CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR

{Lyra}

Just before the space was destroyed.

Before the last of my power was absorbed.

Before I opened my eyes and watched Varen stare me down, I had one final conversation with Alissa.

Her voice was faint, the sound of it already weakening. Her presence — what remained of her — looked ghostly and see-through.

“He’s immortal now,” she said, and there was no softness in it. No comfort. Just a heavy, cruel truth.

I paused for a few precious seconds, taking in the information.

“I figured,” I answered finally.

“There’s nothing that can kill him,” she continued, each word growing fainter.

“No blade, no spell. No wolf. He will outlast all of it… and maybe that will kill him first. But Varen isn't that weak-willed.”

“Alissa.”

She paused.

“Stop dancing around it.”

And finally, she smirked, or maybe I imagined it.

“Almost nothing…”

I frowned, tilting my head. I didn’t want to believe that. But I was hopeful.

She continued: “...you can kill him like we treat venom.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You make