inches from me. "I'm being told someone is making a change to that."

Suddenly the light around Lux grows brighter and brighter pulling me in. I clench my eyes shut at the brightness of it all, feeling our souls intertwining once again. My body feels weightless and warm as if I'm floating on an ocean. My eyes flash open, and I sit up, gasping for air. Kane is by my side within seconds, lifting me up out of whatever I am lying in. "Briar, it worked."

I cough, looking around with wide eyes, seeing the sides of some sort of cave. "Where am I?"

Kane shakes his head, leaning down, pressing his lips to mine. The connection between us is still here, and the warmth heats me from the inside out. "The Blood Well, I brought you here. It brought you back. You're back."

It's hard to understand what's happening, but I turn and look up at Kane, reaching my hand up and touching his face. As my fingers caress his skin, I pull back, wrinkling my forehead. "Your skin… It's… Cooler. The same temperature as mine."

He smiles at me and nods. "It's not cooler, you're just a bit warmer. But you are right, we're the same temperature now."

I sit up, pressing my fingers to my stomach, finding the large gaping hole to be gone. I feel a surge in my energy. It radiates through me, pulsating in my veins. I suddenly realize what's going on. I feel it in my soul. I gasp slightly and look over at Kane. "I'm… I'm immortal now?"

Kane nods, a sadness in his eyes. "I suppose that is the sacrifice that we made when I brought you here. The Blood Well always takes a payment. I'm sorry."

There is a sadness to losing my human side, but it doesn't make me fearful. Kane used to think that being immortal meant emotionless, callous, cold. But that's not true. In these final days of the battles, Kane has felt things, and done things based on his emotion. They are wrong. The immortals are different, but they are not monsters.

Kane helps me to my feet and wraps his arms around me as I look up at him. A smile moves over my lips, and I put my hands on each side of his face, thankful that I get to see him again. "I love you. I won't wait another day to say it."

Kane smiling is a strange sight to see, but I like it. "I love you too."

Chapter 26

Briar

Things move so quickly in this world, quicker than I noticed before. There's a calmness to me that I didn't have in my human life, one that I now understand looking back on the way that Willem and Kane acted when I first met them. The kingdom without Drogaem is strange, not like it was before he came.

It's been three days since I arose in the Blood Well, and life has already begun to move forward. For those that betrayed Kane and took alliance with Drogaem, they were given a chance to speak on their behalf. Some of them, Kane forgave and allowed them to join his ranks again. Some of them he sent away, forbidden from entering back into the kingdom within the underworld.

The courtiers did not return, and I don't believe that they will. They all know what happened in the hallways with the Shifter and the Vampire, and they all know that Kane is aware that none of them care about him. They are all there for what they can get out of it. It's nice, the halls stay quiet and comfortable.

As for the kingdom, moves are already being made to repair the damage, and attempts to make up for the deaths and despair that Drogaem caused when he and his men attacked. The people under Kane's rule seem confused, watching his more emotional response, staying hand-in-hand with me. But they are definitely appreciative of what Kane is attempting to do.

As for Kane and me, things have never been better. From the moment he carried me from the Blood Well, our souls were forever latched. What's interesting about it, though, is when I dive deep into my powers, meditating on them, I don't see a physical attachment. The physical attachment that he had created the first time to save my life had been destroyed when I died. The devotion that Kane and I have is chosen. We are not magically bound to each other, we are bound by choice.

I walk down the hallway barefooted, my silky black dress cascading around me. I feel no more embarrassment about wearing things more revealing. I don't know if it's my growth or my immortality, but I like it. As I turn the corner, I pause, staring straight ahead at a set of glass doors. A smile moves across my lips, and I hurry forward, pulling the door open. The warm rose-scented air blankets me, and I step down the vine entwined steps into Desona's garden. It's been a long time since I've seen it.

I make my way up to the pool in the center and run my fingers through the cool water. I remember the days I spent here in my frailty, my human entrapment, and I smile. As I stare down in the reflection of the water, I notice something behind me that wasn't there before. I turn quickly and tilt my head, looking at a large tall sculpture. It's me, dressed in my war-torn pants and corset, with my dagger in my hand. I stand triumphant and small flecks of golden light shimmer around the statue. I know that the goddess has put this here for me.

I chuckle and look up at the imagined sky within the confines of the Secret Garden and nod a thanks. Before I can turn, though, my eyes fall on a package, something wrapped in dark green silk and tied with a bright red bow. I pick it up and let the trappings fall away, finding

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