37

The world had learned to move on without him.

Selene had learned to live without him.

But now—

Now, Alec was back.

And nothing felt the same.

He stood at the edge of the great hall, watching as Selene sat at the long stone table, her silver eyes locked on the maps before her. The firelight flickered across her face, but she hadn’t spoken since he had stepped into the room.

Since he had returned.

Lucian stood against the far wall, his emerald gaze sharp, unreadable. Kael should have been here. But he wasn’t.

And Alec knew why.

He had traded places with Kael in that realm between life and death. Kael had made the choice for him.

Alec’s chest tightened.

He had thought returning would feel like victory.

Instead, it felt like loss.

Selene finally looked up.

Her voice was quiet, careful. “How much do you remember?”

Alec swallowed hard. “All of it.”

A pause.

Selene’s fingers curled around the edges of the table. “And how much are you not telling me?”

He exhaled sharply. “Selene.”

She stood abruptly, pushing back her chair, the scrape of stone against stone breaking the tense silence. “You’re different.”

Alec clenched his jaw. “Yeah.”

Lucian spoke then, his voice steady. “You’re not fully mortal anymore.”

Alec forced a smirk, but it felt hollow. “You noticed.”

Lucian’s emerald gaze didn’t waver. “What are you now?”

Alec inhaled slowly, feeling it in his blood, the unfamiliar power thrumming beneath his skin. It wasn’t divinity. It wasn’t mortality.

It was something else entirely.

And it terrified him.

Selene studied him, her silver eyes searching. “Alec.”

He looked at her, really looked at her, and something broke inside of him.

Because he had come back for her.

Because he had died for her.

And now—he wasn’t sure if he was the same man she had loved.

His voice was rough. “I don’t know what I am.”

Selene took a step toward him, and the flickering torchlight illuminated the hesitation in her expression. The fear.

Not of him.

Of what had been done to him.

Alec exhaled. “I don’t feel… real.”

Selene’s throat worked, but she didn’t look away.

Then—she reached for him.

Her fingers brushed his, warm and steady.

And for the first time since returning—Alec felt grounded.

Not fully.

Not completely.

But enough.

Selene’s voice was soft, but unyielding. “You came back to me once.”

Alec swallowed.

Selene tightened her grip. “Come back again.”

And Alec—the man who had defied death for her, who had traded eternity for a second chance—held on.