"I don't know what we are," she said. "Allies. Friends. Former fiancés. Complicated. All of those and none of those and something that doesn't have a word yet."
"That's okay."
"It's more than okay. It's honest. And I've discovered that I prefer honest to defined."
She extended her hand. Not for a handshake — palm up. The open commitment. The same gesture Lucien and Aiden had each made in their respective moments. The vow that said: I choose this. Freely. Without conditions.
I placed my hand in hers. The contact was warm — Infernal warmth meeting Void absence, fire and negation producing the same spark they'd produced in the garden when "you look tired" had started everything.
"Welcome home, Kael," she said.
Four people in this world called me by my real name. Seraphina. Liora. Ren. Orvyn.
Five, now.
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