Epilogue

The shuttle bumped and dipped as we hit turbulence, and my stomach dropped with it. The controls shook in my hands, and I steadied them against the jarring, just like Soren had showed me.

Children were supposed to be able to operate these things? Rust buckets, Vester called them? The dials and lights and buttons that surrounded me on all sides didn't make a lick of sense.

"Easy on the thrusters, Ayana. Let the planet's gravity do the work." Soren sat next to me, grinning from ear to ear. That bastard loved watching me struggle. He placed a large palm over my trembling fingers and coaxed them away from the controls.

I was relieved for the help. And the distraction. And the company.

The shuttle leveled out, and I exhaled slowly, my grip tightening on the controls.

Soren had taken me on dozens of short flights around the fleet, and I was still a nervous wreck. Flying was a necessary evil, he told me. Nothing to fear.

Yeah, easy for him to say. He didn't have a stomach that rebelled with every lurch of the horizon.

"Steady," he murmured. Another shudder, and his fingers dug into the armrests. "Engage the landing sequence."

The shuttle rattled and shuddered as we touched down on the surface of Gamarr. I breathed a sigh of relief, my white-knuckled grip on the controls finally relaxing. I shot a glance at my mate. Soren looked a shade paler than usual, his purple complexion tinged with a sickly gray.

I powered down the engines and dared ask, "Was my flying really that bad?"

Soren shook his head, a weak grin tugging at his lips. "Nonsense. It has nothing to do with your flying."

I raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Sure, it doesn't."

He stood abruptly, bracing himself against the low ceiling of the shuttle. The color was returning to his cheeks, and his eyes burned brighter. "Come, pet. I have a surprise for you."

"Surprise?" I asked. I trailed after him and down the shuttle ramp.

I'd known we headed for Gamarr, but that was as far as my familiarity ran. The coordinates Soren punched in that morning hadn't meant a thing to someone learning wraith history meant for those of knee-height age.

As my eyes adjusted to the harsh light of Gamarr's sun, I realized where he'd taken us.

We stood atop a cliff overlooking a patch of flattened jungle. All that remained of the Nightfall's crash site were neatly separated debris and broken trunks of trees.

Beyond that, on the other side of the dense jungle, stood the ruins where Soren had first claimed me.

Soren's hands landed on my hips, pulling me close. He rested his chin on the top of my head. "I've invited the most powerful verdants to Gamarr," he explained, his voice rumbling with pride. "They initially helped protect the wraith salvage teams from the more... hungrier of the plant life."

I smiled. I liked the sound of that. Wraith and verdant, working in tandem.

"But I'm told the earth itself called to their power." He pointed to the ruins in the distance. "They're healing the land. Taming the plants. Untangling what we once thought lost."

I squinted into my second look. Signs of new construction dotted the ruins. Skeletal frames built, walkways laid. Greenery still dominated the broken structures, but the vines and moss and lichen seemed more welcoming than smothering.

"They're going to build here," Soren said. "Any verdant who wants to heal Gamarr will have a place here. The world will become a home again thanks to the gifts of your kind."

I stood there, speechless. Tears pricked my eyes, and I blinked them back. This world, destroyed by the Triarchy, would rise again. Would thrive. Fertile ground for growth and new beginnings. A place where my kind could thrive and build something for ourselves.

"Does that please you, Ayana?" Soren whispered into my ear. His lips ghosted against my neck.

"It's perfect," I answered. The first few tears broke free, and I dashed them away. "It's everything I could have ever hoped for."

His arms tightened around me, and I felt the curve of a smile against my skin. "I'm glad you approve, pet. Though I must confess, I have a selfish motive as well."

I tilted my head back to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm hoping more wraiths will find their Cor Umbra matches among the verdants." A devilish grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Imagine the power we could wield with an army of mates like us. No one would dare threaten us again."

He nibbled the edge of my mate mark, and I tilted my head to allow him better access. The thrumming bond between us vibrated, and I felt the beginnings of his erection grow against my ass.

"There." Soren's breath was hot against my ear as he leaned in close.

He turned me gently, pointing toward the ruins and the temple spire that rose above the dense overgrowth. The temple looked untouched by the verdants' efforts, still shrouded in vines and shadows.

Shadows ghosted like fingertips along my shoulders. A tease. A taste. I shivered, a bolt of lightning racing through me.

"I'm told there's an hour at night when the stars align just right." His voice was thick and low, almost a growl. "The light bathes down the sides of the temple like liquid silver."

The warm press of his lips against the side of my neck made my toes curl. "How does that work?"

"I don't know," he confessed. His fingers flexed against my hips. "I haven't been able to bear the thought of anyone going near it. I even ordered they leave the path you ran as wild as our mating chase."

I started to speak, but his mouth moved lower. To the hollow of my throat. The tendrils of shadow chased the warmth of his mouth, touching, teasing, testing.

"The thought of you, spread out on that altar, bathed in starlight..." He trailed off on a groan. His fingers dug in, pulling me tight to him.

I bit my lip, fighting back a moan at the mental image. "Are you suggesting we defile a sacred space, my king?"

Soren's answering grin was positively feral. "I'm suggesting we consecrate it, pet."

He claimed my mouth in a bruising kiss, swallowing my gasp. The shadows flitted higher, brushing my collarbone, my throat, my chin. I melted against him, my fingers tangling in his hair as I lost myself in the taste of him, the feel of his body pressed against mine.

When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard. Soren's eyes darkened, molten gold boring into me with barely restrained desire, his shadows swirling around us like a living thing.

A low, sinful growl rumbled in his chest. Goosebumps flared over my skin at the feral sound.

"Run."

One word. So simple, so commanding.

With a breathless laugh, I turned and sprinted toward the temple.