screamed inside my mind.
Ry'zaran spoke using my voice, “Kardri, help me!” He stretched out my arms to my lover.
No! I shouted. No, please! Tell me what you want. Just tell me!
“Kar, it's a trick!” Storme grabbed Kardri's arm.
Kardri snarled and punched Storme in the face so hard that he flew across the room. Then Kar ran for me, leaping over Red Cap puddles, his eyes burning with love and determination. Inside, I screamed.
Come with me, Ry'zaran urged. Give yourself to me willingly, and I can take you to my realm alive.
Why?
Because I want you! he shouted. Because I want one good thing! One living thing in my world of death! Then he calmed. You have one minute to decide.
Kardri grabbed me, clutching me to his chest before leaning back to look at me. “Tristan, are you all right?”
“He's fine, Leopard Lord,” Ry'zaran's voice came out of me. “It's your wellbeing that's in question.”
Kardri flinched and backed away. Green light seeped from my fingers, death magic drenching the man I loved.
Fuck, really? I accept it now? This is the moment I realize that I love him? What a fucking idiot I am.
You said it, not me, Ry'zaran drawled. I've known for weeks that you love him. So has he. You were the only one who couldn't accept it. It's so sad that I'm going to use it against you now.
“Who are you?! What have you done with Tristan?” Kardri demanded as he struggled against the magic restraining him. Only restraining, not killing. Not yet.
“I am the Green Dragon. The God of your enemies, Leopard Lord,” Ry'zaran growled. “And you have only one chance to live. Pray that Tristan loves you as much as you think he does.”
“Tristan, fight him!” Kardri shouted. “A god can only possess you if you allow it!”
At Kardri's throat, the Leopard Soul started to glow bright blue. I had a brief moment of hope until that light hit the barrier of green and went no further. Kardri roared in anger within his blue and green bubble and then went still as the green light seeped into the blue.
“You think that your paltry magic can best mine?” Ry'zaran sneered. “I am a god! I am Death! And you have let me in, warlord. You carried me past the wards of Varalorre and brought this upon yourself.”
Kardri's expression filled with pain and sorrow. Regret. He reached for me.
I'll go! I shouted in my mind. I'll go with you if you let him live!
Ry'zaran went still. I felt my face smile, though it wasn't with my amusement. “Well, look at that. He does love you. Unfortunately, you'll have to live knowing that he's spending eternity in the Realm of Death with me. All to save your life.”
“No!” Kardri shouted and struggled harder.
Release him now! I demanded. Let me say goodbye. Please, Ry, you owe me this much at least.
Very well, Ry'zaran huffed.
The green bubble burst and Kardri dropped to the floor just as speech returned to me.
I gasped, and Kardri looked up, his stare locking on mine.
“Tristan?” Kar asked urgently.
“Kar, I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner,” I sobbed.
“It's okay, baby.” Kardri stumbled to his feet. “Don't do this. Don't go with him for me.”
“I love you,” I said it at last and something lifted from my chest—a heaviness that had been weighing it down since the moment Kardri had first confessed his love to me. “You're everything to me. I don't regret anything. Live well, Kar. Don't waste time mourning me. I'll be okay.”
Then green light surrounded me, and I was gone, the roar of a brokenhearted Leopard following me into the darkness.
Chapter Forty-Five
I reformed on a circle of black stone that extended into shadows. The floor was glossy, reflecting my stricken expression. Ry'zaran appeared beside me, looking larger than he had in Varalorre, his hair streaming around him as if in a breeze and his sapphire eyes glowing with magic.
The Green Dragon of Death turned toward me with a wicked grin. “How about a drink?”
“What?” I whispered.
Ry'zaran waved his hand and lights came on, driving back the shadows and widening my bleak circle into a room of dark stone and heavy furniture. An enormous fireplace came alive with green flames across the room from us, and Ry'zaran padded toward it, his wings shivering as they folded behind him.
I followed him because there was nothing else to do; I was trapped in the Realm of Death with a broken heart. I didn't much care what happened now.