The jagged shards of prison glass sinking deep into the ground—recycling first into sand, then into a rich dark soil that provides instant nourishment for the formerly burned-out trees. Allowing them to straighten and stretch, to sprout a thick blanket of leaves, as a swath of purple and yellow wildflowers bloom at their roots.

The two of us overcome with excitement, brimming with the glee of our triumph, Damen’s voice like a song in my ear when he says, “We did it! We freed them—made amends—we even secured the recipe for the antidote, and it’s all because of you!” His lips find my forehead, my cheek, my nose, and my ear, then pulling away, he adds, “Ever, do you realize what this all means?”

I look at him, my grin so wide my cheeks are stretched to their limits, but still wanting to hear him say it, wanting to hear the words spoken out loud for both of us to hear.

“It means we can finally be together.” He stops, presses his forehead to mine, his breath coming fast and quick. “It means all of our problems are solved. It means that we’ll never have to visit the pavilion again—not even as Alrik and Adelina—unless, of course, we want to.” He wiggles his brow, emits a low, deep laugh. “All we have to do is head back to the earth plane, get working on the brew, and…” He pauses, smooths his thumb over my cheek, then leans in to kiss me again.

I return it with an intensity and fervor matching his. Aware of the slim veil of energy hovering between us, keeping him safe from what, thanks to Roman, has become my lethal DNA, which, also thanks to Roman, won’t be a threat for much longer. Hardly able to believe that the days of what we’ve come to refer to as our almost kiss are so close to being over.

Soon, very soon, we’ll be able to live just like everyone else. Able to touch each other openly, freely, without any worries. Like we do in the pavilion—only better, because it’ll be real.

Soon we’ll embrace as ourselves—our present-tense selves—instead of in our various past-life guises.

I pull away ever so slightly, close my eyes and turn my face to the sky, stealing a moment to send a silent thanks to Roman, wherever he is, for giving us this wonderful gift.

Then just when I’m about to kiss Damen again, his face falls and he moves out of my reach, answering the question in my inquiring gaze with a curt nod toward Lotus, who kneels at a distance.

She sits at the edge of a pond just a few feet away, her wispy silver strands flowing freely about her, murmuring softly with her hands clasped tightly to her chest. Gazing upon an abundance of lotus blossoms that rise through the murky dark waters to bloom above the surface. Their soft white and pink petals lifting upward, surrounded by shiny green scallop-edged leaves, one popping up right after the other until you can barely see the water for the flowers.

She remains like that for some time. Content to meditate on the wondrous view before her, until she turns to face us, wearing an expression that, while not exactly what I’d call troubled, hardly matches the flood of triumph Damen and I are currently in the midst of.

Damen’s eyes narrow, his jaw clenches, bracing for whatever bad news he’s sure that she brings.

The two of us cautiously moving toward her, meeting halfway, both of us equally startled when she rises from the muddy banks, looks at us, and says, “Congratulations.”

We wait. Wait for something to follow. But, for a while anyway, that seems to be all.

“You may return to the earth plane if you wish.” She glances back and forth between us.

Damen squeezes my hand, in need of no further prodding. He’s more than ready to leave right now, doesn’t see the point in wasting another second hanging around. But I stand firm. Dig my heels in. Sensing it’s not over yet, there’s something more Lotus is waiting to share.

“You have done well. All is in bloom.” She gestures toward the flowers that are still blossoming, and to the landscape beyond. “You have even freed the lost ones.” She presses her palms together, forming a steeple she holds close to her heart, her simple gold band glinting at us. “And so you are free to leave. Free to return to your immortal lives. Yet, I wonder…”

We look at her, me curious, Damen on guard, fingers curling at his sides.

“I wonder if you will want to return to your lives after all you have learned. I wonder if you will choose a life of physical immortality after having learned the truth of the soul.”

Damen rolls his eyes, grunts, and again, tries to haul me away. But I stay right where I am, looking at Lotus when I say, “Are you implying we actually have a choice?”

She lifts one gnarled old hand, brushes a stray wisp of hair away from her face. “Oh yes,” she says, her gaze moving over me. “There is a choice. A way out.”

I press my lips into a frown, trying to determine just what that might mean. Deciding I don’t like the conclusion I come to, don’t like it at all, when I say, “If you’re referring to death as a way out…” I shake my head, blink a few times, hardly believing she would even dare broach such a thing. “Well, you can forget it. No way is that happening. I mean, in case you don’t remember, that pretty much results in a one-way ticket to the Shadowland for people like us. And since we did a pretty good job of cleaning up the Shadowland just now, we’d hate to see it resort right back to its old ways. Not to mention how there’s no guarantee anyone would even show up to release us like we just released Roman, Drina, Haven, and everyone else.” I pause long enough to huff, blow my hair out of my eyes, but not long enough for her to interject. “Also, you should probably know that we have the antidote now—or at least the recipe to make it. Which means we’ve just been handed a whole new reason for living—a really good reason for living. We have each other forever. We can live the life we’ve always dreamed of. And finally, well, the whole dying thing is pretty much moot anyway, since I can’t actually die anymore.