Page 95 of A Bond in Flames

“She cut it off herself with an unwashed blade. She said she did it to get back to you.”

I stared down at her, desperately trying to swallow. A snarl curled my lip in disbelief even as my heart thumped hard in my chest. “This is a lie.”

Egon growled, surprising me again. “She is right there, my lord. In your arms. You have lost her so many times—I was here with you, and I know what that did to you—but, my lord, this time, she has returned. She came back…” He swallowed audibly. “She chose you.”

* * *

Zinnia

I blinked up into Death’s emaciated face. My sight swam, and my body ached. He stared at me, gaze hard. He took my wounded hand in his and lifted it. I tried to speak, to say something, but I was too damn weak. Then my eyelids were too heavy, and I let them slide shut.

When I woke again, a scream pierced the room. It went on and on. I wanted it to stop, but then I realized the scream was coming from me. Stabbing pain radiated through my body, and my limbs were so heavy, and I was so hot, so incredibly hot. I kicked at the covers. The T-shirt I was wearing was soaked, plastered to my skin. Egon was there; he held a straw to my lips, and I drank the cool water before my vision went dark and I was submerged again.

The next time I woke, I was so cold, my teeth chattered. I was in water. There was something hot against my back, surrounding me. The cold water stung so badly, I sobbed and begged for it to stop. A deep voice rolled over me. It was comforting, insistent, but the cold remained. They held me in the water until I thought I might die.

My eyes blinked open again. It was dark, the fire crackling and flickering across the room, bathing it in a muted orange glow. I was in my room at the castle. Lifting my hand, I looked at the bandages and wriggled the fingers I still had. The swelling had gone down. I’d beaten the infection.

“How do you feel?”

My head twisted to the chair beside me. I couldn’t see him, but Death sat there, watching me from the shadows. “A lot better.”

“Any pain?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” The stabbing pain through my body was still there—no, not as sharp as before, but still very much there. I wasn’t going to tell Death that, though, not yet. To him, I’d been gone a year. He felt betrayed, abandoned. I didn’t want him to hold back or hide what he was feeling because he was concerned for me or thought me still in the throes of a fever and confused.

“Why are you here?” he asked coldly.

I pushed myself up. It was hard, but again, I refused to show him any weakness in this moment. “I’m here because this is where I belong, with my consort.”

He went utterly still. “You expect me to believe you suddenly woke up one morning and decided you wanted to be with me?”

His voice was deep and broken and chilled me to the bone. I shifted under the covers so I was facing him, even though I still couldn’t see his face. “To you, I’ve been gone a year. For me, only a month and eight days have passed since I left here.”

“Is that right?”

He didn’t believe me. “Yes.” I slid my legs out from under the covers and pressed my feet to the cool stone floor. “I sent you a message that I’d be late. Magnolia said she got through to Lyle.”

“I received no message, witch.”

“Else was dying. I couldn’t leave her or my family, so I stayed until she passed.” I slid to the edge of the bed. “The night of her funeral… I finally learned the truth.”

“What truth?” he said harshly.

“I lay in a field after her burial, and I slept.” I eased off the bed. “I had visions of you… of us…” I swallowed, emotion clogging my throat. “All the things you wanted to tell me but couldn’t. That you desperately wanted me to remember—”

“Lies,” he snarled.

I ignored him and kept talking. “I was in the night sky… but then you left me all alone, and I missed you so much. Nox created me. She gifted me to you. We were so happy. I saw my belly swollen with our daughter, saw you take her in your arms when I gave birth to her.” I stepped closer. “I remember, Mors. I remember everything. Every single life I had without you after that because I didn’t know, because I didn’t remember that you and Marigold areeverythingto me.” I closed the space between us and reached into the shadows of his cloak, cupping his hollow face. “Every time I didn’t choose you.” I moved in between his legs. “But I know now, I remember, and I choose you, my love—”

He snarled and snatched my hand away from his face. Gripping my wrist, he stood. He backed me up until we stood in front of the fire. I didn’t fight as he gripped my jaw and stared deep into my eyes. No, I wanted him to see the truth, to see me. His hand curled around the back of my head and his face went to my throat. I held still as he pressed his nose to my skin and dragged it up, breathing deep.

My pulse raced wildly. “Death…”

He pulled away suddenly, flinching, and a look transformed his face, like he’d been sucker-punched—pain, sharp and fierce filled his eyes, followed by brutal disappointment—then rage. “You are a liar, an imposter.” He bared his teeth. “When I look into your hollow eyes, now that I finally can, I see nothing. I feel nothing. You don’t even smell like Zinnia.” His mouth twisted. “It’s a good likeness, I’ll give you that. You almost had me fooled there for a moment. Nox outdid herself this time, but you have no soul, creature. You’re an imposter—”

“I’m not an imposter. I have a soul… It’s me—”

“Zinnia has been gone an entire year. She left, she concealed herself from me, and she ran.”

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