a blender. Every bone in my body ached. None of this was hyperbole. Whoever was bothering me with light needed a brisk punch in the face.

I cracked open my eyes and winced. "Am I in hell?"

Lugh chuckled.

Lugh.

My eyes flew open wider. He sat next to me on his bed inside his Royal Palace quarters, an ancient text open on his lap. I jolted even more awake. Lugh was alive and reading like we hadn't just been battling it out in the middle of Faerie two seconds ago.

And also, how was I even here? I had died ...hadn't I?

"You are very much not in hell, Moira." He smiled and shifted to face me. "I'm glad to see you're awake. It's been far too long since I've seen your golden eyes."

"How long?" I tried to shift toward him myself, but ooooouch. No, thank you.

Doubt flickered in his eyes. "Don't panic."

"Why would I panic?" I asked slowly. "How long has it been, Lugh?"

Wincing, he shut his book. "About six months."

My mouth dropped open. " Six months?! How? Why? I don't understand what the hell is going on. Are you sure I'm alive?"

"You are very much alive." Lugh reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Trust me. I know better than anyone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I whispered.

He didn't answer.

I shifted toward him, grabbing his hand and pulling it to my chest. He felt so solid, so real. But...different somehow. Hell, I felt different, too. Probably a side effect of, you know, dying.

"Tell me what's going on. You're starting to scare me. "

He sucked in a deep breath and curled his fingers around mine. "It took awhile to determine what kind of sacrifice was required to bring you back."

"So I did die," I said, my heart pounding.

Slowly, Lugh nodded. "Whatever magic you tapped into to exorcise the wraith from my body...it was dark magic. It took your life."

Eyes widening, I stared up at him. "And you brought me back."

"We had the cauldron," he said. "But no idea how to use it. The books were fairly useless for a time."

"And yet..." I prompted. Lugh seemed so hesitant to explain what had happened. To put it mildly, I was beginning to get a bit nervous about the whole thing. What had he sacrificed? Another life? I wasn't sure I could live with myself if I knew someone had died just so that I could have another chance.

"The cauldron has strict requirements. There are few things powerful enough for it to accept. Life is, of course, one of them." Lugh's gaze went dark. "So I gave up mine."

"What?" I bolted upright, scanning his face, not understanding his words at all. "But you're sitting right in front of me, Lugh. I can feel your warm hands around mine."

"I gave it my spear," he said quietly. "The two broken bits of it. I thought it would steal my soul away, but I somehow survived."

I smiled. "It's because your soul was never in the spear, Lugh. You had it within you all this time. I realised that when the wraith couldn't rid himself of you completely."

And now, I was getting a second chance at life. A life with Lugh.

Lugh cleared his throat. Despite everything turning out all right, he still looked like someone carrying a heavy burden around his heart. "I suppose now that you're awake, you'll want to go our separate ways now. Your queen is worried about you. I'm sure she's eager to welcome you back home."

"You want me to go back to London," I said, frowning. The words sounded foreign to my ears.

He looked away. "Yes. If that is what you want."

"What I want? Of course that's not what I want." I shook my head and reached for his hand. "Is that what you want? I won't stay if you don't want me here, Lugh. But I want to stay with you. Always. You're all I want. It's why I fought so hard to save you."

It was the truth. Mating bond or not, I loved Lugh. I hadn't fallen for him because of the bond. I'd fallen for him in spite of it. All my life, I'd hoped I'd never find my mate. I'd outrun fate as long as I could, but it had finally caught up to me. And now, he was still here sitting in front of me. There were no more prophecies hanging over our heads. No more cauldrons or spears.

It was just us.

He looked back at me, surprised. "Of course I want you here. I just thought you'd want to leave, like you did before."

"Lugh." I leaned toward him and pressed my lips to his. "I'm never running away again. That I can promise you."

"Good," he murmured back. "Because you're all mine."

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