CHAPTER 64

SLADE

I clutch Auren's hand tightly , unwilling to let go. Unable.

I'm dizzy with the reality that she's okay. More than okay. I can't yet fathom everything that happened, and my cleaved-apart soul is still raw and aching.

But the pair bond sings and her aura twists in a reassuring glow that helps me to breathe.

Though I don't let go of her hand.

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to again.

Together, we walk to the new, bright city in the valley below. It's sprouted right where the dead city used to be. Now the ruins are gone, and unblemished buildings shine in their place. The white walls are polished and smooth, standing alongside a winding road of moss-soaked cobbles that cushion my every footfall.

The road overlooks the river to our left, and the waters are so full and crystal clear that I can see the colorful pebbles glittering at the river's floor. Trees line the walkway we tread upon, their branches heavy with fruit and sweet-smelling blossoms.

Auren didn't just heal the deadlands. She poured pure, vibrant life into it.

I still can't believe what I saw. The golden sunlight streamed from her and into the earth, stripping away the wrongness and making it reborn.

Just as she was reborn.

Not as many people are still with us. Most of them fled when the land started to crumble, but there are still a few dozen who witnessed what happened.

They followed us here, into this new city, their demeanors shocked and quiet. Everyone keeps turning their heads, taking in the sights. They're in awe of this place—but they're in awe of Auren even more.

Who could blame them?

I can't stop looking at her.

Her clothes have gone gilded, her skin and hair gleaming. She has a glow about her, emanating from even more than the aura that shines from her skin.

She's radiant.

She's alive .

My hands still shake, the tremors of my despair sneaking through.

To say I was devastated can't encompass the wreckage I was. With her dead in my arms, I was nothing but ruin and anguish.

To have her here beside me now, real and warm and bright with life…it makes me flounder with both shock and marvel.

Inside my head, I have to keep reassuring myself, have to keep squeezing her hand to feel her squeeze back.

She's alive.

Auren looks over with excitement that lights up her eyes, and it makes my tremors go still. "It's beautiful here," she breathes. "Do you think this is what it looked like before?"

"I don't know," I admit, though we both seem to turn to look at the building to our right at the same time. My eyes drift over the golden vines that sprout from its pitched rooftop before trailing down the rest of the way to hang over the eaves. "But I'm fairly certain these at least are new additions."

Auren laughs, and the sound makes chills raise on my skin. Makes me so fucking thankful to hear it.

"Did you notice the vines themselves sort of look like my ribbons?"

I nod. "And the leaves look a bit like…"

"Feathers," she finishes with a widening smile.

I lift our joined hands and press a kiss against her skin. "Goldfinch," I murmur, my heart constricting.

Her voice and eyes go soft, no doubt picking up on the echoes of my torment. "I'm okay," she tells me again. "We're together."

My throat bobs as I nod, and she squeezes my hand again to comfort me.

Her wings stretch out slightly from where they're tucked against her back, and the one closest to me reaches out to stroke my arm, just like her ribbons did. I release her hand so I can drag my fingers over it, and the ends curl around me as if trying to hold on.

My lips curve and I rub it between my fingers. The surface feels satiny smooth and supple, but there's also an underlying core that's strong and sturdy. It bends and sways, each individual ribboned strip spanning the length of the forged wing. But it looks like liquid gold dripped down, forming feathers up and down the lengths.

"Gorgeous," I purr.

The wing brushes over me again, but this time…lower.

Auren's head snaps over with a blush branding her cheek. "Stop that," she hisses beneath her breath as it caresses my ass.

I chuckle as the wing snaps back into place against her. "They're quite handsy," I say through a smile.

"They're new," she says with teasing flippancy. "They just don't know how to move yet."

Her wings fluff up, making my grin widen. "I don't think they agree with that statement."

Auren looks back at them, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiles, which makes my heart melt. She loves them. I can see it in her expression. And they fit her perfectly. She doesn't look strange, doesn't walk as if they burden her or feel awkward. They flow with her effortlessly, as if they were always there, just waiting to come out.

Maybe they were.

Maybe it was similar to how I felt when I manifested the dragon.

As soon as that thought crosses my mind, a pang goes through me, though I try to keep the despondency from my face.

"You okay?" Auren asks, so in tune with me that she can sense my shift in mood.

The mourning stretches inside of me, emanating from the place where the dragon slept, right at the core of my healed selves. The spot now lies empty.

I've lost my dragon. But I have her.

I reach down and thread my fingers through hers. "So long as I have you, I will always be okay."

So long as I have her, I can bear anything.

"How do your wings feel?" I ask.

Auren considers my question as she glances over at them. "They feel…like my ribbons. Like there aren't just two, but still all twenty-four."

I hum in thought. "Can you separate them again?"

Her steps falter slightly as she thinks about it, but then she turns focused. Her eyes flutter closed for a moment, and then, her wings stretch out and ripple.

I watch as her wings split apart into all two dozen ribbons again. They twist and flick like they're excited.

Auren beams. "Did you see?"

"Beautiful," I say as one of the strips comes over to stroke against my arm.

Auren pulls in her ribbons, and the lengths fuse into wings again, pouring down with dripping gold that forms the feathers.

She presses a hand to her chest and nearly skips in excitement. "I can have them both," she says with wonder. "Wings and ribbons."

Behind us, the people look on with amazement, whispers breaking out between them.

"You're extraordinary," I murmur, and I relish the blush that casts across her cheeks.

As we walk, Auren has them morph from wings to ribbons and back again a few more times, delighting with every transition. I can't get enough of watching her.

And inwardly, I'm still reassuring myself.

She's alive.

Soon, the moss-covered cobblestones of the road bring us to what looks like the center of the new city. They curve around a water well like a halo of green, while bigger buildings are set further out. Behind the well, the sight opens up to the river and a thicket of greenery.

When we finally stop, the group stops with us.

"Now what?" someone murmurs.

The question seems to catch onto the faces of every watching fae. As if now that we've stopped walking, they're able to stop reeling.

But I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop reeling.

In truth, my heart hasn't stopped racing since the ground gave way beneath my feet. Once the air hooked around Auren and me and we were dragged down into a free-fall, I thought it was over. That it was all done.

And a part of me was relieved.

Because Auren was gone, and I didn't want to exist without her. I clutched her as we fell, and I was okay with it, because it meant I wasn't going to have to let her go after all. It meant we could stay together.

But then, she started clutching me back, and instead of falling, we flew.

She flew. In more ways than one. And she's here. Not lifeless in my arms, but here with me again.

I don't understand it. Don't know how it's possible. But somehow, Auren denied death. Somehow, she came back to me.

So even though I don't know all the explanations behind it, my heart hasn't stopped racing. Not once. So I can understand this question that's being lobbed back and forth as it travels further down the crowd, because I feel it too.

What next?

I turn to look at Auren, just as Wick and my mother step closer to us.

Wick still hasn't quite lost that edge of shocked stupor.

My mother, though, she wears a quiet smile. Who knows, maybe as a diviner, the goddesses whisper in her ear. Her lips may be quiet, but perhaps her head is full of words. And while I'll always wish I could hear her speak to me more, the one word she did bless me with changed everything.

That one word was all I needed.

But that isn't true for this parade of fae who've followed us. Who look expectantly in our direction, waiting for words and explanations.

A Vulmin moves through the crowd to get to the front, his collar exposing the embroidered sigil of the broken-winged bird. I wonder if some of the Vulmin will change it now. If the symbol will shift with the appearance of Auren's wings.

"Yes, what happens next?" he asks with anticipation, his gaze moving back and forth between Auren and Wick.

Auren shifts on her feet, and I know she's slightly uncomfortable to be the center of all this attention. "Well…" she begins, with a glance darted to Wick. "We can rest here in the city. There seems to be food…"

"The bridge is gone," the Vulmin says. "And the Stone Swords said that Carrick went to Orea. So if that's true, he's gone too."

The thought of the Stone King being in Orea makes worry tighten my shoulders. I hope King Thold unleashes his serpents on the bastard until he's nothing but a constricted corpse riddled with venom. I hope they defeat him and that my brother and my Wrath are okay.

But the bridge is gone.

And Brennur, the only fae who had the power to transport between realms is gone too.

Which means we will never get answers, and I will never get to see my brother or Lu or Os or Judd again. My Premiers. My people. I'll never know if Orea suffers at the fae king's hand, and I can't get there to help them if they do.

Guilt weighs on me like an arm slung over my shoulders, intent on pulling me down.

"The king fled, and Annwyn is finally free of his tyranny," another Vulmin says. "Now's the time to take up the reins!"

"Yes!" several of them call out in response.

"Yes," Wick repeats quietly, and then he turns to look at Auren. His expression weighty.

Everyone quiets. Watching.

"They're right, Auren," Wick tells her. "You made Carrick flee. You healed Annwyn. You saved countless lives. You were reborn . Our broken-winged bird flew, rising like the dawn."

Auren sucks in a breath.

Then he lowers on one knee.

"We bow," he says, face intent on her. "We bow to the new Queen of Annwyn. The last-birthed Turley heir."

Shock courses through her, while excitement travels through the onlookers.

"We bow to Queen Auren Turley!"

"We bow to our Ly?ri!"

"The golden one rules!"

"The golden one rules!"

Auren blinks at them all, and I know just what she's thinking. Can see every thought as it plays over her features.

She swallows hard at the chanting and then looks back to Wick. "Please stand up."

He does, and then everyone quiets again, waiting to see what she'll say. She shakes her head as she looks around at everyone. "I'm honored that you would call me your queen, but I do not want to rule."

It takes a moment for her words to land, but once they do, everyone goes still. Eyes widen in disbelief, and some expressions twist up in confusion or dispute.

"I was kidnapped from Annwyn as a little girl," she tells them, looking out at the small crowd. "I was trapped and used and manipulated. For years—for decades —my life was never my own." Her eyes flick over to me for a second as a small smile tips her lips. "That changed once I met my pair, but we've had to face constant threats, danger, and obstacles. And now…for once, all of that is done."

I see the empathy start to spread, see understanding lighting the eyes of those who watch her.

"A queen's entire life has to be for her kingdom," she goes on. "But I would like to finally have the chance to live my life…for me ."

My eyes and heart burn for her. My mother dashes away a tear.

Auren's eyes carry a sheen too, but her voice stays strong. "And though I don't want to be queen, Annwyn can still turn a new page. We can be peaceful and prosperous. You don't need to bow to me for that. We can do it together."

Her head turns, gaze locking onto Wick, who's looking at her in shock.

"We have the perfect person right here to help lead the way," she tells them. "Someone who has been fighting for the rights of fae and Oreans all his life. Someone who understands far more about the nuances of this world and its history and politics than I do. He's been a Vulmin leader, an Orean advocate, and he's…" She pauses, looking at him expectantly.

Asking a silent question.

Wick's throat bobs as he swallows hard, but then he gives her the smallest nod of his head.

"And he's also family," Auren finishes. "Wickum Almon Turley."

Surprised mutters break out, and the Vulmin's eyes go wide.

"With his help, we can figure out what's next," she tells them. "And we'll do it together."