Chapter 84 Surrender
ARYA
I was drowning in darkness.
Something deeper than Theron’s magic, but something deeper. A lot emptier.
I could feel myself slipping away, feel the thread connecting me to life growing thinner.
'Not yet,' I thought desperately. 'I’m not ready.'
My plea did nothing as the darkness pulled at me with inexorable force.
All my attempts at fighting were fruitless, and I was so close to giving up when I felt a surge of power, foreign and familiar all at once. Luca’s presence was blazing through.
'NO!' I heard his voice, loud and clear as it echoed. 'You don’t get to die. I won’t allow it.'
'Luca, you can’t—'
'Watch me.'
The power intensified, and suddenly I wasn’t just feeling his energy. I was drowning in it. Eight hundred years of accumulated strength, all of it pouring into me.
It was too much. No mortal body could contain that level of power. But he didn’t stop.
'Luca, stop! You’ll kill yourself!'
'I don’t care. I need you live, Aeliana.'
All at once, I felt myself being released. I gasped, my consciousness snapping back to my body with painful intensity.
My eyes flew open.
I was in the healing chamber, surrounded by frantic healers. Luca knelt beside my bed, his hands gripping mine so tightly it hurt. His face was ashen, and through our bond I felt—
Nothing.
I tried to reach deeper, and I felt it, but it was very faint. Almost muted.
“Luca?” My voice was hoarse. “What did you do?”
Relief flooded his features, and he rushed to his feet. “You’re alive. Thank the gods, you’re alive.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” I repeated, my voice cracking.
He looked away, guilt written across his face. “I did what I had to do to save you.”
Bardon pushed through the crowd of healers, his expression grave. “He gave you his immortality.”
The words didn’t make sense at first. Then they hit me like a physical blow, and I turned to him sharply.
“No. No, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”
“I did.” Luca’s voice was firm. “You were dying. There was no other way to save you.”
“But…your immortality…that’s what makes you—” I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t articulate the horror of what he’d done.
“What makes me able to live without you for eternity? I don’t want that. Never wanted that.” He cupped my face. “I’d rather have a mortal lifetime with you than immortal centuries alone.”
“You should have asked me!”
“You were unconscious. And I wasn’t asking permission to save your life.”
I wanted to scream at him. To rage against the sacrifice he’d made without consulting me.
He looked certain. He didn’t regret it. Not even a little.
“How long?” I asked Bardon. “How long does he have?”
“I don’t know. The transfer of immortality is theoretical, it’s never been successfully done before.” Bardon studied Luca with professional detachment. “His Lycan healing is already diminished. He’ll age normally now, maybe live two hundred years if he’s lucky.”
“Two hundred years,” I repeated numbly.
“With you. Two hundred years with you instead of eternity alone.” Luca smiled, it was genuine. “Best trade I ever made.”
“You’re insane.”
“Yes. We’ve established this.” He kissed my forehead. “But I’m insane, and you’re alive. I’ll take it.”
Before I could respond, Caspian burst into the room.
“Apologies for the interruption, but we have a situation.” His expression was urgent. “The coalition forces outside are requesting an audience. With Luna Arya specifically.”
“Tell them to fuck off,” Luca said immediately.
“They’re offering unconditional surrender. And they want to pledge loyalty to the unity movement.” Caspian paused. “Theron’s death broke something in them. They’re done fighting.”
I tried to sit up even as every muscle screamed in protest, but I forced myself upright. “I need to see them.”
“Absolutely not. You just nearly died—”
“And now I’m alive, thanks to your monumentally stupid sacrifice.” I met Luca’s eyes. “We can’t waste that. If the coalition wants to surrender, I need to accept it personally. Show them that unity means everyone, even former enemies.”
“You can barely stand.”
“Then help me stand.” I extended my hand. “Please.”
He stared at me for a long moment, conflict warring in his expression. Finally, he sighed.
“You’re going to be the death of me. Literally now, since I’m mortal.” When I only stared at him blankly, he winced. “Too soon?”
“Way too soon,” I grumbled as he helped me up, his arm supporting most of my weight.
“If you collapse, I’m carrying you out of there without questions.”
The coalition representatives knelt in the main hall, weapons laid at their feet. There were maybe thirty of them that survived the battle and chose to surrender rather than flee.
I’d dressed in simple clothes to show we were willing to offer peace.
Luca stood beside me, radiating protective menace.
“Rise,” I said to the kneeling warriors. “We don’t require submission here. Just honesty.”
They stood slowly, and I recognized several faces from intelligence reports. These were Theron’s inner circle, his most loyal followers.
Or they had been.
“Luna Arya,” the one in front, a grizzled Lycan with more scars than skin, spoke carefully. “We come to offer surrender.”
“Why?”
“Because we were wrong.” He said it simply, without embellishment. “We followed Theron because we believed in species purity, in the old ways. We thought mixing bloodlines weakened us.”
“And now you’ve decided to change your mind?”
“Now we watched a hybrid, someone we were taught to despise, defeat the most powerful dark magic user in existence. We watched you save hostages who had no reason to expect mercy from you and offer peace even to enemies.” He took a breath. “We were wrong. About everything.”
“Pretty words,” Luca said coldly. “How do we know you mean them?”
“You don’t. All we can offer is our sincerity and our willingness to submit to whatever terms you require.” The Lycan met my eyes. “We’ve done terrible things. We know we don’t deserve forgiveness. But we’re asking for a chance to make amends.”
I looked at Luca, silently communicating with him.
'What do you think?'
'I think we should execute them all and be done with it.' He didn’t miss a beat. I would have told him to be serious, this wasn’t a joking matter. But I knew he was, and he fully agreed with himself, too.
'Helpful.'
'You asked.' He sighed internally. 'I think if we reject them, we prove Theron right. That unity is just words, not action. But if we accept them, we risk everything on people who were trying to kill you hours ago.'
'So it’s a test. Of whether our principles hold even when it’s hard.'
'Exactly. Which is why I hate it.'