What exactly happened?
How was Austin freed from the torment he had built around himself? How did he cast off Astaroth's curse and reclaim his life?
Were those winged beings truly so benevolent as to let him go?
No, not quite.
They weren't kind. Not even close.
They watched him suffer in silence—watched as the void gnawed at his sanity. And all the while, they whispered to him. Again and again, they reminded him of what he had lost... and what he would lose forever if he chose to absorb Astaroth.
They warned him that immortality came at a cost: the death of emotion. The abandonment of human ties. If he truly meant to destroy Astaroth, then he would have to become something more than mortal—something colder.
Something that could no longer love.
And that terrified him more than anything.
Because the only thing that kept him alive in that endless darkness… was the thought of her.
Valerie.
His reason. His anchor. His light.
