I rise slowly from the lapping waves, my eyes meeting the Bargainer’s. He stands among the water, the glow of it illuminating all the hard planes of his bare torso. His sleeve of tattoos is on display and his hair is tied back in a bun.

He is, in a word, overwhelming.

Slowly I move over to him. As I do so, I slip one of my swimsuit straps over my shoulder and down my arm, then the other. The rest of it is quick to go. The swimsuit was a nice thought, but right now it’s useless to me.

Des watches me with those silver eyes of his. When I reach him, I pause, staring up in his eyes.

“I could never imagine this,” I say. “Not in my wildest dreams could I imagine what life with you would be like.”

He cups the side of his face, his gaze moving to my lips. “It gets to be like this; for the rest of our lives we get to have this—the sweet moments, the confessions, the laughter, the magic—we get to have it all.” His thumb strokes my cheek. “Cherub, you’re every wish of mine.”

Lowering my eyelids, I rise to my tiptoes and kiss him deeply, fiercely. Reaching for his bun, I loosen his hair, letting it fall around his face in waves. This is where I make some comment about his silly man bun, and he has some quip that keeps me on my toes.

But for once, my humor’s abandoned me. All I want is Des, and I’m pretty sure all he wants is me.

His arms come around my waist, and then he’s wrapping my legs around his hips. If Des was wearing a swimsuit, it’s long gone now. I can feel every glorious inch of him bare against me.

I run my palms over his biceps, his tattoos catching my attention. There’s that somber angel and the rose. I touch them with my fingertips. That’s when I notice for the first time the ribbon of inked black beads coiling up his arm.

My fingers pause. “Is this new?”

His eyes seem to be smiling. “I wanted to wear a piece of you on me always.”

I trace the string of beads to his wrist, then back up his arm to his shoulder … where they morph into inked scales. Those, in turn, transition into black feathers. The tiny inked feathers drip down from his shoulder and onto his pec, a few of them breaking away to flutter right over his heart.

I pull my head back. “When—?”

“Last night, when I was supposed to be defending my kingdom.”

So that’s what he was doing away from the castle. My heart hurts with all that I feel.

I study the tattoo again. The beads, the scales, the feathers, those things were once burdens to me.

I wanted to wear a piece of you on me always.

My throat closes up. These rooms were already too much. To hear that he inked these parts of me onto himself …

He must see my throat working, he must know I literally don’t have the words to convey this unimaginable tangle of emotions I feel.

I’m just so unbearably, unspeakably happy.

“I love you, cherub,” he says. “Till darkness dies I will.”

I rise up a little, my body skimming over his hard torso. Between us our bond throbs like a single united heartbeat. I cup his cheeks and press my mouth to his.

Like moonbeams and shadows. That’s how he tastes, how he feels. As though the dark universe itself came together and decided one day to form a man. He still doesn’t seem real. I hope he never does. He’s my magic.

Des lowers me, or maybe I’m the one to sink back down. My skin brightens as the tip of his cock presses against my opening for a moment, feeling thick, much too thick. And then it’s sliding into me, and that exquisite thickness is stretching me, filling me.

I stare into Des’s eyes, and I see an eternity stretched out into them. Years and years of nights like this, love like this.

He pulls his hips back, and I feel the loss everywhere. But in the next instant, he’s sliding back into me, his cock throbbing.

“Love you so much, Callie,” he breathes. “Would’ve waited an eternity if it meant finding you.”

I lean my head against him, feeling him wedged deeply in me.

“I would’ve walked through hell to find you,” I whisper back.

He shudders out a breath. “You did, cherub, you did.”

I don’t know which experience he’s referring to, and I don’t really care. None of that horror gets to be a part of this moment.

I run my fingers through his white hair, the strands seeming to glow thanks to the water wetting it.

The two of us move up and down, in and out, pulling away and rushing in like the tides. We’re balanced on the edge of Somnia, with the stars above, and the world below.

Sometimes sex is dirty and carnal, and sometimes, like now, it’s love at its most intimate.

My breasts slide over his chest as I rise and fall, the glowing water making our skin slick.

My breath hitches as Des’s pace picks up and his strokes deepen. The whole time the two of us stare at each other. I don’t know about Des, but I have the most breathtaking view. Planets have spun and stars have aligned to bring us together.

“Every wish …” Des rasps out, taking my mouth.

The taste of him and the feel of him—those are the triggers that send me over the edge. I cry out into his mouth, my grip tightening on Des as my orgasm crashes through me.

The kiss ends as I lap up the last of my climax. Des stares up at me, his silver eyes devouring my expression. His thrusts become frantic, almost punishing.

“My wife,” he says, his voice low. His gaze drops to my lips and his grip tightens.

With a groan, I feel him come. The water splashes around us as he slams into me, again and again. His gaze crawls back up, and he drinks me in as he rides out the last of his orgasm.

Even after we’re finished, we stay locked together. I brush back his wet hair, trying to memorize every feature of his.

“I really love my wedding gift,” I say.

He lets out a low, satisfied laugh. “So do I.”

I don’t know what time it is, only that my body feels boneless and my siren is, for once in her life, fully sated. Des sleeps next to me, his leg thrown over mine, and a heavy arm draped across my body.

I envy the King of the Night his ability to sleep. I’m sure the moment I give into it, the Thief of Souls will be on the other side waiting for me.

Do the dead ever really die? The Thief’s voice echoes through my head. I frown. I can’t escape him, even now.

This is our little game—and trust me, enchantress, it’s far from over.

I roll the words over and over in my mind.

He tricked Des into giving me the lilac wine the night he said that, thus making my magic compatible with his.

All so that what? Why would being magically compatible even matter to him?

I will never leave you alone, enchantress. Never. Banish the hope if you have it. You cannot ever escape my clutches. Not even in death.

Goosebumps bloom across my arms.

Not even in death.

The sleeping soldiers, Galleghar’s incorruptible body, the Thief of Soul’s ability to outlive even death …

I nearly gasp when it comes to me.

Of course. Of course.

All those stupid riddles, and it had been right in front of me the entire time.

Not terribly long ago, Des had explained the four kingdoms of the Otherworld—Night, Day, Flora, and Fauna.

But there were two others.

The Kingdom of Mar … and the Kingdom of Death and Deep Earth.

The Kingdom of Death and Deep Earth.

In a world at war, who would truly win?

Death would, that’s who.