Page 199 of A Flame of the Phoenix

The birds didn’t harm him, but it was like they were aware of his presence. Maybe even protective of him.

Faythe approached slowly, cautiously, trying to tune out the pounding of wings to find his heartbeat, but not even her own existed in her chest here.

This Void of Choosing.

Faythe didn’t know what was about to come; what had to happen for this second chance. Whatever the price, she was willing to pay it to have him.

Reylan was shirtless, and his back was marked in ink. The closer she got, the air was stolen from her lungs at the beautiful black wings tattooed there, draping over his shoulders and his biceps.

Her hand reached out when he was close enough to touch, and her fingers trailed up his spine. Reylan was so still she didn’t know if he could feel her.

Until he spoke.

“Faythe.”

“I’m here,” she said, emotion tightening her throat.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. So lost and broken.

“It has to be his choice,”the primordial said.“To die a hero. Or to be reborn.”

“As what?” Faythe dared to ask.

“My servant.”

Of this God as old as time.

Faythe came around to Reylan’s front, sinking to her knees, and the icy water lapped around them. She took his face, guiding his bowed head up, but he couldn’t see her. His eyes were wholly black, the white and sapphire swallowed by depthless obsidian.

“All I see is darkness,” he said.

“I’m with you.”

His brow flinched at that, hand rising over hers. “If this is where you are, it’s where I want to stay,” he said.

“I’m not leaving without you.” Tears slipped down her cheeks as her forehead pressed to his. “You don’t have to come back. I’ll stay right here with you.”

Faythe’s hand upturned between them. She sobbed when Reylan’s slipped into it, and the black branches that crawled across his skin began to reach over hers, entwining with her golden tattoos. She wasn’t afraid of the darkness. Not with him here.

“I choose you,” Reylan said.

Reylan’s sapphire irises started to come back as the black pool dispersed.

Faythe leaned in, and the moment their mouths met, she found a heart. One that beat for both of them.

She wasn’t afraid. As long as she had him, she could never be afraid.

The real world came crashing down around her, and Faythe’s throat was speared by a deep inhale of winter air.

Faythe kneeled, holding the weight of Reylan’s upper body. She was alone. Blinking, she remembered her parents and her friends. Under her palm…

She gasped at Reylan’s cold hand that slipped over hers on his chest. Over his heartbeat, which Faythe treasured every beat of with a euphoric, breathy chuckle that was pure exhaustion and relief.

“Faythe,” Reylan said, shifting his head to look up at her.

“I’m here,” she rasped, delirious and overwhelmed. “It’s me.”

When Faythe saw sapphire, the world of war and heartache around them ceased to exist.

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