Page 154 of The Eternal Mirror
I turn to Khaos.
He’s already looking at me. Already nodding.
I slowly push myself to my feet. “You sure?” I whisper.
He stands beside me. “I’d follow you anywhere. But it’s more than that. This world no longer feels like home to me, either.”
I stare up at the Mirror. It hums louder now, the light inside it pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
“I don’t want to rule a kingdom,” I say. “Or fix a broken world. Or be anyone’s prophecy.”
“Then don’t,” Khaos says. “Just...be.”
For a while there, I truly believed I was born to end a world.
But maybe...I’m meant to begin one.
Amber, Creator of Worlds.
Yeah. I like the sound of that.
“But there is one thing you need to understand,” Selene says. “You can never return. And only two can pass through the mirror.”
I look around at Zayne and Josh. If I do this, I’ll never see them again. I’ll never know what happens to them. But if I stay, I’ll never be happy, and I’ll drag them down with me. I see the dawning understanding in Zayne’s eyes. Disbelief. Then acceptance.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Don’t be,” he replies fiercely. “I’ll never be sorry you came into our lives. Not for anything. It was all worth it. But part of me always knew you were never really ours to keep.”
Beside him, Josh jumps up and runs to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I hug him close. “You’re the best sister ever, Amber,” he says. Then he looks up at me with that strange silver glint in his eyes and whispers. “I think we will meet again one day, when our stars come together.” Then he lets me go.
His words are weirdly comforting and I’m smiling as I turn to Khaos. He holds out his hand.
I take one step forward.
And then another.
The Mirror brightens.
We stop in front of it—just the two of us. Me and the man who became my future.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
He grins. “Let’s make a world.”
I shift first. Black fire rips through me—wings, hooves, stars in my mane.
Khaos shifts beside me, his dragon form gleaming with gold and shadow.
Together, we rise.
And we fly straight into the light.
Epilogue: Khaos
“If you ever find someone who looks at you like you’re worth saving,” Khendril says, “don’t let them go. Even if it means leaving the whole damn world behind.”
I frown. “Am I worth saving?”
