Chapter 221: The Departure

Zahliver’s POV

Death.

It has a distinct scent to it. Heavy, bitter, and metallic. It seeps silently into the air like a thick fog and settles deep in the lungs until you can no longer tell whether you are actually breathing fresh air or slowly drowning. Sometimes, it does not take your physical heart or your mind away right away it leaves just enough of you behind so that the searing pain can linger, pulsing through the body like a cruel and steady rhythm.

I have never feared death. Not really. At least, not when it came to my own fate. For so long, I have danced closely with it, outrun its grasp, and challenged its finality. But nothing in all my years prepared me for how it feels to imagine someone I truly love someone I desperately love being taken away by it. I never realized how completely unbearable that thought could be until I finally met her.

Vivian.

Just the mere thought of death brushing its cold fingers against her soft skin makes my entire chest cave inward.

That is simply what death does. It does not just steal a life away. It fundamentally changes people. It reveals their truest, rawest form. It reshapes them into something they never knew they could become something darker, sometimes stronger, and very often broken.

I have lived through a thousand deaths already, and I know deep down that there will be more waiting for me in the shadows. But death never shows up the same way twice. It never knocks politely on the door. It just barges right in, stealing precious breath, valuable time, and deep love. It reminds you, over and over again, that nothing in this world is permanent. It proves that what you cling to with all your might can be torn away in a single heartbeat and left to rot in the cold arms of nothingness.

And yet, here I am. Still standing tall. After every single loss, every terrible fall, and every close brush with the jagged edge, I always rise again. Maybe I should feel deeply grateful for the strange loopholes that let me crawl back from the grave. But some things... some things in this universe are simply not meant to return.

Some things should probably stay dead and buried.

"I will be back," I told her just before leaving, my voice low and steady as I gazed deeply into Vivian’s warm brown eyes. They held that familiar warmth once again that soul-deep fire that always managed to melt the bitter ice inside my chest. It burned purely for me.

The way she squinted slightly, lifting her chin with a fierce kind of stubbornness, made my heart skip a beat. "You better. Or I will come find you myself."

The way she said it with zero hesitation and no fear at all made my chest tighten painfully. She was not joking around. Not even a single bit. My beautiful, utterly reckless mate. That wild glint shining in her eyes made me want to laugh and groan out loud all at once. Amusement tangled heavily with dread right in the pit of my stomach.

She had no idea how dangerous that promise truly was. Or maybe she did know. And she simply did not care.

But that was just Vivian. She never did anything halfway. Especially not when it came to protecting me or holding onto us. If I did not come back to her, I knew without a doubt that she would move the heavens and tear apart the earth itself just trying to get to me.

That alone was more than enough reason for me to finish this grim task quickly.

I needed to return to her side. I needed to come home. Not just to the physical place, but to her arms. I wanted to feel her curled up against my side once more, hear her bright laughter, and spoil her until she completely forgot what it felt like to suffer. Just being near her made everything else in this miserable world bearable. Everything else became entirely secondary.

I bent down slowly and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead, closing my eyes tightly as I did so. If I gave myself even a single second more if I allowed myself to brush my lips against hers I knew I would not leave. I knew it in my bones.

And I had to go.

Not just for myself. Not just for my long-lost brother. But for her. I could not let this dark shadow hover over her head any longer. She did not deserve that kind of burden. She deserved true peace.

So I forced my body to pull back, completely ignoring the loud roar of angry protest echoing from the beast trapped inside my mind. He hated this. He hated being apart from our mate, especially so soon after we had finally gotten her back. But we both understood clearly that it had to be done.

I turned away to leave.

But just before I shifted my focus fully away, I looked back at her one last time.

She was not dressed like the royalty she was. No fancy gowns, no glamor. Her dark hair was tousled and messy, falling softly over her shoulders. She stood there completely barefoot, wearing an oversized sweater that hung far too big for her small frame, nervously clutching the soft hem of it in her hands without even realizing she was doing it.

She looked so human. So wonderfully real.

And her eyes good gods, those beautiful eyes they were locked directly on mine. Wide, wide open and filled with worry. Filled with everything I felt I did not deserve to have, but somehow still held: raw fear, unconditional love, deep pride, and absolute trust.

She believed in me.

Her mate.

And that powerful belief that was what would carry me safely through whatever dark storm lay ahead of us.

She believed in me.

In that single, fleeting moment, with her gaze locked onto mine, all the heavy shadows that had ever curled beneath my confidence vanished instantly like smoke in the wind. Any hesitation, any tiny flicker of doubt was simply gone. Her faith in me was absolute. And because she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would succeed... I would.

"I love you!" I shouted loudly, not because I had to shout for her to hear me, but because I wanted the whole world to know. She would have heard my voice clearly even if I had merely whispered it through our mental bond. But I needed the rushing wind, the open sky, and the entire island to hear just what she meant to me.

Her face brightened instantly, lighting up my chest with something wild and steady all at the exact same time.

"I love you too! Come back in one piece!" she yelled back just as loudly, and just as fiercely.

I did not let myself linger a single second longer. I carved the image of her glowing eyes filled with hope and fierce strength deep into my memory and turned my back on the house. I would come back to her. I would always find my way back to her. Leaving her behind for a moment was not giving up anything at all. It was choosing everything that mattered. I closed the active link between us, sealing it up tight. She would not have to feel the chaos or the deadly danger that lay ahead of us tonight. Not if I could possibly help it.

Within minutes, I met up with the others waiting in the dark, ready for war.