Page 60 of Between Sun and Moon

In the deep hours of the night, after Soren and Arkyn had left, and the rest of the castle had given themselves to the realm of dreams, I walked out onto the balcony, welcoming the icy air into my lungs.

I breathed it in. I needed the stifling cold to remind me that I was alive, that I was more than my numbness. It was like my body had taken pause, my heart stuck mid-beat, the blood in my veins turning from liquid to stone. Perhaps my body was trying to preserve itself from its inevitable demise, just before the world caved in around me. I braced my hands against the railing, clutching on to it—just in case it did. Just in case the stone gave way beneath my feet, and everything came crashing down, losing itself in the sea sprawling before me.

I wondered, for a moment, what would happen if I leapt off this balcony—if I returned to the embrace of the water and gave myself to her depths? Would she claim my immortal life forever?

I looked down, peering at the vine tattoo on my arm—yet one more reminder of Von’s trickery.

Everything,my breathy voice played in my head.

I was a damned fool.

I had sold my soul to the God of Death for a damn kiss. And now the reminder of my stupidity would mark my arm—my soul—forever.

A warm hand slipped over mine, a golden band sparkling in the moonlight.

“We don’t have to talk. I am here for you, if you need anything,” Aurelius said, his beautiful, ethereal face directed towards the sea.

My heart took comfort in his presence . . .Itook comfort in his presence. Just as I had in all of my memories with him. Back then, he was my pillar of strength, the one who cared for me, even in my darkest hours when I was sick with fever. His love had been so deeply sown that he’d helped me plant the seed of his enemy in his own lands, just so I could feel relief.

With each memory, Von’s image tarnished while Aurelius’s bloomed.

If there was one thing that I knew now it was that Aurelius’s love for me was so deep, so vast, it rivaled the very sea before us.

And now. . .

When I looked down, when I took in the ring he wore on his finger—the one that signified what he once was to me—I questioned why I was fighting the only thing that I knew to be real. And yes, maybe part of my decision was because of the crippling numbness I felt, the need to feel something—to fill the immense void that Von had left behind—but I was past the point of caring, past the point of thinking.

Right now, I didn’t want to think—I just wanted to feel.

I turned to the king of kings. “Aurelius?”

White lashes lowered as his gaze met mine. “Yes?”

“I don’t want to bejustfriends anymore.”

Sage

His brows lifted slightly, like he was struggling to believe what I had just said.

Then the God of Life smiled, and that charming little dimple made its appearance. And it was the loveliest smile I had ever seen—like the morning sun rising on the horizon, chasing away the night.

Gently, he took my face in his hands, his rich, golden eyes darting between mine. “Are you sure?” he asked, his tone a smooth velvet—warm and inviting, something I wanted to wrap myself up in.

I rested my hands on his forearms, feeling the corded muscle, feeling the god in him summoning the goddess in me. For once, my mind was quiet. Without an ounce of hesitation, Inodded, and it was probably for all of the wrong reasons, but I didn’t care.

I was beyond reason.

“I’m sure.”

Not even a second had passed before his lips came crashing down on mine. My heart—ourheart—thundered in my chest, building in tempo as our mouths moved, as we tasted one another, stole from one another, and gave to one another.

The God of Life sucked the oxygen from my lungs and replaced it with the fire he breathed into me.

I wanted it—him—everywhere.

I wanted to feel.

I wanted . . . to forget.

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