Page 120 of Queen of Thorns
“You have passed beyond,” a voice in the distance tells me. The voice is gentle and feminine.
“Beyond,” I repeat slowly. I twist back, trying to find the place I came from. “I died.” My voice is hoarse.
“Yes.”
My stomach sinks, but I struggle to grasp all of what that will mean. “My... my mate is not here.”
“No.”
The weight on my chest is back, and I can’t breathe.
“Death is not the end, Reveln. It is only the beginning. There is much for you to find if you continue walking. A whole new world. All you must do is continue forward.”
“No,” I groan.
The bodiless voice grunts. “Yes, yes. Those who pass without their mates tend to have a harder time adjusting.”
“Well, no shit. Only half of my soul is here,” I say, panting. Hands on my knees, I try to force air through my lungs. My vision peppers with black. Can one pass out when they’re already dead?
Do I even need to breathe here?
“No,” the voice tells me.
I stand up straight, the urge to breathe suddenly gone.
“You will meet your mate again,” the voice assures me. “This is not the end.”
Flashes of memory appear in my mind’s eye. “We were in a battle. What happened?”
There’s a caress of darkness against my heart. I spin toward the tiny shadow in the distance and step toward it.
Therightdeath is freedom
“Their battle is not ove—” the disembodied voice says softly but cuts off. “What are you doing?” she asks as I take another step toward the darkness. Shadows that are as familiar as my own soul pull me away from the voice and back toward the heaviness of life.
A sweeping shadow curls around my wrist and tugs. A smile spreads across my face. “I don’t think my battle is done yet either.”
