Page 62 of Death

“I have?” I brush my lips with his. “I don’t quite recall it...”

“Well, in that case…” Ari scoops me up by the waist and I softly gasp, “it’s not too far,” he says, turning us toward the door.

Ari carries me out into the hallway and we enter the door to the right of the split corridor. My eyes fall on the familiar room with dark walls and black bedding and I smirk.

“Are you sure I’ve been here before?” I ask.

Ari keeps me off the floor as he walks me toward his bed. “Very sure,” he answers.

Our lips graze but I don’t go for the kiss just yet.

“Like sure sure?”

He collapses us onto his bed, planting me on my back. “I’m sure,” he whispers as he hovers over my mouth. “But I’d be happy to remind you…”

We kiss, slow but firm. With his promise to respect my virtue still fresh in my mind, I feel no sense of urgency or impatience. He won’t go there again, nor will it be expected of me until the time is right.

I settle down, comfortably numb beneath his kiss. “Your world is amazing,” I say, my palm on his cheek. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Ari nods. “I’ve thought about bringing you here so many times,” he says. “No idea how you would react. If you’d be scared or…” He shakes his head. “The last thing I ever wanted was for you to see me as a monster.”

I furrow my brow. “A monster?”

“This place, the void, it’s not my design but it is mine,” he says slowly. “To rule over mortal souls will forever mean darkness. For you to see this piece of me, with your own eyes…”

I kiss him and he goes silent. “Ari,” I whisper, “you’re beautiful. And this place… It’s not what I pictured, honestly, but…” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make me think you’re a monster.”

“Tannis…” He exhales softly. “Stay here with me. Be my friend. My lover.” He looks me in the eyes. “My wife.”

I flinch, though I’m not sure I have a right to feel surprised. Ari loves me, he said so himself. He’s offered me a place here by his side, as his queen. That means to have and to hold.

“Stay with me,” he whispers again. “You’ll want for nothing, I swear it.”

My fingers tremble as my tongue ties in knots. He’s chosen me. A god has chosen me to spend eternity with him.

“If I do,” I say, my voice trembling, “will I ever be able to go home again?” I ask.

Ari smiles. “Of course,” he says. “Not permanently, but you can visit. Same as I have. But…” He pauses. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“You were right, that night in Paris. I won’t be able to give you the same experiences you’d have if you lived out a normal, mortal life but I’ll do whatever it takes to make up for that,” he says. “There is still so much I can offer you here.”

“As your companion,” I say.

“Yes.” He nods and kisses my cheek. “Tannis, will you stay with me?”

I close my eyes as the lump in my throat brings tears. My heart itself is torn between two worlds; mine and his. One I know and understand. The other is foreign and strange but holds a promise found on his lips.

A promise that fate chose for me.

Maybe Ari was right. This was it all along.

My purpose.

“Yes,” I say, my eyes still clenched.

Ari raises his head. “Tannis?”