“Rhyn, what if this is the only time we ever have together?”
Rhyn shook his head, uncertain how he’d ended up on the dream beach when he’d just walked through the portal from the castle in the Alps to Death’s underworld. He faced his dead mate. Her blue eyes were large, and she looked tired.
“It won’t be,” he said. “I’m coming to get you.”
Instead of looking cheered at his words, she looked unconvinced.
“You’re welcome,” he said, bristling.
“I’d be happy to see you,” Katie replied. “But, Rhyn, what if you can’t save me? What if this is all we have?”
“Why do you say that? It can’t be. It won’t be.”
“Let’s pretend like it is, just for now.”
“I don’t want to pretend.” He searched her features with his gaze, not understanding her strange insistence that she was really dead. She was troubled. This much he could see, though he couldn’t tell why.
“Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened, if we’d both been able to live?” she asked.
“No.”
“You don’t think about where we’d live or how we’d fit in with the other Immortals?”
“I don’t like this game,” he said.
“I don’t think both of us will make it out of the underworld. It makes me think about all the things I wish I’d done before I died. I wanted to backpack through Europe and go on a cruise somewhere warm. I wanted to make love with you on the beach under the full moon. Without worrying about demons or Kris or anything.”
“Katie.” Rhyn took her hands tentatively, growing more confident when she didn’t disappear. “I will get you out, and you can do those things. Wecan do those things together. I swear it.”
“I hope so, Rhyn.” She hugged him hard.
Rhyn wrapped his arms around her, marveling at how real her body felt in the dream. Her hair tickled his face, and he rested his chin on her head. They held each other for a long moment. His thoughts grew dark as he thought about what it would take to save her. He’d have to risk the wrath of Death.