E’s POV


    Maria’s hand slipped from mine.


    “Tell my fathers I love them,” she whispered onest time. “And that I forgive them.”


    Before I could respond, she let go of my armpletely. I screamed and lunged for her, but it was toote. She was already falling backward, her body tipping over the edge of the cliff, arms stretched out to the sides.


    But she didn’t fall into the sea.


    Instead, her form began to glow, soft and golden, like sunlight breaking through the roiling storm clouds above. The light grew brighter and brighter until I had to shield my eyes. When I looked again, Maria wasn’t falling anymore. She was dissolving into thousands of tiny particles that swirled in the air like fireflies.


    The particles moved toward me. I tried to step back, but my feet wouldn’t move. The pull from the sea below had stopped. Everything had stopped except for those glowing particles.


    They touched my skin, and warmth spread through me immediately. I gasped, staring down at the golden light that had begun to envelop me.


    The particles absorbed into my chest, one by one, and with each one I felt Maria’s presence. Her memories flickered through my mind in rapid session. ying in a garden as a child. Her fathers reading to her at bedtime. The first time she got sick. The fear. The pain. The eptance.


    And then, at the very end…


    Peace.


    The warmth continued to spread, filling my arms, my legs, my chest. It moved through my bloodstream like liquid light, chasing away the cold that had settled into my bones. The crystal in my chest pulsed in response, glowing brighter than it ever had before.


    I gasped and pressed my hand to my sternum. The pulling sensation from the sea was gonepletely now. The screams had faded to a distant murmur. Even the wind had died down.


    Then, the warmth settled lower until it came to pool in my belly. It felt strange, almost like something was being cradled there. Protected. I didn’t understand it, but there was no time to dwell on it now.


    The cliff beneath my feet began to crack.


    I stumbled backward as fissures spread across the stone, glowing with the same golden light that had surrounded Maria. The sea <b>of </b>souls below started churning faster, the spirits reaching up desperately as if they knew I was about to escape.


    “Thank you,” I whispered, even though Maria couldn’t hear ine anymore. Even though she was gone. Erased. Part <b>of </b>me. <b>“</b>I’m so sorry.”


    The warmth in my chest pulsed one more time, and then everything went white.


    I heard something in the distance. A voice. Female. Familiar.


    <b>“E</b><b>…</b><b>” </b>


    <b>Mom</b><b>? </b>


    But before <b>I </b>could call out to her, the white light consumed everything.


    +25 Bonus


    I woke to the sound of beeping machines and whirring instruments.


    My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring at a white ceiling. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. It took a few seconds before the memories came flooding back. Right–I was in the Anthonies‘b. The procedure that was supposed to restore my mate bond.


    I sat up so fast that my head spun. Without hesitating, I reached up and yanked the electrodes off of my temples, then swung my legs over the side of the chair.


    “E?” Tony’s voice came from somewhere to my left. “Oh thank the Goddess. You’re awake.”


    I turned to see him standing at the control panel, his face pale and his eyes red and puffy like he’d been crying. Anthony was beside him, looking just as shaken.


    “What did you do?” I demanded. My voice came out hoarse but full of fury. “What the fuck did you do to me?” Tony flinched. “We were trying to restore your mate bond. We thought-”


    “You were trying to kill me!” I ripped the rest of the electrodes off and threw them on the floor. “You were trying to trap me in the spirit realm so you could put Maria’s soul in my body!”


    The room went silent.


    Anthony’s face crumbled. “You… you spoke with her?”


    “Yeah, I spoke with her.” I stood, but swayed when I did. The room began to spin. “She told me everything. About how you’ve been trying to bring her back for years. About how you saw me as some kind of vessel.”


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    <strong>Sara Lili</strong> is a daring romance writer who turns icyndscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of d’s breathtaking cold.