Page 110 of Fake Fae-Ancée

And here I found him now, a dying heap in the snow. His soul was already halfway into the shadows.

"No, you bastard, you don't get to do that."

I threw myself on him, wrapping my body around him. Dug my hands into his bare skin, which lay cold and dead, dug my nose into his thick chestnut hair, sucked in his scent.

I had no idea what I was doing. My soul, however, did.

That furious, headstrong and soft little spot deep within me connected with the remnant of Yuri's soul that had not yet swirled into the abyss. It was weak, still pulsating, but my mind held on to it with all its might.

Ipulled.

I had never known how I had survived the night in the forest. The monstrous shadow that had settled over me had not been a monster. Yuri had brought me back into the light. With the same power that now filled me and pulled him back to me with desperate force.

The connection pulsated. I felt it resonating in my bones, in my flesh, in everything I was. The stars that had connected us shifted once more above our heads. Turning the universe back in its place. The force pulsed through me, through the connection, and pulled Yuri back.

Pulled him across the threshold and back to me. Back into the warmth and into the light.

Yuri

Someone switchedthe world back on.

It was strange. One moment I was gone, and the next moment I was sitting in the middle of the destroyed chapel, cold air biting into my skin and my chest hurting as if some angry god had smashed me with his hammer.

"Hey…"

I blinked and Kai swam back into focus. She sat in front of me, in a heap of torn fabric that had once been her ballgown, gashes in her face, hair in disarray, but otherwise unharmed. Thank Sankta Polina and all the fucking Saints!

"Hey,my little star…"

She threw herself at me, pressed her face against my chest and hugged me tight. And some awful and cold knot in my chest loosened. I slung my arms around her, enclosed her in my embrace, wrapping myself around her tiny frame.

"Never do that again!" she mumbled against my chest. "Ever!"

"What do you mean?"

"Taking a bullet for me!" she yelled, looking up.

"Are you crying?"

"No, I’m not!"

"You are definitely crying."

"Shut up!"

"I’m sorry." I held her a little ways away from me, my hands looked gigantic around her shoulders. "I couldn’t let you die."

"Well, likewise,“ she gritted out and wiped her eyes, removing the tears she wasn’t crying.

Someone cleared their throat, snapping us out of our bubble. A very confused palace guard looked down on us.

"Your Majesty," he said in a hoarse and a little wobbly voice. A little ways away, in front of the altar, I could see what Nox had left of Yegor III. I couldn’t help but wince.

Kai shot me a horrified look. More guards appeared, helping us on our feet.

"Long live the King!" one of the palace guards shouted, his voice echoing through the destroyed chapel.

I took me another moment before I realized he was talking about me.

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