Please, Rose desperately begged her own innermost heart. We have to reach him, we have to save him, please!
But still her swan keened, in denial and despair. Not our mate!
Ash had been right. It didn’t matter that she knew he had been her mate. It didn’t matter how desperate she was to save him. It didn’t even matter how much she loved him. No matter how her mind screamed yes, the deep, animal center of her heart knew the truth.
He wasn’t her mate.
She couldn’t free him.
She’d failed.
Ash raised his head. His jaw had been clenched as he fought Corbin’s will, but now his agonized expression relaxed. He looked strangely relieved, as though he’d finally put down an unimaginable burden. His eyes were deep and clear as he gazed into her own.
His mouth shaped three final words.
I love you.
Then he collapsed.
“NO!”
Corbin’s shriek echoed her own. The pulsing light around the warlock’s hands went out like a blown candle. The fiery shield covering them spluttered and faded.
The warlock’s magic had died…along with his familiar.
She was barely aware of Alpha Team bursting through the dwindling flames. In all the world, the only thing that mattered was Ash’s still, silent body.
He lay utterly motionless. All the lines of care and worry were finally smoothed away. His face held the slight, faint trace of a smile.
To save her, he’d burned the only thing he could. The last thing remaining to him.
His own life.
Her knees hit cold stone. She couldn’t breathe. Didn’t want to breathe. Her lungs burned, but how could she draw in air, when he never would again?
A dark-clad form crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She gasped, time starting again. Corbin’s frantic, contorted face was mere inches from her own. Somewhere, someone was shouting, dragons were roaring—but she knew in a sudden moment of icy clarity that they weren’t going to reach her in time.
Corbin’s cold, bony hand clawed at her wrist.
And then—
The Phoenix rose.
Unbound from mortal flesh, it was invisible, the pure essence of fire. Untouched, untouchable, it soared upward, outward.
Free, free at last! It blazed brighter than the rising sun, rejoicing.
But no fire could burn without fuel. The spirit that had fed it for so long was dwindling now, drifting away like smoke. The Phoenix gripped that fading spark in incandescent talons, refusing to let the soul slip away just yet.
It needed that soul to sustain its immortal flame for a little while longer. Just until it found a new host, a new spirit to fuel its own. Then, and only then, could it release the ashes of the old to finally find rest.
It was time to be reborn.
The Phoenix spread its spectral wings wide, encircling the world. Souls flared in answer, shining like scattered stars. Bright souls, strong souls. Age, race, gender—such things were irrelevant. It was the deepest essence that mattered. A steadfast will, a true heart.
A thousand worthy souls beckoned to the Phoenix.
It chose.