They’d planned her operation that very day, and there was no way to stop it without blowing her cover. Nalini was accompanied by one of the sniveling elders everywhere for hours, making her want to scream. She needed time alone, to explain everything to Kai as best she could.

He could feel her distress through the bond.

«What’s wrong?»

«I’m fine.»

A lie, and he could tell.

«Nalini…»

«I’m safe.»

Truth this time. She was about to get so fucking safe.

Immortal. Practically impossible to destroy. They’d explained it to her. If she cut herself, the wound would heal in seconds. She cut off her foot, it would regrow as long as she didn’t bleed out. The only way to kill her would be to make sure that her body was completely destroyed in one blow, too quickly for the microscopic nanocytes inside her to reform her organs. Decapitation. Maybe a well-placed blow to the heart, they weren’t sure. No immortal had ever died of one. Burning them to a crisp could work, if it was fast enough.

«They’re shooting you with nanocytes.» He’d discerned that through her jumbled thoughts. «Is it the immortality serum?»

«Yes.»

«Good.»

Of course, he liked the idea of her being that durable.

Smiling so hard her face could split in two, as she talked with Kovak about the challenge of keeping their hair colored for more than a few weeks, she tried to explain.

«Not good. Once it’s done, they’ll kill you. With their damn weapon. It’s called StarX – look up what you can about it. A cold fusion reactor they’ve tested against a dying star, Kai. It can blast through any shield.»

«When?»

«I don’t know. Today, maybe. I won’t let them do this. I’ll kill them all.»

«You will not put yourself in harm’s way. We had a deal, remember? Stay safe.»

«I can’t.»

She couldn’t watch him die, even if he could come back. And there was a real chance he wouldn’t.

«You and I, we come back to life together. Always. And making me immortal is a way to ensure you stay trapped in whatever world lies after this. After life.»

Seconds passed without a word.

«Yes. I see that now. You and I. I’d brave death to return to you.»

He had, again and again.

Now was probably not the time to tell him he’d been a girl though.

«Listen to me, Nalini. Whatever they do, they won’t win. They won’t stop me from coming back. If there’s consciousness after life, I’ll find a way.»

But she didn’t want to lose him… and there was more.

«Wench. Evi. Park. Ollis. Hart. Star. Kronos. Sky.»

She just kept on giving him the names of everyone he loved, hurting him, but making him see reason—she hoped.

«You forget. I am Darkness.»

He said nothing else, but what he meant was clear.

Let them all burn, if we must. This was who he was at heart. Who he’d always be. And she loved him nonetheless. So much.

Loving him enough to come back to life for him hadn’t stopped her from killing him the first time around. Just as Darkness would remain Darkness, she’d always be Light. Always remain on the side of life and peace.

No wonder the council believed her crap. She’d given them every reason to trust that she’d do what was needed of her to keep the peace.

But they’d failed in their machinations this time. Failed to manipulate her as they saw fit.

A year ago, they might have won. If they’d taken her while fear and prejudice had dwelled in her heart, they could have made her theirs again.

Instead, Ian Krane had dropped her right in the middle of it, where she could take a long, hard look at the world and see the truth.

Darkness was cold, sometimes even cruel. There were so many words one might use to describe him. If she had to settle on one, however, she would have said that Darkness was good.

Slavery, to which the Imperials and Council turned a blind eye, was gone in their sector. Children weren’t killed for the simple sin of possessing power.

But he’d just admitted to a terrible truth: his willingness to forsake everyone else.

If he had to choose between her and the galaxy, Kai would choose her. This was his one sin. And a sin he wouldn’t need to commit, if she was by his side. Safe.

The Council, however, never was true, not even to themselves.

They’d lost their way a long time ago, when they’d condemned that poor innocent woman and forged her into Darkness. They’d been moved by fear. Fear of power. For what proof did they have that she would indeed bring any form of destruction? At that point, she’d only made use of her power to save her people.

No, they’d seen her power and realized that it surpassed theirs, a thousand times. A trillion times. That she could seize power and take it for herself.

Their sin was a lust for power. Kai’s sin was love.

The Council of Wise were the true enemy. They always had been.

Nalini closed her eyes and saw that vision that had haunted her since she was ten years of age. Kai, hand outstretched, destroying a star. Her, by his side, holding his hand.

«I know how this ends,» she informed him.

«Not with your death.» That was no question, but a promise.

«Nor yours. It ends with theirs. It ends with us destroying their world. It ends in strands of Starfire.»

«I like the sound of that. What are we doing?»

So, she told him, as she was taken down to the labs and made into an immortal.

Ian Krane hovered over her, watching her on the operating table. He took her hand.

“Not gonna lie. It’s going to hurt for a bit. You’ll sleep through it.”

She nodded. “Don’t let them start without me. I want to be there. When they go to destroy Darkness, I want to help if I can. And I want to see my enemies burn.”

He smiled at her.

“Proud of you, kid. More than you know.”

He squeezed her hand as the other members of the council circled around their weapon like vultures.

“Thank you,” she said, as the doctor inserted a needle at the back of her neck.

Her veins were fire and ice. She screamed until they finally forced her to sleep.

* * *

The dream was peaceful. It shouldn’t have been. She dreamed of fire and death.

The very ground was falling beneath their feet. The planet had minutes, at most. She needed to get off there. Now. Instead, she ran. To a woman.

And Nalini knew she was a male in this life. A male called… Elnur.

It mattered not. Flesh and blood were nothing. The only thing she knew was love.

He ran to Phne, the female he lived and breathed for, and when her eyes saw him, she gasped in terror. She looked past him and saw a speeder. Exhaling in relief, Phne pointed to it. “Please go. Leave now. This is my doing. My nightmare.”

Her path had led her here, to his burning world; Elnur’s choices were the opposite. He’d earned peace. He’d earned the right to live, dammit.

“Come with me,” Elnur countered.

She shook her head.

“I need to stay here and keep this furnace from exploding until everyone is evacuated.” Phne strained to speak, desperate to make him understand.

Elnur knelt next to Phne and took her hand.

“You need to leave.”

“I literally can’t without you. I got it all wrong, Phne. From the start. The Council has tricked me and lied. You aren’t going to destroy worlds. You aren’t going to kill gods.” He rolled his eyes, half laughing, half crying. “All along, that was all about us. We’re the Goddess Light. The Goddess of Darkness and her Light. This damn prophecy they used to condemn you was never about war and destruction. It was about us coming together and ruling this world. It was about our race not needing the Council’s bullshit anymore.”

Phne stared into his eyes, not understanding a word; because if she did understand, it would make everything so much worse.

She’d believed those words. She’d believed she was Darkness and nothing else. Destruction. And she’d acted accordingly.

Yet what should have been insane sentiments was resonating in her, somewhere deep down.

“It’s too late,” she cried. “This planet is going to explode. It’s too close to the star. The entire system is doomed. And every transport leaving right now will blow. I need to save them. And you need to go, El.”

“Never.”

Phne started to cry as he took her hand.

“I’ll come back. We both will. Someday, we’ll meet again. And I’ll save you this time. I should have been there, standing right next to you, against them. Let the universe burn in Starfire if I had to. You saved my life, Phne. And since that day, a part of me has belonged to you. It always will.”

Elnur’s comm device, still working, came to life and a voice confirmed the evacuation was complete.

Phne heard it. She smiled.

The planet was unstable as ever; neither of them could stop the inevitable for much longer. El’s speeder had been destroyed long ago; they hadn’t even looked at it.

It didn’t matter now, in the end. Nothing mattered anymore. They were together.

Phne let go of her hold on the planet core as her lips descended on Elnur’s, taking them in one last, desperate, white-hot kiss.

They’d meet again. And again and again, until the end of time. They were true mates, their souls bound to each other.

That was his last thought as he prepared himself for death.

Nalini woke with a start. Her body was disgustingly wet with sweat, her heart beating hard, and her face salted with dry tears.

«Kai…»

He needn’t say a word: she felt it. Her dream, he’d seen it all.

«Mate,» was his one-word confirmation.