Electricity and heat sizzle inside me. Longing explodes. Oh, dear God. I whisper to myself, “It’s Jack.” Or a reincarnation of him.
He looks similar, but not exactly the same. Except for those eyes.
His gaze roams over me the way it did when he saw me for the first time—centuries ago. His restlessness turns into a determined look.
I should’ve remembered: Never underestimate Jackson Deveaux. Hadn’t he always been unexpected?
Though not the Page of Swords, Jack has still reincarnated, which means everyone will return. We’re on the carousel together! I give a laugh of wonder, and that feeling of surreality overtakes me again.
Maybe I’m in a type of heaven, like Matthew is. Or maybe I’m dreaming. If so . . . not waking up!
Yet my laughter dies in my throat when a man on the ship wrenches my attention back. At last, I see Aric. I recognize him just as easily as I did Jack. He is tall with a rangy build and longish blond hair. He wears no gloves because he has no deadly touch. One look at his amber eyes, and I forget to breathe.
They’re back. Both returned to me!
When Aric reaches the dock, he does a stutter step and presses his hands to his temples, as if he’s being bombarded. Circe’s spell must be hitting. Then recognition flickers over his spellbinding face. He starts toward me with an intent stride, brows drawn with yearning.
Jack too is crossing the distance to me. When he rubs his chest as if his heart can’t be contained, I wonder if Circe’s spell has affected him too. Or is he simply experiencing our connection once more?
Connection. Yearning. My giddiness fades, replaced by sadness. My heart will be torn in two again. Is that my fate—always to be incomplete?
I remember once lying on a cot in Fort Arcana, deciding which man I would choose. Jack, the love of my life, had told me, “It’ll always be Evie and Jack.” Aric, my soul mate, had told me, “We are forever.”
My eyes narrow. Matthew had repeatedly asked me if I knew what I really wanted. He’d said, “I do. I see it. I feel it. Think, Empress. See far.”
I’d wanted to love both Aric and Jack in a world that was healed. I unsheathe my knife and tug free the red ribbon.
I cut it in half.
As the two approach, I gaze at their faces, but I’m not looking only at them. I’m looking at all of the Arcana, at the world. I’m looking at you—the readers of my chronicles—and I dare you to judge me for the happiness I’m about to take.
Imagine me straightening my shoulders and staring you down as I write my final say on this subject:
I’ll
have
both.
60
The Empress
Year 878 N.D.
And so I did.
Surrounded by friends and family, the three of us were never separated in this life, nor will we be in the next, our bond transcending mere mortality, now and forever.
Sometimes, readers, you just have to see far. . . .
Here endeth the trew and sworne chronikles of Our Lady of Thorns, the Emperice of all Arcana, chosen to represent Demeter and Aphrodite, embody’g life, all its cycles, and the myst’ries of love.
Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Immortals After Dark paranormal series and the young adult Arcana Chronicles. Her books have been translated into many languages and consistently appear on the bestseller lists in the United States and abroad. Visit her at KresleyCole.com and TheArcanaChronicles.com. Sign up for Kresley’s email newsletter to receive the latest book release updates.
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