Mists of Velvet

request something of me, and I must refuse you.”
    “Damn it, don’t you play games with me, you son of a bitch.”
    “I cannot save her. Her path lies elsewhere, not with us. But I can facilitate her death. It will be painless.”
    “What can I do? What can I offer in return for her life?”
    “Nothing. She might have been fathered by an angel, but now she is a mortal with a mortal’s soul. She belongs to Him, and He wants her back.”
    Keir cursed at the sky, calling Him every foul name he knew.
    “Please,” Keir begged, and Rhys felt the agony that filled him. “I will do anything.”
    “There is nothing to be done.”
    “There has to be a way.”
    “Keir,” Rhys murmured, taking a step toward him, but he heard Keir’s voice, hard, biting, warning him back, wanting him away. But Rhys ignored it and placed his hand on Keir’s shoulder. He looked down at Rowan, whose eyes were open, her face contorted in pain. Rhys could not bear to look at her. Whatever the mage had done to her, she was dying in pain and terror. “She suffers under his spell. Let her go.”
    “No!” Keir snarled, hugging Rowan to him. “No, she doesn’t.”
    “The mortals believe in the afterworld, and you believe in transmigration,” Suriel reminded him. “Is it not one and the same? The life essence or soul of a living thing passes immediately from the old body into a new life after physical death.”
    Keir shook his head, not wanting to hear anything other than that Rowan would live. But she would not live—not for much longer. Pressing his face to her, Keir kissed her, his large body protectively covering her as he held her in his arms.
    “If you love her,” Rhys murmured, “then let her last moments be peaceful.”
    Rhys felt Keir’s inner struggle. His love was strong, but his grief was stronger.
    “This is not the end for her, Shadow Wraith,” Suriel said. “You will meet again.”
    “In how many mortal lifetimes? How many centuries will I have to wait for our paths to cross again?”
    “I do not know your destinies.”
    Keir clutched Rowan to his chest. He wanted to be alone with her. Rhys heard his thoughts and honored them.
    Motioning to the chapel door, Rhys nodded in the direction of the moonlight. Everyone filed out, including Suriel, to give Keir some privacy with Rowan.
    With a sigh, Rhys clutched Bronwnn to his chest, holding her tight. He couldn’t lose her—ever. He wasn’t strong enough to endure what Keir was going through.
    “Rhys, descendant of Daegan.”
    Rhys lifted his gaze to find the goddess leaning against Bran and Sayer. She was weak and frail, her powers swiftly draining.
    “You saved me. Even though I would have killed you had Bronwnn not offered an adbertos , you saved my life.”
    He shrugged. “We mortals are like that. We forgive.”
    “Then I have much to learn,” she whispered, “for I have never forgiven. I would offer you something in return—I would offer you Bronwnn.”
    Bronwnn turned around and gazed up at the goddess. “You would give me my mate?”
    “I would. For he is worthy of you,” Cailleach murmured. “And the wraith deserves to mourn his woman. The mortal is yours with my blessing. I must leave now. My soul is tied to Annwyn, and I cannot exist outside my realm. But it is my hope that you will both be able to find peace in Annwyn.”
    Rhys grabbed Bronwnn and kissed her hard, pouring all his love into that one kiss. While his heart was soaring that Bronwnn was to be his, he felt the pain of Keir watching his love slip away.

    “Rowan,” Keir murmured as he pressed his lips to her cheek, “don’t leave me. Not yet.”
    She was growing cold in his arms, and he hugged her closer, rocking her. For the first time in his existence, he felt his eyes well up, and then a tear fell, only to land on her pale cheek.
    “I would do anything, give anything, if only I could have you back.”
    She did not answer. She only looked at him with those blank eyes. And he knew it was too late to save her in this lifetime. But there was a way. He had seen it in his vision.
    “One night is not enough,” he said, his voice catching, then breaking. “It has only made me love you more.”
    He continued to rock her, to kiss her cheeks. His tears tumbled onto her, and he clutched her closer. “If love could save you, you would live forever,” he whispered. But there was no reply, and he closed his eyes against the reality of what was happening.
    “You have made me the