Page 41 of Mirror of Vanity

I stared into Justice’s dark eyes and thought about the closeness we’d developed. Each memory had been carved into my heart, precious gems glittering in the vault of my mind. The idea of relinquishing even one felt like a betrayal of everything I held dear.

Then I thought of the quest before us, of the lives that hung in the balance. The demonic possession that threatened our realms and the people we loved was a darkness that had to be stopped, a blight upon the world that only we could purge. If the price of that victory was a single memory, a fragment of my past, could I hesitate?

I opened my eyes, my gaze meeting Garrick and Justice. In their faces, I saw the same struggle, the same anguish. Beneath that, I saw something else. A fierce determination, a resolve that burned brighter than any fear or doubt. They, too, understood the weight of the sacrifice we were being asked to make and knew we had no other choice.

With a heavy heart, I stepped forward, ready to face the guardian of the Archive of Shadows. I still did not know which memory I would choose to surrender, or if I even got to choose, but whatever the cost, I would pay it. For the sake of my family and friends, for the sake of my world, I would give up a piece of myself, a fragment of my history.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The creature hovered over the ground, its black eyes searching us. Garrick had said this thing turned vicious if too many people arrived, especially an army. I didn’t want to think what it would do.

Maybe Maci and her army of demons would attack, and the creature would wipe them out. Wishful thinking, I knew, but a girl had to have a dream.

I cleared my throat. “Do we pick a memory, or do you?” My whispered words disappeared into the wind.

“I will choose the memory. Once given, you may enter.”

A distant, mournful howl made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Justice clasped my hand and searched my eyes. “I don’t want to lose you. You’re mine.”

He bent his head, and his lips captured mine. His arms slid around me, crushing me to him. His heart raced against mine, the rhythm pounding in sync with my desperate pulse. I slipped my hands around his neck and held on tight, clinging to him as if I could somehow make this moment last forever.

Memories flashed through my mind. The first time we met, the first hint of attraction beneath the animosity, the tentative truce that had blossomed into so much more. Each one precious, each one now teetering on the verge of oblivion.

He was thinking the same thing I was. What if the Grimoire took our memories of each other, and we went back to being enemies, our hard-won love erased in an instant? Dread seeped through the cracks forming in my heart with each passing second of our forbidden kiss.

My heart shattered, pieces falling one by one as I desperately indulged in his kiss, committing every sensation to memory. The silk of his hair beneath my fingers, the heat of his breath mingling with mine, the raw ache of knowing I might never experience this again. I poured every ounce of my soul into it, a bittersweet last hurrah before the Grimoire’s curse could claim us.

I put my hand on his chest, my fingers spread across the steady beat of his heart. I wanted to memorize every detail of this moment, every sensation, every emotion, in case it was the last time I ever experienced it. The thought sent a lance of pain through me, so sharp it stole my breath. I pulled away, fighting the sting of tears.

The wind whipped around my face, and the howls of the wolves whirled around me, but nothing mattered except him. The world could be ending, the Grimoire’s curse bearing down on us, but I could only see the man I’d grown to love more than I thought possible. The man I might be about to lose forever.

The words clawed my throat, desperate to be spoken before it was too late. This wasn’t how I wanted to tell him. Not with the threat of the curse looming over us, not when our future was so uncertain. But I needed him to know how much he meant to me, how he had become the center of my universe. I needed him to carry that knowledge with him. Even if I couldn’t.

I squared my shoulders, looking deep into his eyes, committing every fleck of color to memory. “Justice, I love you.”

The words hung in the air between us. If the Grimoire took our memories, if it reverted us back to enemies, this moment might be erased. He might forget the depth of my feelings, might forget I had ever spoken these words. The thought was unbearable.

It was a risk I had to take, though. If this was my last chance to tell him, I would use it. I would rather have loved and lost than never have loved at all. Even if he forgot, even if I forgot, some part of me had to believe the love we shared would endure. That if our minds forgot, our hearts would remember.

He cupped my cheek with his slender fingers, his touch so gentle it made my heart ache. “You’ve always had my heart,” he whispered, his voice raw and trembling. “From the very first moment, even when I didn’t understand it, even when I fought against it. It’s always been yours.”

His words were a balm and a curse all at once. I leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of his skin against mine, trying to etch the sensation into my soul. I wanted to carry this moment with me forever, even if my mind couldn’t remember.

“And you’ve had mine.” I turned my face to press a kiss against his palm. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Justice. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this much, to need someone this deeply.”

His eyes glistened with unshed tears, the anguish in them mirroring my own. We’d finally found each other, finally echoed the words that lived unspoken in our hearts for so long, only to stand on the precipice of having it all ripped away.

“I can’t lose you,” he choked out, his fingers sliding into my hair, cradling my head like I was the most precious thing in his world. “I can’t bear the thought of going back to a life without you in it, of looking at you and feeling nothing but animosity. It would break me.”

The pain in his voice shattered my composure. I surged forward, claiming his lips in a desperate, searing kiss.

“You won’t lose me,” I vowed against his mouth, the words fierce with conviction. “No matter what happens, no matter what the Grimoire does to us, this love is stronger. We’ll find our way back to each other. We have to believe that.”

As I spoke, I felt the curse bearing down on us, the ancient magic crackling in the air. The howls grew louder, the wind more vicious, the world itself rebelling against our love.

In the face of that inexorable force, hope felt like the most fragile thing in the world. But it was all we had left to cling to.

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