He offered her a half-smile, the first genuine one he’d managed since before the mountain. “You’re good at this.”

  She touched his arm, her strength quiet but fierce. “So are you, Ra. You may be stoic and quiet, but you genuinely care about people. Whatever’s weighing on you, I know you’ll do what’s right, even if it’s hard.”

  He swallowed, words sticking in his throat, the oath burning like a brand. “I hope so.”

  They walked back toward the group, the sounds of laughter and planning rising as they approached. Ra felt the heaviness pressing at his chest, but for the first time since El Tor, it was tempered by something else, a sliver of hope, fragile but real.

  By the time they rejoined the others, they had their story ready: Penny had received word from her contacts in Salem about a child who might be Aurora. They’d fibbed a little on that part, considering that they were pretty much positive it was the Aurora they were looking for, but they were hoping that would keep Rory under control. Penny and Ra would go, quietly, to check on the girl and report back before the team made any big moves.

  “I don’t like it,” Rory huffed as she paced back and forth.

  Kimba stood at the head of the table and watched her bonded rider. “You don’t have to like it, but I’m in agreement. If you go in there all hyped up, you’ll terrify her. She’s young, she’s no doubt dealing with the trauma of losing her parents.”

  “That was nearly twelve years ago,” Rory jumped in.

  “But she wouldn’t be able to process it until now,” Kimba argued. “Finding out she has a sister is a lot. Finding out her sister is a supernatural being, with her own bag of trauma and a side of crazy, is more than a lot. It’s a damn monumental revelation. You’ve got to think about her and not just what you want. Be the adult in this situation, Rory.” The soul-bonded queen was firm, but her eyes held kindness and care as she met Rory’s gaze.

  “Fine,” she growled as she plopped down on Aston’s lap causing him to make an “umph” sound. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered something in her ear. She simply shrugged, but looked a little more mollified. Knowing Aston, he probably promised to hack into all the street cameras, or house cameras to watch their every move. Ra wouldn’t put it past him to do it.

  Ra felt his soul bonded’s stare and turned to look at her. The guilt twisted, but he held fast to the new plan. Maybe, with enough care, he could protect them all–Aurora, his family, even his own soul–just a little longer.

  But as the oath pulsed in his blood, he knew nothing in this world came without a price.

  That night, as the others slept, Ra stood alone at the mouth of the cave, staring into the darkness. The mountain air clung to him still, his place of peace now torn away by Viscious’s horrific request. He let the fire burn in his palm, just enough to light the shadows, and wondered how much longer he could pretend to be the hero.

  The flames flickered, casting shifting gold and crimson light across the snow. He pressed his free hand to his chest, feeling the truth burn there, deep and unforgiving.

  Tomorrow, he would lie to his family again.

  And the day after that.

  And every day until the world burned at the will of the dark fire king, or until he did.

  CHAPTER 18

  “The freedom that comes with the truth is worth the pain that might also come with it. The brief comfort of the cover from lies is only a bandage to a festering wound. But the truth is like a wound being debrided and cleaned until the infection is gone, and then what is left is a chance to heal.” ~ Osiris

  The echoes of the group’s voices still hung in the cavern, sharp-edged and unresolved. Osiris stood just outside the entry of the cave that made up the home of the soul bonded. He’d kept himself separate while they’d discussed Rory’s sister, still feeling the group’s unease with him. Their suspicion weighed on him, heavier than any chain he’d worn in the underworld. He was changing, he could feel it, each day the darkness of the underworld lessened and the light that once filled him took up more and more space. It was odd, like putting on a comfortable jacket after having worn something too tight for too long.

  Kimba eventually wandered out, her eyes finding his immediately. She gave him a soft smile, and he felt her pleasure at seeing him. Even though she was worried about what was happening around them, she was happy to see him, to be with him. It shook him to his core to know she felt that way about him. He’d missed that and hadn’t really understood it while he’d been the ruler of hell. When she finally crossed to him, the thread between them vibrated with both hope and old wounds.

  He drew a breath, searching for words that wouldn’t sound like weakness. “I’ve been feeling off,” he admitted, voice low so the echoes wouldn’t carry. “Like something’s reaching through to me. Something from below. I try to shut it out, but it’s persistent. It’s like I’m standing at the mouth of a cave and there’s a wind coming up from the deep, and it knows my name.”

  Kimba’s features softened, her guard dropping. “You always did feel the darkness first,” she murmured. “When we were whole, it was how we found the wounds in the world. Remember? We’d meditate, join the bond, let our magic stretch out and find the rot. We always found the places that needed healing.”

  Osiris nodded, the memory aching in his chest. “I remember. I just, I’m not sure I can do it anymore. Not after living with the darkness and letting it consume me.” It was something he’d been considering but a weakness he hadn’t wanted revealed, especially to her. “I fear my pull towards it. The intoxicating feeling that comes from that kind of power.” He closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head in an attempt to forget all those years in the underworld. Leaving hadn’t just simply wiped it all away.

  She reached for his hand, her grip grounding him. “It’s okay to be vulnerable. And you’re not in this alone, not anymore. We do this together, Osiris. That’s the only way it’s ever worked.”

  He let her lead him away from the cave, down a path that led to the cave he’d been sleeping in. She’d yet to stay there with him, despite the fact that he’d told her about Mother Gaia speaking to him and that he was ready to move forward. He understood that she needed time. They both did. But as his past returned to him, as the memories of their life together resurfaced from the centuries of darkness, he realized he missed her. Desperately. The further they got from the cave housing the soul bonded, the quieter it became. The hush here was thick, the stone of the mountain cool against his side and Kimba’s presence warm beside him.

  As they entered his living quarters, he suddenly felt nervous, like a boy with a crush who was unsure of himself. It seemed ridiculous and appropriate all at the same time. The room was simple—just a bed, a woven rug that looked like it was from a hundred years ago, a shelf lined with relics both sacred and mundane. It was a far cry from the throne of writhing souls and flame he’d occupied for centuries. Here, there was only the truth: the man he was now, stripped of titles, laid bare before the only person who had ever truly seen him.

  Kimba paused just inside the threshold, her fingers trailing along the rough stone. The silence between them was not empty, but full of memory, of wounds, of the fragile hope that had survived hell and time and heartbreak. Osiris watched her, his heart thundering, his palms suddenly damp. He’d faced armies, monsters, the wrath of gods and the temptations of devils, and yet he’d never felt so unsteady as he did now, standing in front of the woman his soul had always craved.

  He tried to speak, but the words tangled. Kimba stepped closer, her gaze searching his face, reading every flicker of doubt, every shadow of pain. She reached up, cupping his jaw, and the warmth of her touch stoked a fire that had lain dormant for too long.

  “I know you’re afraid,” she whispered, her voice trembling with truth. “I am too, Osiris. When you left, when you fell, I thought my heart had been ripped out. I tried to keep healing, tried to use my gift the way Gaia intended, but it was broken, just like I was. I did more harm than good. The light in me, it turned. And that’s why Sepheron made me a dragon and exiled me here to protect the world from what I’d become.”

  He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to hers, drinking in the confession like water in a desert. “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “For all of it. Not just what I did to you, but what I let myself become. Down there, in the dark, I lied to myself. I told myself I didn’t need you, that power was enough, that I could fill the ache with anything but you. Even when I thought I wanted someone else, it was just a shadow, Kimba. A pale, colorless echo. You’ve always been the truth. My soul—” His voice broke, raw and desperate. “My soul never forgot you. Not for a moment.”

  Her hands slipped to his shoulders, gripping tight. “I hated you for a time. I tried not to, but the pain was too much. I thought I’d never trust you again, never let myself hope. But as the memories came back, as I remembered us, the real us, I realized I never stopped loving you. Not for a single heartbeat.”

  He opened his eyes, finding her gaze fierce and wet with unshed tears. “I want you,” he said, the words ripped from the deepest part of him, wild and unguarded. “Not a memory, not a ghost, I want you, now, here. Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. I’ll fight for your trust, for your love. I’ll do anything, Kimba. Anything.”

  A sob caught in her chest, and she surged into his arms, her lips capturing his with a hunger that was both ancient and new. The kiss was fire and forgiveness, agony and relief, years of longing poured into a single, shattering moment. Osiris held her as if she were the only thing anchoring him to the earth. His hands shook as he ran them over her, desperate to memorize every inch of her, to relearn the feel of her body pressed against his.

  Their magic flared between them, a living thing that crackled and purred and roared, filling the cavern with a golden light so warm it chased every shadow from the corners. The soul bond, once frayed and tattered, knit itself whole in a single, blinding rush, a torrent of memory and desire and relief that left Osiris gasping, awash in her love, her forgiveness, her strength.

  He kissed her again and again, each touch a vow, each breath a promise. Kimba’s hands tangled in his hair, her laughter breaking like dawn through the last of the night. “I’m yours,” she whispered, and he felt the truth of it ripple through every part of him, old wounds closing, new hope unfurling like wings.

  They tumbled to the bed, limbs entwined, hearts pounding, a dance older than memory, as fierce as dragons, as gentle as the first wildflowers after winter. Every barrier fell away, every scar honored and healed in the heat of their union. The cave shook with the force of their magic, the mountain itself bearing witness as their love remade the world.

  Osiris pressed his lips to her brow, her cheeks, her throat, worshipping her with hands and mouth and soul. “Never again,” he vowed, voice hoarse and holy. “No darkness, no fear, no power will ever take me from you. We are one, Kimba. We always were.”

  She arched to meet him, her body a prayer, her spirit a flame that burned away every doubt. “Never apart,” she echoed. “Mother Gaia brought us together for a reason. This bond, nothing can break it.”

  Light poured from them, filling the chamber, spilling into the cracks of the mountain, warming the very stone. Osiris felt the soul bond settle into place, stronger than steel, softer than sunlight, eternal as the stars.

  When at last they lay tangled together, breathless and spent, the world seemed quieter, steadier, a new peace humming in the air.

  Osiris brushed Kimba’s hair from her face, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheek. “You’re my home,” he whispered.

  She smiled, a promise blazing in her eyes. “And you’re mine.”

  They lay together as the magic faded to a gentle glow, the soul bond pulsing between them with every heartbeat. Whatever darkness lay ahead, Osiris knew, down to the marrow of his bones, that this time, they would face it together. And nothing, not hell or fate or fear, could ever tear them apart again.

  He had no idea how long they slept when a wave of cold ran through him so intense he felt his teeth chatter, jarring him awake. He nearly sat up, but a warm weight on his chest kept him in place. Kimba. His soul bonded laid over him like the softest blanket. Osiris wrapped his arm around her tighter, pulling her closer in an attempt to chase away the voice he’d heard in his mind.

  “You will never be free of this place. The darkness is absolute. It will cling to your soul for all eternity, and you will forever fight the need to return. Enjoy your reprieve, false king, it won’t last.”

  He knew that voice. He loathed that voice and it was one that, for a time, like Kimba’s, he’d forgotten. But unlike Kimba’s, this was a voice that he could go the rest of his existence and never want to hear again. This was the feeling he’d described to his soul bonded earlier. That he was off. Maybe he’d been hearing Lucifer in his dreams for days and was just now able to decipher who it was. Maybe it was because the bond between him and Kimba had needed healing. Whatever the reason, he knew now that Lucifer had a link to him, and that was not a good thing.

  “You’re cold,” Kimba’s soft, sleepy voice, replaced the sound of the ruler of hell and almost immediately chased away the chill.

  “Bad dream,” he said.

  She pushed up on his chest so she could look at his face. Osiris felt her mind searching his, and he didn’t hesitate to let her in. Her eyes widened. “He spoke to you?”

  He nodded.

  “This is why you’ve been feeling off?” Kimba pushed up and wrapped the sheet around her nakedness.

  He preferred that she didn’t, but that was the wicked side of him thinking.

  A small smirk turned up her lips. “I don’t think that’s your wicked side, mate,” having heard his thoughts. “I think that’s your male side.”

  He shrugged. “You’re a beautiful woman,” he paused, and then amended. “You're my beautiful woman. I like looking at you.”

  “You can look later.” Her face grew serious. “We need to deal with Lucifer.” She said his name without fear, with total confidence that she could take on the king of hell and win. It was sexy. “Focus,” she snapped her fingers in his face.

  Osiris held up his hands. “Focusing,” he promised.

  “It’s time we tap into the darkness,” she told him fiercely. “That’s our job. Find it, heal it. If Lucifer has a line to you, then there is darkness that has seeped into this land, into the dragon realm, and it needs to be dealt with.”

  Osiris sat up. He tilted his head and then considered the powers he used to have. He wondered if he still had any of them. Deciding there was no reason not to try, he snapped his fingers and suddenly they were both clothed.

  Kimba glanced down at the low cut gown that fit to her every curve. “Really?” she asked dryly.

  “It’s not see-through,” he pointed out, thinking that had been a fair trade.

  She sighed and then took his hands. She got herself seated more comfortably and took in a deep breath. Kimba closed her eyes. “Let’s try. Like we used to,” she whispered. “Let’s see what’s out there. And not just the darkness,” she paused, her thoughts turning over what else she wanted them to search out now that their bond was complete again. “I want to see if I can feel Aurora. If Rory is a soul bonded, maybe Aurora is, too. And maybe my bond through Rory will allow me to have access to Aurora.”

  He nodded, closing his eyes, reaching for the bond. At first it was tentative, like touching an old scar, but Kimba was there, her magic a steady current. Together, they let their souls brush her light, his shadow, twining together the way they always had before everything fell apart.

  Almost immediately, Osiris felt it: the thread of darkness running beneath the world, subtle but insistent. It tugged at him, a cold wind threading through the cracks in his heart and mind. With Kimba grounding him, he pressed deeper. The rift was there, a wound in the fabric of the realm, pulsing at the edge of his perception. Underworld magic, raw and unhealed.

  “There,” Kimba murmured through the bond, her presence a reassuring warmth in the darkness. “Do you feel it?”

  “I do,” he answered, mental voice rough with awe and fear. “It’s opened wider than I thought it was. I can almost hear the voices—lost souls, anger, regret. And something else, something hungry. Lucifer.”

  Kimba’s focus sharpened, her magic weaving with his. “Let’s follow it further,” she urged. “But not just the dark. Reach for what’s bright, too. Feel Rory inside of me. The thread of purple light is her magic. See if you can feel something similar to her. Maybe with our combined power, we can.”

  They held the bond, magic stretching outward, seeking. For a moment, all Osiris could feel was the raw pain of the world, the ache of wounds, old and new. Then something else, a flicker of warmth, distant but insistent. It was delicate, like a melody played on a single string, but it vibrated with a familiar longing.

  Kimba latched onto it. “That’s her,” she breathed, her voice filled with awe. “Aurora. She feels exactly as Rory did when I connected with her for the first time. She’s as broken as her sister was, but her wounds run deeper. Even as a baby, the loss of her parents tore her apart. The connection’s faint, but it’s there. She feels . . . split. Like something is tugging her in two directions. That’s the soul bond, Osiris. She’s tied to Rory, and through Rory, to all of us, and someone else, someone she will one day connect with.” There was an ache in Kimba’s voice that broke his heart. She felt so deeply for the ones she called her own, and she hurt on a level that most wouldn’t comprehend for the darkness that could consume people.

  He could feel it too: the potential for darkness to take Aurora.

  He let the realization settle, the hope and fear tangled together. “If we can sense her, so can others. We need to keep her safe. But I don’t want to rush the group. They’re still not sure about me. About us.”

  Kimba nodded, opening her eyes and drawing in a shaky breath. “We wait,” she said softly. “We keep this between us, for a few days at least. Let Ra and Penny try to reach her. Right now, this rift is a good opportunity to train the group how to heal the darkness and close off its access to the light. We can kill two birds with one stone.”