It isn’t a reflection of my power or even the wash of my starlight rippling across the room.
It’s part of him.
He returns to the floor as my power releases him. His gaze burns me, his dark eyes glinting as he crosses the distance between us.
“Aura.” He sweeps me into his arms, the intensity in his eyes deepening as his hands stroke up my back, tangling in my hair.
My arm no longer hurts. Nothing hurts, not even my heart. I don’t know why I was so afraid of the stone, not when it has opened my eyes to everything around me.
“Nathaniel.” Tilting back my head, I press my forefinger to his lips before I trace the glimmers that travel through his skin across his jaw and neck.
He remains silent, allowing me to follow the path of my power through his body. All of the tiny paths, infinite pulses, a thousand sparks of starlight—
My power.
“Do you see this?” I ask, leaning close and looking up into his eyes.
“I see your hand glowing where you touch me. Just like usual,” he says, his voice a husky whisper and his lips parting as his breathing increases.
He must not be able to see the power rippling through his body. I couldn’t before, either. But now I can.
While I trace the contours of his chest with my fingertips, he follows the shape of my face with his eyes, his expression becoming wary.
“What do you see that I can’t?” he asks.
I sway forward and plant a kiss above the location of his heart, right across his scar, sensing him hold his breath.
“I can see my power.” Power that he should never have taken into himself. Would never have assimilated into his human body, except that his father handed Nathaniel the stone when he was ten years old and he’s carried it with him ever since.
His lips part in surprise, breathing his question in a soft exhalation. “What do you mean?”
“You carried this piece of my power next to your heart. You took my power into your body—into your heart. I couldn’t see it before,” I say, tracing his chest. “When you touched me, I must have been connecting with my own power inside you. That’s why I glowed.”
When I draw away from him, the glow in my hand diminishes, but it doesn’t disappear like it did before.
He pulls my hand back to his chest, placing it over his heart. “If that’s true, then it was your power that protected me from Cyrian’s dark magic all of these years,” he says. “When everyone else was in danger, you kept me safe.”
I allow myself to smile. “My power kept your heart… bright. It kept you alive when your heart failed this morning.”
He shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe it. “It’s impossible. I’m human.”
Still pressing my palm to his chest, I nudge a kiss against his jaw. “Look at me, Nathaniel. Look at what this tiny piece of my power has done to me now that I have it back. What would it have done to you for fifteen years?”
“Look at you?” he asks, his voice suddenly rough, the desire in his eyes intensifying. “Dark stars, Aura. I can’t look away from you.”
I meet the heat in his gaze.
I have a thousand questions, the most worrying being how my power was separated from my body—the horrifying memory of Imatra’s blade ramming into my chest—but I push all of my questions away because I need this moment.
For the first time in my remembered life, I feel whole and alive. Powerful.
A smile grows on my face as I reach up to press a kiss to his lips, drawing in the scent of his skin as I explore the shape of his mouth.
With a groan, he lifts me up against him, his strength allowing him to propel me back to the wide window ledge. The magic protecting the window presses against my back, shivers of power rippling through the opening.
My training suit already sits off my shoulder, giving Nathaniel access to the bare skin above my heart. His lips travel the distance between my neck and shoulder, his hands firm around my waist, before I draw his mouth back to mine.
The dark outside is heavy now, the sky clear, and the moon full. The glow from my body fills the space around us, providing a soft light for us to see. My hands follow the contours of Nathaniel’s face and shoulders, explore the shape of his back and stomach, tug at his pants.
My hair lifts and falls with the movement of my shirt as I pull it up over my head and drop it to the floor. I used to loathe my hair, the old white strands, but now it falls softly across my shoulders and breasts, each strand glowing and bright.
Nathaniel’s gaze passes to my lips. “You. Are. Mesmerizing.”
My finger traces a single pulse of starlight across his cheek to his jaw—one of thousands—and my hand glows brighter than before, responding to the touch between us, reacting to the starlight shimmering beneath the surface of his skin.
His mouth claims mine and desire heats me, striking through me to my center. He draws back before the waves overcome me. Shivers of pleasure make my skin tingle as he lifts me up off the ledge without breaking the contact with my mouth, to kiss me while he removes the rest of my clothing, his own joining mine on the floor.
He lifts me upward again, fitting our bodies together.
Power and pleasure rush through me at the first thrust, a heady combination so strong that it’s almost too much. I respond without inhibition as he takes two steps to position me up against the wall. Arching my back against the solid surface, I hook my legs around his hips, using gravity to draw him as far inside me as possible.
He braces, one hand against the wall, the other gripping my hip as the connection between us deepens. Starlight ripples across my chest, glowing brighter as my breathing increases. My body is on fire, hot as flame, cold as ice. Overwhelmed with sensations that threaten to tear me apart.
This could be the last time.
The cruel thought cuts through my desire, striking hard at the pleasure driving through me. I gasp, push the thought away, but it repeats on me.
This will be the last time.
I grip Nathaniel’s shoulders, my breathing ragged, my heart shredding into smaller pieces as he draws out the moment.
It can’t be the last time. I won’t let it be—
Cold starlight floods my chest, my power filling me with an empty certainty, an undeniable truth.
This is the last time.
I want to scream. Rant. Rage.
Nathaniel’s hand finds my cheek. His eyes meet mine. His own breathing is out of control, even though he’s holding back. “Stay with me, Aura.”
But I can’t. Not forever.
I tell myself I can take this moment. I can have this happiness. Even with all of the pain that will come after, with all of the heartbreak that comes with lying to myself, convincing myself for these next moments that this won’t end. That this feeling can last forever.
I gasp again, trying to speak, wanting to scream, only a harsh whisper rasping against his mouth as I kiss him. “This is the last time.”
“No.” His eyes meet mine, shocked, then full of rage.
“It has to be.”
“No!” His fist thumps the wall beside my shoulder, streaks of light shooting up through the cracks he makes.
I’m not afraid of his rage. Pushing aside my emotions, I brace my flat palms against the wall and press against the cracks he made so I can pull my hips up and away from his before crashing against him again. Pleasure shoots through me with the movement, relief for a brief moment before my need grows worse.