Gena Showalter - Burning Dawn

This had to work. Failure wasn’t an option.

Xerxes didn’t stop at the River’s shore, but waded in deep. Bjorn and Elin, too. At the moment of contact, however, terrible pain consumed her and she jumped out. What was that about?

Bjorn looked back at her, understanding lighting his face. “I heard what the prince said to you. He infected you with Kendra’s poison and his own darkness.”

“Yes.”

“And now you hurt.”

“Yes,” she repeated, her gaze straying to Thane. He was still unconscious. Keep it together.

Bjorn tilted his head to the side, as if he was listening to a voice she couldn’t hear. “The Water is a cleansing agent,” he said. “The Most High has just informed me your defeat of the prince has earned a reward. Enter the River and be cleansed of the fallen angel’s darkness, as well as Kendra’s poison.”

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. “What about my immortality?” She had to keep it. For Thane. Because he would survive this. Nothing else was acceptable.

Again Bjorn’s head tilted to the side. “You will lose only the evil that came with it.”

Have the good, discard the bad? Thank you wasn’t good enough. Steeling herself against what was to come, she dived in and swallowed a mouthful. The pain was immediate and intense, and she broke the surface screaming, but within a few minutes, a sweet sense of peace took its place.

The moment she was able to, she swam to Xerxes and Thane. The water was the perfect temperature. Not too warm, not too cold, and it sparkled against her skin, pleasant now. Shaking, she scooped the liquid into Thane’s mouth, handful after handful, forcing him to swallow.

Still, there was no change.

She fed him even more liquid, desperation trying to choke her. She pressed her fingers into his neck, searching for a pulse. Nothing. Near-crippling anguish joined the desperation, and she gasped for breath.

“He helped me,” she cried out, hoping the Most High could hear her. “He helped me defeat the prince. I couldn’t have done it without him. Reward him. Please.”

Again, there was no change.

“Thane,” she rasped. “Please. Don’t do this. You made me love you. You gave me a purpose. Now...give me a future. Please.”

Bjorn and Xerxes exchanged a look teeming with grief.

She continued. “This isn’t a debate. I told you heal, and so you’ll heal. Do you hear me?”

Finally—finally!—he coughed, blood gurgling from the corners of his mouth.

She froze. Bjorn and Xerxes froze.

“Did that just happen?” she demanded.

“More. Give him more,” Xerxes rushed out, and she began scooping more and more water into Thane’s mouth, practically drowning him.

Another cough rang out, and there was a starburst of joy inside her.

“It’s working!”

“Elin?”

Steady. Don’t attack him. Not yet. But she could hardly contain herself, was jumping up and down, water sloshing around her. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

Thane raised his arms to wipe his face—his hands had completely regenerated, she noted. He looked around, saw that he was cradled in Xerxes’s arms like a baby, and frowned. “Where am I?”

Steady. “The River of Life.”

Xerxes released him. “Elin decided you needed a bath.” Guttural emotion thickened his voice.

“And she was right,” Bjorn said, his voice just as thick.

Steady— Oh, screw it. She threw herself against Thane. “I love you. I love you so much, and I’ve been cleansed of Kendra’s poison. You don’t have to worry—”

“I wasn’t worried. You were alive, and that was all that mattered to me.” His arms tightened around her. “I want you however I can have you.”

“I love you.” She peppered his face with kisses. “I’m so sorry I doubted you when I saw you with the girl. I—”

“Kendra,” he said, cupping her cheeks. “That was Kendra, pretending to be you. But I recognized the differences, and wanted only to talk to her before you walked in. But Ricker came in and incapacitated me. Then the prince showed up and killed both Kendra and Ricker, and they did not regenerate.”

“Good. That means the only enemy you have left is Ardeo.”

“No.” He buried his face in the hollow of her neck and breathed her in. “What he did, he did out of sorrow. Losing you...I understand, and I forgive. I’m done with that war. My weeds are gone.”

Elin peppered him with more kisses, then looked, misty-eyed, at Bjorn and Xerxes. “Don’t just stand there, guys. Get in on this. It’s group-hug time!”

To her delight, they obeyed.

They are my family. Now and always.

These men were a gift. Thane had told her she was the light to his dark, but that wasn’t true. These men weren’t dark. Okay, so they were kind of darkish. But. For once, she loved the word. And they were healing. With a little help from her, they’d go all the way.

Step one, helping Bjorn with his much-needed divorce.

Step two, finding a date for Xerxes.

“What are you thinking, kulta?” Thane asked.

“Just that I love you,” she replied. “And I’m going to make you and our two little boys happy. I know it.”

Bjorn and Xerxes snorted.

“Hey, Zerk,” she said. “Did I ever tell you about the girl I met at one of my dodge-boulder games? She—”

“No.” He shook his head. “Never. You aren’t playing matchmaker.”

“He already has a woman.” Bjorn wiggled his brows. “Her name is Cario, and she—”

“Isn’t mine,” Xerxes said, cutting him off.

Elin clapped. “Ohhh, I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”

Xerxes dragged Bjorn away, the two men arguing.

“I’ll find out, and give her a call,” she bellowed after them. “Maybe we can double-date. Yes? Great. I’m taking your silence as a yes.”

Thane grinned down at her slowly, sweetly. “A double date will be interesting, that’s for sure.”

“Why?”

“Because Xerxes would like to kill Cario.”

“Oh. Well, not every relationship can be as healthy as ours.”

“True. We’ll just have to be an example to others for the rest of eternity.”

She rubbed her nose against his. “Slight problem, Mr. Three. I’m not sure that’s going to be long enough.”

“TAKE THAT, BIATCHES,” Elin shouted as she flipped the bird.

She’d just come in from the edge of the court and knocked out the Erections’ second-to-last player. Yes. The Erections. That was their team name. And their motto? We Play Hard So You Can Suck It!

“Elin the Side Swiper rocks and socks it,” someone in the crowd shouted.

Thane had given her the new moniker—he claimed she’d sneaked up on him and stolen his heart—and it had stuck.

Maybe because Multiple Scorgasms had made it all the way to the finals. And this, this was the championship match, and all their players were still in the game. No one had been knocked out.

Because they were fierce. They were determined.

This was for Chanel.

Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes watched from the stands, cheering just like everyone else. Well, except for those stupid enough to be fans of the Erections. Okay, that hadn’t come out the way she’d meant. Anyway. Those people were booing.

They must not have heard what Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes did to the last crowd to boo her. In essence, the stakes had seen another round of play. Short play, of course—they hadn’t wanted to upset Zacharel—but enough to get their point across.

Gotta love my man.

On the Erections’ team were Kaia, her sisters Bianka and Gwen, and Anya. They were quick on the speed trigger—ha-ha—but not quick enough. They were strong, but not strong enough.