Ari leads me down the beach and I grow more in awe with each step we take. This world looks similar to my own but it radiates with an other-worldly glow unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

The castle towers over us, taking my breath away. Ari stops us outside of a large, wooden door. He keeps his strong grip on my hand as he opens the door with the other and holds it open for me.

“After you,” he says.

I gladly step forward, eager to get a look inside. Ari stays with me, hands safely entwined, and closes the creaking door behind us. The sound echoes around me, bouncing off nothing in the empty entrance hall. The walls are shadowed and black, illuminated by lights so low they might as well be matchsticks. A grand staircase stretches upward in front of us, branching off in two directions halfway up.

I take a deep breath, letting it all in. Again, I’m overwhelmed with sympathy. This place doesn’t strike me as the home of a happy, fulfilled man. I look up into Ari’s nervous eyes and his loneliness gazes back at me. I smile, hoping to bring one to his face as well.

Ari doesn’t smile but his eyes twinge with amusement. “I have something to show you,” he says, gesturing upward with his eyes.

He walks on, taking me with him up the staircase. He takes the right path and I follow, allowing my eyes to memorize my new surroundings while my shoes sink into the thick carpets. We wander along the balcony at the top toward a lone door at the very end.

Ari pushes the door open and continues forward. My jaw drops at the gorgeous paintings along the walls of the hallway. Mostly landscapes with thick, black frames. The furniture is old in style but brand-new without a hint of dust or scratches.

I lose count of how many closed doors we pass by before we reach the end of the hallway. Again, the path briefly splits off, making room for two doors; one left and one right.

Ari halts in front of the door on the left and turns to face me. “Go ahead,” he says.

I pause, biting my cheek as I reach for the doorknob. Ari shifts out of the way but his eyes never leave my face as I look into the room.

The door opens on a bedroom — one fit for royalty, in my opinion. Two elegant couches make up a sitting area off to the left, positioned in front of a burning fireplace. A dozen bookcases line the walls, filled with books from top-to-bottom, built up on either side of a brilliant wooden writing desk. A large, four-poster canopy bed sits along the center wall. The linens and pillowcases are a deep sapphire blue — just like mine back home.

I step inside quickly and Ari shuffles to keep up with me as my feet carry me to the wide-open window along the back wall. The sky paints the view, full of bright clouds and an ever-flowing river of souls beneath it.

Ari squeezes my hand once. “This is your room,” he says.

I spin around. “It is?”

He looks into my shocked face and smirks. “Did you expect a dungeon of some sort?” he asks.

“Well, I…” I swallow. “No, but this… this is too much, Ari.”

“And here I thought it wouldn’t be enough.” He wraps a hand around my waist and draws me in. “You’ll find clothing that fits you in the drawers and closet. The bookshelves are stocked with books and entertainment I think you’d enjoy — as well as the library in the east wing.”

“Wait, a library?” I ask with excitement. “Seriously?”

“I do recall mentioning something about the entirety of the world’s knowledge being at your fingertips during our first date…” His eyes wander my face. “This home is yours as much as it is mine, Tannis. You’ll be free to go wherever you please.” He raises our clasped hands. “Without a chaperone.”

I shake my head, still unable to process this.

Ari chuckles. “What is it?” he asks.

“You…” I exhale. “You’re very prepared,” I say.

He nods. “I’ve had twenty years to learn how to love you,” he says. He raises my hand to his lips and he kisses my palm. “How am I doing so far?”

I laugh. I can’t help it. “Decent, I’d say.”

“Good.” He kisses my hand again before resting it against his chest. “Is there anywhere else you’d like to see?”

I lean into his embrace, my heart pounding like a drum. My body responds, quickly teeming with heat as his hands curl around me.

“Your room?” I request.

He smiles. “You’ve seen it already.”

“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?”

My eyelids flutter open and I focus on his handsome face. His dark, wild eyes gaze back at me and I feel myself falling for him and this place. The void, while horrific and cold, is a burden no one should bear alone.

“Yes,” I say. “Ari, I will stay with you.”

Ari takes a deep breath and smiles with relief. “I promise, Tannis,” he whispers. “I promise everything.”

He kisses me and I don’t even need to ask what he means. I believe him. Everything means everything. Everything is nothing to a god. Everything is a snap of the fingers or a wink of an eye.

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back. His hands roam up my waist, coming to a respectful stop on my sides before going too far.

Ari turns his head, breaking the kiss with his breath held tight. “There’s one more thing I have to ask,” he says, his voice low.

I smile. “What?”

His cool lips graze my cheek as he whispers in my ear.

“How do you want to die?”