Endless Knight (Darkling Mage 9)

“We will find him,” Carver said. “Along with the other blades. We’ll return them to their rightful owners, and Vanitas to you, and all will be well.” It was sweet of him to give me his reassurances, but as dense as I can be – I admit it – even I could tell that Carver was just forcing himself to say that to make me feel better.

But I would find Vanitas, some day. I knew in my heart that I would. We were brothers. The shard of star-metal lodged in my heart said so. Once I broke out of the Dark Room, once I’d gained enough strength to actually venture out into the world without the limitation of having to be summoned, I promised myself that I’d go hunting. I would find my blade brother. And I would find my estranged nephilim son.

It was only a matter of time. After the meeting on the hill, after we all, as friends and family, had watched the sunrise together, I would return to the Dark Room to rebuild. I would go home to my own domicile to craft my very own kingdom, my seat of power, to grow in strength not simply as a darkling mage, but as a deity. A god of nothing.

But there was time for that in the future. For now, the night was ending, and that was all that mattered.

“Welp,” Sterling said. “Time for me to head home. The sun comes up and all I’m good for is a fireworks display.”

I nodded. “You’d better get going, then.”

“When all this ascension talk started I really thought that we would never see you again. I was – I was angry for all the people you would have left behind. Herald, your dad, all the others. I was going to wait for you to come back so I could kick your ass, you know?”

“You wish,” I said, warming a little at the thought of Sterling caring at

all.

“So I’m sorry, I guess. Seeing you once a month won’t be so bad.” He gestured around us, clearing his throat. “Knowing that you aren’t abandoning the people who love you is even better.”

“And hey, maybe I’ll show up even more frequently, once I figure out all this demigod junk.”

Sterling ruffled my hair, cold fingers pressing lightly into my scalp, then laid a quick, chaste kiss on my cheek. I felt myself blushing at the wildly unexpected gesture.

“It was good to see you again, you stupid idiot,” Sterling murmured, smiling fondly.

I scratched the back of my neck, smiling back. “Likewise.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe once you’ve properly matured, you’ll give your old buddy Sterling a taste of that sweet, sweet god’s blood, eh?”

I frowned. Now that was the Sterling I knew. “Die in a fire. Get the hell out of here.”

He hugged me tight, then patted me on the back. “Right back at you. Missed you, little buddy.” And in a flash, the fastest vampire in Valero disappeared, off to hide his frigid ass from the morning sun.

An elbow connected with my ribs, and I grunted. I rubbed at the spot tenderly, pouting up at Herald. “Hey. I bruise easily.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, his voice thick with mock jealousy. “You cheating on me, Graves?”

I shrugged. “Probably.”

Herald cracked his knuckles. “I’ll have a word with Sterling. Make sure he keeps his fingers off my man. Er, god. Whatever. What are you now, exactly?”

I shrugged again. “Not sure, really, but I do know that you’re supposed to worship me either way.” I stuck my chest out, broadened my shoulders.

“Fat chance.”

I flexed my arms, as if he could see anything through my jacket. “Is this doing it for you? Hmm? All these big man-god muscles?”

He shoved me in the chest lightly, half-smiling. “Shut up. Maybe.”

“Or at least believe in me. Isn’t that how this works? Loki said so himself. The gods don’t get the recognition and power they used to because no one worships at their temples anymore. No one believes.”

Herald rolled his eyes, then nudged me with his shoulder. “Enough serious talk. Look.”

I caught the reflection of the first rays of a colored sky in his glasses, and when I turned my head, all the breath left my body. The oranges and purples of a sunrise are even richer, more beautiful when you live in a dimension that’s completely black. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to cry. I did make a mental note, though, to get Herald to stock up on some artwork and photos for next time. Put a splash of color in the Dark Room, because why not?

It fell like a shroud, the silence that came over everyone gathered on the hilltop that one dewy morning in Valero. We didn’t need words, but there was a palpable sense of importance in what we’d all done there. We’d saved the universe, this time with both humanity and the entities at our side.

The walls of the cosmos were secure now, safe and sealed within the confines of the Dark Room, but if anyone – or anything – thought to infiltrate our reality again, I knew that these people would be with me to fight. I believed in their iron will, in their unwavering intent to preserve the world, to ensure the sun would always rise again.