“We’re in Coven Headquarters. In Eden. Can we just embrace that fact for a moment?” Saber spun in a slow circle, her red and hazel-gold eyes were big and bright. “I can’t believe we’re actually free.”

Everest sighed and shoved his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “Almost free. One more piece.”

“Can’t we enjoy this for a second?” Saber was watching the tree line of the Old Lands that bordered Eden. She waved her hand. “I mean, I don’t think I ever fully believed we’d make it this far. Together. Alive. Now that we’re on the other side, I think I doubted it would happen.”

Everest nodded and looked at the ground. “I promised you we would get here.”

Saber spun on her toes and crossed her arms over her chest. She arched one black eyebrow. “Now I need you to promise me one more thing.”

Everest’s gaze lifted until he was looking up at her through his eyelashes. “What’s that?”

“Promise me . . .” Saber closed the distance between them until she was a mere foot in front of him. Those red and hazel-gold eyes were full of emotion. I could even see her pulse beating in the vein in her forehead. “Promise me if it ever comes to this . . . you will not sacrifice your life for hers. I need to hear you say it. Promise me you will not sacrifice your life for Frankie’s.”

I straightened. Wait, what? What the fuck? My pulse quickened.

Everest stared at her with fire in his eyes.

“Promise me,” she growled low in her throat. She licked her lips and swallowed roughly. “I need to hear you say it out loud.”

There was a long, long pause where Everest just stared at her. I gripped the wooden beam for support because suddenly my legs felt weak.

And then Everest nodded. He actually nodded. “I promise I will not sacrifice my life for Frankie’s.”

My breath left me in a rush. What? What did I just hear? And he never calls me Frankie. Ever. What is happening right now?

Saber swayed on her feet. A few tears slid down her cheek before she wiped them away. “Frankie doesn’t need you like I do. I can’t lose you, not yet.”

Everest pulled her into his chest, then wrapped his arms around her tight. “The only life I’d sacrifice my own for is yours,” he said softly.

My stomach rolled. My legs gave out. My body may not have been here, but I felt my soul hit the wooden porch.

Saber looked up at him like he was the most important person in her world. “Don’t say that⁠—-”

“I will not live if I can prevent your death for I do not want a future if I lose you,” he said with a voice thick with emotion. “And I will not take questions or comments on the matter.”