Page 74 of Shadows of Light
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Good.”
“It makes sense the arach would create a way to control the Reaver, or at least ease the shadows from him. I can feel the shadows inside me; still, their power remains a part of me, but it’s nowhere near as out of control as it was before. And my reach isn’t as far with them as it was before.
“It was our kiss that drew them from me and weakened them. Or, I should say, your mark of the dragon. It’s the first time your shield has completely crumbled and your mark has come out while we’ve been together like this. Your kiss and mark drew them from me. That must have been how the arach ensured some control over the Shadow Reaver would remain intact.”
“It’s such an intimate exchange for two immortals who could have ended up hating or barely knowing each other. What if the last arach and Reaver never met?”
“I think that even with this Carleah’s prophecy and the creation of the Reaver magic, they still didn’t believe there would come a time when onlyonearach lived.”
“Stubborn and arrogant to the end.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never lowered my shield around you while we were having sex before. I was so determined to be normal again that I kept rigid control over it.”
“And I always tried to keep the shadows from touching you before.”
She rested her palm against his cheek, and he grinned when love filled her beautiful green eyes. “Are you really going to be okay?”
He leaned down to kiss her forehead and brush back her hair. “I will.”
Lexi tried to believe him, but her breath sucked in when the prophecy came to life in a different way. “When the last light falls.”
He pulled back a little. “Lexi—”
“No! We all assumed the rest of it would come true because if you lost me, your grief and anger would drive you to seek revenge. But it’snotonly because of your heartbreak and the loss of your mate. It’s because, if I die, no one can take the shadows from you again.”
Cole’s eyes widened as her words and the truth of them sank in. “But we’re going to make sure you never die.”
“Yes.”
But as her gaze searched his face, he saw her doubt and apprehension. “It’s all going to be okay. Look at what we’ve already accomplished and learned.”
“I know.” She looked to the dragons again as she spoke her next words. “Will you be okay with what has happened since absorbing the shadows?”
“You mean all the immortals I’ve killed?”
“Yes.”
“I’m more than okay with it.”
“You used to have nightmares about the Lord’s war.”
“I did, but this is different. I regretted killing those immortals who fought against us in the Lord’s war. Secretly, I believed in what they were doing, but I pretended to side with the Lord so we could try to bring him down from the inside.
“We failed in doing so, and I took a lot of lives that I shouldn’t have. I had to live with the knowledge I killed what I believed to be innocent immortals. It was difficult to come to terms with, and I’m still not fully there, but if I chose the other side, I don’t think we’d be here. So, I have to believe I chose the right path, even if I’ll always live with the guilt of it.
“I willnotlive with the guilt of those I slaughtered to keep you safe. They wereallthe enemy, and they deserved to perish. I don’t regret the violent and brutal ways they died; I’m sure knowledge of those deaths deterred some from trying to overthrow you. And I won’t let up. If it means keeping you safe, then the shadows will still get their kills.”
Lexi gulped before nodding.
“Do you think I’m wrong for that?” he asked.
“No.”
“Becca is dead.”
“I heard.”
