“That sounds perfect,” she says.

“Almost,” I agree, and she blinks in question.

“It might be nice to have some company.”

“Oh?” She moves closer until she’s nearly pressed against me, and I lift a hand to her face, trailing my fingers along her jawbone. I tip her face up, and I stare at her, taking in the soft slope of her nose and the freckles dusting the bridge. Her bright green eyes spark, and I note the gold ring surrounding her pupils.

“Care to join me?” I ask.

She smiles. “I wouldn’t be interrupting your quiet brooding?”

I tip my head back and laugh. “I think it could use a few interruptions.”

She stretches up onto her tiptoes and kisses me. “Well then . . . that sounds like something I could do.”

I smile at her, and then I, too, am finally content.

CHAPTER 76

NADIR

THE AURORA

Istand outside the gates of Nostraza, staring up at the forbidding entrance that was the beginning of the end for so many people. I regret everything about this place. Even if Lor hadn’t found her way into my life, I’d still regret everything. I’m just grateful she helped open my eyes before any more found their way into the jaws of this beast.

“Nadir,” Amya says, and my attention moves to her. She gestures me to the opening, where Mael, Willow, and Tristan wait with her. “Come on.”

I inhale a deep breath and enter, thinking about the last time I was here when I’d been sent to investigate Lor’s disappearance. I remember dropping into that hole where they’d left her and picking up her scent. I hadn’t met her yet, but she was already a memory I couldn’t touch. Though I can’t say why, I think I knew even then that everything was about to change. I had no idea just how much.

Willow and Amya clasp hands and walk ahead of us. The rest of us follow behind as our footsteps echo in the hollow silence.

When we returned to The Aurora, we announced my father’s death. The reaction was mixed, but he didn’t have many friends, and it felt more like a sigh of relief than one of mourning. I went straight to my mother’s wing in the Keep, and as I expected, she was gone. Only a memory left. I stood in the silence of her room, staring out across the view that was her only companion for so many years. With my forehead pressed to the cool glass, I allowed myself a moment to grieve. To remember that final conversation we had when she found the strength to talk to us for the last time.