It was time.

She knew it.

It had been a month since returning to Lyriumia. Plans had been made. Unfortunately, not many people had answered her calls for help. A few had. It was better than nothing, but they would be lucky if they won. It would be easier if she had full access to her power, but Lvaane was yet to be entirely sure on how to do that. They had run out of time. She would have to find another way. Like usual, she thought with slight humour.

Amneris doubted she could stop what was going to happen on her own, even if she returned to her other form. The one that had not physical form. Her true self. It was a risk, of course. Removing one’s self from their body and shedding their skin was nothing to be taken lightly. She had done it once before, millennia ago. Her powers had not been as great back then. They had grown larger every day. She did not know what would happen if she took on that form once again.

Arms snaked around her waist from behind, and a kiss was pressed to her hair. Almost unconsciously, she raised a hand and stroked a finger down the side of his face. “Are you okay?” he asked.

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She nodded. They both knew it was a lie. It was obvious. Neither of them was really okay. There was no way they could be right now. They both knew what the next fight would bring; the hundreds of thousands of things that could go wrong. They needed to make sure Tara did not get the items.

That was not important right now.

Colt made no move to let her go. In all honesty, she did not mind. It would probably come back to haunt her in the future but right now, in this moment, it was the only thing stopping her from running after Tara. No one would have noticed. That was not entirely true, though. When she got back, her Court would have probably tried to kill her, not caring about her immortality.

Amneris pulled herself from Colt’s grip and lay down on her bed. She placed a hand on the spot beside her. He obliged, laying down and taking her back into his arms. This was one of those few times that reminded her this was all real. There were parts of her afterlife that felt too insane to be real. Those were the nights where she would stay up all night on the balcony with a bottle of wine or go out and walk the never-sleeping city.

Colt must have sensed her thoughts. He brushed her hair behind an ear with a reassuring smile she could just make out in the darkness. “It will turn out alright,” he murmured. “We will make it through this, and I will take you somewhere nice for a vacation.”

She snicked slightly, taking her hand in his and entwining their fingers. “Thank you, Colt.”