His eyes opened.
The witches moved back.
“Grey?” Hope flared in my chest. “Are you all right?”
“I’m—” He sat up, rubbing his face. “I’m fine.”
The witches climbed to their feet and melted away. Seraphia disappeared like a ghost. But I only had eyes for Grey. I flung my arms around him, hugging him close. His arms, warm and strong, wrapped around me.
He crushed his mouth to mine, kissing me like he would never let me go. Connection and joy and comfort surged through me, like coming home.
I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to absorb him into me until our two souls became one. It took everything I had to tear myself away.
His gaze searched mine, worried and beautiful.
Everything felt right when we were like this. As if the earth were finally turning on a proper axis after millennia of being off kilter.
Now that our bond was back, I realized I’d been walking around feeling like I was missing a limb.
And yet . . .
We were still Cursed Mates.
Epilogue
Carrow
The next day, I stood in the Shadow Guild tower, covered in dust as I tried to scrub out the ghosts that still haunted the place. The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind.
After the battle, the Temple of Anat had begun to repair itself almost immediately, magic flowing out from the statue of Anat to mend the floors and remove the red paint that the cult members had applied. Once the crown had been repaired, she must have regained her power.
We’d lost none of our forces, though there had been some truly gruesome injuries that would take time to heal, even with magic. All of the kidnap victims were home, thank God.
Grey and I had parted almost immediately. The kiss had ended, and we’d realized we shouldn't be around each other. We were still cursed mates. All our work to break the mate bond was undone.
My theory was that Grey’s act of sacrifice to save me must have broken it. He’d thrown himself into that blast without hesitating.
But now what?
Even though the bond had been broken, I’d fallen for him even harder. I wanted to be with him, with or without the bond.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, head pounding. I’d come to the Guild Tower to think about it all—to try to figure a way out of the future that was barreling toward us—but I was no closer to an answer.
“You want a drink or something?” Mac asked from my side.
I blinked, startled, and looked up at her. I’d totally forgotten she was there. “What?”
“A drink? Or a break? You look like you need one.”
I dragged a weary hand through my dusty hair. “I could probably use one, yeah. It’s been a long week.”
“It’s not that.”
I shook my head. “Fine. You see right through me. It’s Grey.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. What is there to do?” Memories of how wasted away he’d looked after his disappearance flashed into my mind. It hadn’t taken long for the curse to wear him down. “If he doesn’t kill me, he’ll waste away. Quickly.”