Chapter 92

My body gives out before I can ask what the hell just happened.

One second, I’m staring into Aemon’s bright blue eyes with blood on my lips and the word mate burning through my skull like fire.

The next—darkness.

🥀 🥀 🥀

I wake up gasping.

Not because I’m in pain. Not because I can’t breathe.

Because I’m not in pain. Because I can breathe. And yet, everything feels wrong.

I’m in a bed. Soft sheets, thick comforter. Dim light filtering in through velvet curtains. I blink up at the carved ceiling above me, too elegant, too clean. Not the maze. Not the blood. Not death.

And then I smell him.

Aemon.

Before I can even sit up, he’s there—hands cupping my face, eyes wide and wild with worry and something deeper.

“My love,” he breathes. Like the words hurt.

He’s on the bed with me now, pulling me up, wrapping his big arms around me, burying his face in my neck like he can’t believe I’m real. His cold skin brushes mine and I cling to him like gravity.

His shirt is draped over me, too big and soft. No cuts on my body. No aches. Just an endless, howling thirst.

I blink against his shoulder. “I died.”

His grip tightens. “Yeah.”

“And you...”

“I turned you,” Aemon says quietly, pulling back to look at me. His voice cracks. “I had to. I couldn’t lose you, love. You were gone. And I—”

He swallows hard. His eyes shimmer like ice about to break.

I nod. Slowly. The memories start to piece themselves together. The poison. The blood. His body going still in my arms. The taste of him. I remember all of it. And I remember choosing to give everything.

“You brought me back,” I whisper.

“No.” He leans forward, brushing his lips to mine in a soft kiss that tastes like grief and relief. "You brought me back."

My heart stutters. Not because it’s weak now, but because it’s so full it could burst.

I shift in his lap, still in his arms. My head spins a little. I swallow against the dryness in my throat.

He feels it. Of course he does.

“You’re thirsty.”

“I’m starving,” I admit, breathless.

His lips twitch. That cocky smile I know too well. “Well, that tracks. You were unconscious for two days.”

My eyes widen. “Two days?”

He laughs. The sound is still uneven. But it’s real. He’s alive. “Yeah.”

“Who won the stage?” I ask.

“I did.” Aemon kisses the tip of my nose. “Obviously. I carried you. Finished the trial like a damn legend. Champion of the Fourth Stage.” He flashes me that stupid grin, dimples and all. So damn handsome. “Left the maze with you in my arms like a spoil of war.”

Goddess, I love him.

“Smug bastard.”

“You love it.”

I roll my eyes, but I don’t move away. I can’t.

I smile, but it fades just as quickly. “You bit me.”

I can see smell him in my skin.

His jaw flexes. He nods. “Yeah. I did. I had to be sure.”

“And?”

Aemon presses his forehead to mine. His voice is soft. “You’re my fated mate, Blake.”

My breath catches.

He pulls back slowly, studying me. “You felt it, too. Didn’t you? When your heart changed.”

I nod. “I said it. I don’t know why. I just knew.”

He brushes hair back from my face. “It happens sometimes. Second chances. Rare, but real. I’d never heard of it happening to someone like me, but...”

I touch his cheek, trace the edge of his dimple. “It happened.”

“You’re mine, love,” he whispers. “Mine! And I’m yours.”

His arms crush around me and he kisses me like he needs to memorize the way I taste now.

And then he pulls back, his eyes flaring. “But never do that again.”

I blink. “Do what?”

“Give your life for mine! Die for me!” His voice cracks. He grabs my face gently but firmly. “You don’t get to do that, Blake. You don’t get to trade yourself like you’re nothing. You’re not.”

“Aemon—”

“No,” he says fiercely. “I can’t lose you, Blake. I won’t.”

“I love you,” I growl. It spills out too fast. Too harsh.

His eyes go wide.

“I love you,” I repeat, softer. “I couldn’t watch you die. I didn’t care what it cost. I would do it again.”

His eyes shine, and the vampire kisses me again like he wants to rip the air from my lungs.

“I felt it, too,” he murmurs. “From the start. You were different. It was always more than just your rare blood. I just... I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you about Griffin.”

My mouth goes dry again. Not just from thirst. “You lied.”

“I did.” Aemon sighs. “I didn’t mean to. I wanted to tell you. But I was afraid you’d leave me. Afraid you’d choose my brother.”

“You think I’m the type to abandon you, Aemon?”

“I think I’m the type to screw things up when I’m afraid.”

We stare at each other. And slowly, I understand. I sigh.

I lean in again. My lips brush his jaw. “That’s why you asked me to share myself with your brother... because you didn’t want to lose me.”

He nods.

“You really are an idiot, vampire.”

“Yeah.” He chuckles. “But I’m your idiot now, aren’t I?”

I kiss him stupid once more, slow and lingering. “Yes, you are, baby.”

His arms wrap around me tighter. And then—

The door creaks.