I'd faced down armies, commanded the fiercest demons, and held the weight of hell itself on my shoulders without so much as flinching. But here, in the quiet room beneath the earths surface, with Arabella resting her head on my chest, I felt the heaviest burden yet pressing against my heart and what I think would be the starting of my soul.
Her breathing was steady, a soft contrast to the turmoil swirling in my mind. I'd thought of nothing else since Odette told us of what we now know are our options. I spent days searching every deep corner of the earth and underworld for a better answer, there had to have been another outcome, one that left us all immortal. Dare I say I would have even prayed for it. No, actually that was too far. A prayer will never leave my lips or plague my mind, alt
