Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aranren helped me to my feet, then wrapped his arms around me. "Ember, you are so beautiful. So full of magic. I love you."

Love. Yes, this was real love. How had I not seen it? It had been there all along. Aranren had waited for me. He had been longing for me even while I fought him. And then Death brought me to Aranren, and I still ignored what was right before me. That was a testament to Ara's love. I finally saw that. I finally felt it in return. I loved him.

I looked down at my hand. I was clutching something. Ara had given it to me, but I couldn't remember when. It was a pendant on a silver chain—a simple piece of polished crystal, but it felt special because Ara had given it to me. I put it on absently as the world reformed around us, the darkness of the mental plane vanishing. Ara smiled and straightened the pendant so that it hung below my other one—the moonstone with the W on it. I couldn't remember when I got that one either. What was with me and my jewelry? It wasn't as if I had a lot of it. But when I looked at Aranren, thoughts of necklaces were replaced by romance.

"Was it you?" I asked him.

"Was what me, my love?" Aranren asked.

"The letters. Did you send those love letters to me?"

A small frown flitted over his face. "No, that was not me."

"Oh." Disappointment flared briefly.

I thought perhaps Ara had used Caleb's body to write to me. But if it wasn't him, the letters were meaningless. I glanced away from Ara, noting where we were—his bedroom. I knew it well. I had spent many nights there, sleeping beside him but not truly being with him. Putting on a show for Death. What an idiot I was.

"I will write you love letters and even poetry if that is what you want." He drew my attention back to him. His hands wandered over my back possessively, but not crudely. He was a gentleman. Aranren was refined. Elegant. He didn't paw or grab. He stroked. He adored. He treasured me. His hand went to my face. "I will give you everything you need and desire, my Ember. You are all I've been waiting for. The man who will rule beside me. You can't possibly know how much I love you. But I will make it clear. I will spend eternity showing you my love."

My heart went cold and that cold spread, but it didn't matter. Because it was his. All his.

"I love you too. I'm sorry I've taken so long to realize that." I drew him toward the bed. "We will make things clear to each other. Right now."

Something shimmered over Ara's face and he jerked back.

"Ara?" I asked.

"Ember!" He cleared his throat, his eyes blinking rapidly. "Let's not rush this. Let me savor you, my love." Aranren drew me to the door.

"Oh, I don't fucking think so, Ara ," Death drawled.

And then the world shifted around us once more.