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    Malachi broke into their quiet conversation. “You’re telling me I died?”
    Evren and Rhys turned to him.  
    “I died?” he asked again. “Truly? I died. And I came back to life?”
    “What do you remember?”
    “Nothing. I remember nothing . Just her voice on the wind and the stars overhead. I’ve been getting flashes here and there, but I don’t remember her. How could I forget her ?” He felt torn. Incomplete. And it wasn’t just the memories he was missing. “And you think she did this somehow?”
    Evren said, “We don’t know. Not really. But there is no other explanation. Your brothers saw you die. Saw your body turn to dust. Your mate saw you die— felt you die.”
    “But why would Ava be able to—”
    “She said the words,” Rhys said. “The words she had heard her whole life. From the souls of everyone who mourned. She came to me before she left. Asked me what it meant. Vashama canem . Come back to me.” He turned to Evren. “I had no idea. How could I?”
    “There was no way of knowing she could do this, Rhys. No way—”
    “Wait!” Malachi felt a chill creep along his skin. “You’re telling me she spoke this command and I answered. Even from beyond death?”
    “He’s telling you words have power,” Evren said. “Ava asked you to come back to her. And you did.”

    The two men stood across from him, staring. Malachi refused to sit down after being introduced to Max’s twin, Leo. He felt restless. He wanted to do something. Go somewhere. Sitting around a library made his skin itch. Rhys had left, along with Evren. The two men with him claimed to be his friends, but he had no memory of them.
    Leo leaned over to Max and asked, “What happened to them?”
    Max shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Did he—”
    “He died and came back to life, Leo. Who knows what happened to them.”
    “Will they come back?”
    “How should I know?”
    Malachi suppressed the urge to punch them both. “What are you talking about?”
    Leo rolled up his sleeves to reveal intricate tattoos all over his arms. “Your talesm . Your spells. Tattoos. You used to be covered with them like us. More than us, because you’re quite a bit older.”
    Of course. That was why his arms felt wrong. He’d sensed a lack of… something since he woke. He rubbed his hands over his forearms, wishing he could rub away the unwanted attention. “I don’t know what happened. And you don’t look much younger than me, so how old am I?”
    Leo said, “You used to be around four hundred. But do we start over now?” He grinned. “Am I not the youngest anymore?”
    Max tapped Leo on the back of the head. “Stop. He’s obviously still Malachi. He’s just different. You’re still the youngest in the house.”
    “Damn.”
    Malachi looked toward the door. “Where did all the others go?”
    Leo said, “Evren sent the scribes in the house searching the archives to see if there are any records of Irin coming back to life after death. Rhys went to search Damien’s phone and credit card records to see if he’s still traceable. I’m guessing he won’t be, but we can hope.”
    “And Damien is with…”
    “Ava.”
    “Yes, Ava.” His woman. His mate.  
    “It must have been her.” For the first time, Max’s eyes softened as he watched him. “Somehow… We thought we’d lost you, Malachi. I watched you die. Saw the dust rise to heaven when he killed you.”
    Leo put his arm around his brother. “There was no question. She felt your loss.”
    “Ava was… torn in two when you died,” Max said. “I’ve never seen—I don’t remember the Rending, so I’ve never seen grief like that before.”
    Malachi swallowed a groan. She was out there, grieving his loss, and he was unable to comfort her. Even though he couldn’t remember her, Malachi bristled in awareness of her grief. “I need to find her. Why did this man take her from here?”
    Rhys opened the door, face grim. “Damien took her away because her power