Eli hadn't spoken for hours.
The wind howled outside, not with a storm, but with something else: as if the world itself was breathing and couldn't find a way to let it go.
He stood shirtless in front of the mirror in his bedroom, fingers tracing the skin over his heart. The mark was alive.
No more was it simply glowing gently.
It was now pulsing-dark gold in its center, edged with intricate fancy shapes, like a seal or a sigil. And inside of it, a very faint outline of wings. Not Amon's. Not Kael's.
His.
Behind him, Amon stood watching him, quiet, leaning against the doorway like a statue carved from some forgotten memory.
"It's happening," said Eli.
"Yes."
"What does it mean?"
"Aye, it means you are remembering. Your soul is done pretending it was ordinary," Amon replied.
Eli turned. "But I don't feel stronger. I don't feel divine."
"You won't," Amon said, stepping slowly toward him. "Because divinity isn't in the blood. It's in the choice."
Eli held his hands out in front of him. "What was I before?"
Amon's hands slid around his waist. "Not an angel. Not a demon. Not even a man."
"What was I then?"
"A key," Amon whispered. "To a prison the gods forgot. A being made from both light and shadow—meant to awaken when the balance tipped."
A shiver ran down Eli's spine. "So I don't belong to this world?"
"You were sent to it," Amon said. "To choose who deserves to remain."
Eli stepped away, the shock of what he'd just heard clouding his judgment. "That is not love. That is judgment."
"No," Amon said. "It is justice. And you were made to feel love so your judgment would not be cold."
Eli swallowed hard. "Why me?"
"Because even before your soul chose mine... it chose mercy."
Silence protracted between them. Finally, Eli risked asking the question he'd been so scared to ask since the night Kael had shown up:
"Will you live through this?"
Amon blinked. "What?"
"Whatever's coming. Will you make it through?"
Amon stepped forward. "Not unless I stay with you."
"But you're fading. You're weaker every day."
Amon took Eli's face in his hands. "Because I gave you my last light. But you've become the flame now. Every time you remember who you were… I grow stronger."
Eli's eyes burned. "Then take it back. Take my strength."
"I will not steal your destiny," Amon said. "But I will share it."
He kissed him-slowly, aching, beautifully.
And then, as their bodies pressed together once more, something deeper connected. Something more than flesh and memory.
Their souls braided.
Eli saw the visions again-this time clearer and sharper.
He saw himself clad in armor of black starlight, standing on the brink of a shattered heaven. Saw Kael, broken and bleeding, whispering his name. Saw Amon standing behind him-a fallen god reinstated, eyes no longer red, but glowing with balance.
And then he saw the throne made of bones and wings-and the crown waiting on top.
He who chooses love… must choose who falls.
Eli gasped, breaking the kiss, his chest heaving.
"I saw the end," he whispered.
Amon rested their foreheads together. "Then we still have time."
Later that night, Eli walked out into the forest and left alone.
Fearless. No more.
The trees bent slightly as he walked past, almost in recognition. The wind called his name-not a warning, but a welcome.
In the vast clearing, something waited.
It initially looked like a man-pale, long hair like silver vines, robes woven from smoke. The face was smooth and unreadable; the eyes were like mirrors.
"You've awakened," said a voice that seemed to come from the roots beneath the soil.
Eli did not answer.
The entity stepped forward. "You carry the spark of two lovers-one of heaven, one of rebellion. But you are neither."
"What am I?" Eli responded.
The being tilted its head. "The one who will decide if heaven should remain."
Eli clenched his fists. "Why me?"
"Because you remember everything. Even the things they made you forget."
Lightning-fast flashes struck in his mind:
A thousand lives. A thousand deaths. A lover lost. A war begun. A name erased from the records of the divine.
"You are not human," the being said. "You never were."
"So what now?" Eli asked.
The being smiled, which shattered its face as if made of stone. "Now, they come for you."
And it disappeared with a whisper.
Eli returned to find Amon waiting by the fire, red-eyed with worry.
"They know," Eli said.
Amon nodded. "Then we stay ready."
Again, Eli curled into him. "We were never just mortal."
"No," Amon said softly. "We were gods that dared to love."