Page 63 of When Darkness Reigns

‘Ourpeople. It’s time we tore down that border, ruledtogether and showed the next generation how the future could be—united.’

The unmistakable whistle of Viv echoed across the clearing. ‘I like the sound of that!’ she bellowed. One by one, each of my friends—Cain, Sienna, Everett, Jasper, Geraldine, Acheron and Jade—all stepped forward.

‘How?’ I asked, unable to believe they had all survived.

‘Well, someone had to be a little overachiever and pull back the darkness and trap it. Once it leached out of the Morgadian soldiers, they were confused and unmotivated, to say the least,’ Viv explained.

‘Pissed scared, more like it.’ Jasper chuckled.

Jade stepped forward then. ‘Those are the eyes my sister always told me about—honest and true. It’s nice to see you as she saw you. Cain said you turned into a dragon?!’ she almost squealed. Cain stepped forward, his fingers intertwining with hers, smiling down at her excited face as she stared at me in shock.

I looked at him, unsure of how he had known, but now certain of whatever was going on between the two of them. I knew his spies ran deep, but there was no one in the forest with us while the Mrak still held the barrier up. That was, until Cain raised his eyes to the sky like it was an obvious answer.

Demir interrupted, stealing my attention back. ‘I’m truly happy you’re all safe, everyone, but I’m still waiting on an answer from Skylar.’

‘What answer?’ I asked incredulously.

‘If you’ll marry me, of course.’

I stared at him in shock, then looked at the faces of my closest confidants and friends. They appeared equally taken aback, except for Cain; he was smirking, as though the inevitable had finally happened.

‘You didn’t even ask,’ I deflected.

‘It’s implied, Princess. We can’t rule together unless we makethings official, can we now? So, do you still choose me even without the bond?’

I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw everything I had seen before the flame took that piece of me with it. I saw the man who had seen me broken but still recognised my strength and perceived the light at the centre of my darkness even when I could never see it. The man who grounded me in my storms. The man who made me feel whole, even when this life had taken so much from me.

‘Yes. In this life and the next.’