Novel & Cerita Eternity 145

he whispers against my mouth. “Is that what you want?” My insecurities bleed out, but Azure doesn’t waste any time dropping to his knees and pushing my sweater up to expose my swollen stomach. “Did you hear that?” he whispers to my belly. “Your momma just asked if forever is what I wanted….” The midday sun glinted off of his silver eyes, “Forever isn’t long enough, Erin. So, I suppose you’re right. I don’t want your forever. I want your eternity,” he pecks my belly before standing up once again. “I want our souls to be so entangled in one another that there isn’t a force in the world that could tear them apart.” Emotion clogs my throat and my vision blurs.

With a final, deliberate motion, Nina let out a sigh of satisfaction, her eyes gleaming with triumph as she watched the last vestiges of resistance leave me. I was hers — body, mind, and soul — and there was no escaping the darkness she had unleashed. “I don’t want to lose myself,” I managed to whisper, my voice trembling as her words danced around my mind like a siren’s song. “You won’t lose yourself, Elias,” she promised, her voice dripping with honeyed temptation. “You will become something greater. You will join me in eternity.” It was a promise that hung in the air, thick and heavy with implications I could scarcely fathom.

"Kai, you seeing the patterns? They're paying the Ring to play god with our lifespans. Ezra, show me the proof again. How sure are you?" "Dead sure," Ezra shot back, pulling up more documents. "Encrypted emails. 'Project Eternal Fang.' That's their cute name for it. They want to live forever while we fight their scraps. Avery, this is bigger than Darius. This is the root." Kai laughed sharp, angry. "Root of all the bullshit. Avery, command us. We hit them now?" "Hit them digital," I said, straightening. "Ezra, you mentioned a strike. Lay it out. Tell us the plan step by step. No holding back."