Rowan POV

Aelin stood in front of the menacing throne as the king's head hit the ground, eyes blank and glazed, void of life. She stared forward for a moment before she bowed her head then turned to face the rest of us with her sword still gripped in her hand. The point dragged on the ground and the king's blood gleamed in the light, dripping off the edge of the blade. She didn't even spare the dead king's decapitated head a glance. I felt a sense of pride in that moment-my fiery queen: unstoppable, invincible, magnificent. Her gold hair was alight with an aura of godliness, her eyes glinting with the ecstasy of what she had just done.

Now that the king was good and dead, along with Jurian, there was only one thing left to do before we could go home and leave this world behind forever.

Aelin approached the swirling cauldron and said, voice shaking, "Amren, do you have the book?" I could feel the terrifying power radiating from the thing, calling out to my very soul, as I assumed it did to everyone.

Amren came forward cautiously and handed to book to her, meeting Aelin's eyes and patting her hand. She took the book, looking at it for a few seconds and closed her eyes. Thick, sparkling darkness seeped around us as the book neared the large and swirling object.

My queen looked up at the rest of us under lowered brows, sighed, and said, "I don't know what this cauldron will ask of us, it may be harmless or it may demand something very dear to our hearts. I can guarantee that we will have to sacrifice things, and I need to know if each one of you is willing to do what is needed."

She looked to her right at Lysandra and Aedion. Lysandra put her hand in the crook of his elbow and looked up at him, giving him a nod. He looked back at Aelin and said, "yes."

Aelin looked at Dorian and he said, "I am," before averting his eyes and blushing uncontrollably.

Cassian only nodded once when she laid her eyes upon him.

She turned her head to Amren and the woman said, "I've dealt with this thing too long, I'll give anything to see it destroyed," there was something different in her voice. She knew something that she wasn't telling us.

Feyre linked her fingers with Rhysand's and they nodded at Aelin.

Mor smiled at Azriel and said, "we're in too."

Finally Aelin looked to me. I could see the question in her blue and gold eyes as I nodded once and said, "to whatever end, Fireheart."

She looked at us-all of us-and gave a small smile. A group of people from two different worlds, now comrades-friends. There is a real bond that is made when you fight alongside someone on a battlefield, and I could feel us all linked together. All so different, but in a way, the same.

We all surrounded the cauldron, making a circle around the horrible object. Mor held Azriel's hand, then Cassian's. Cassian grabbed Aelin's hand and Azriel turned to Lysandra, linking hands with her. Aedion held Lysandra and Amren's hands tightly. Amren turned to Rhys, who was already holding Feyre's hand on the other side, and took his hand in hers. Feyre looked at Dorian and gave him an innocent smile before latching onto his hand.

Dorian looked at me, eyes wide and scared to death; I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. I heard Aelin let out a small laugh, despite the situation, before she tossed the book into the swirling mist of the cauldron and quickly put her small hand in mine.

There was a flash of blinding light and we were all blasted with a gust of wind bigger than any that I could conjure.

A blue beam of light shot up out of the cauldron and an ominous voice boomed, "from the beginning of time and from legends of old, the one wishing to destroy the cauldron is the girl with eyes ringed in gold." All of our eyes widened and I dared a glance at Aelin, I could tell she was terrified. It continued in a less threatening voice, "each one of you has been brought here by a force bigger than yourselves-you're all players in an unfinished game. You will all have to sacrifice something, whether it be your blood or your life or something infinitely more precious, if you want to destroy the cauldron. Shapeshifter," the light turned to Lysandra, "assume your most cherished form and it will be taken; you will no longer be able to shift into it."

Lysandra's eyes darkened and she refused to meet any of our eyes before she shifted into a snow leopard. It was a marvelous creature; corded with muscle and nothing but pure strength. Green fog swirled around her and when it cleared, she was back in the form she had minutes ago.

"Demi-fae, in less than a decade you will learn whether you are immortal or mortal. You are to sacrifice your chance at immortality," the voice crooned. Oh gods, no.

Aedion looked at Aelin and said, "I'm sorry, Aelin. I wish I could have stayed by your side and watched you rule until the end of time," and the mist swirled around him as well, taking his chance at forever. Aelin's hand tightened on mine and her bottom lip trembled until a tear barreled down her cheek.

The voice started again, "mortal king, chose one person in your life, who is close to you, in order to bring back another, you will not remember the life you took" Dorian closed his eyes and a tear dripped down his face while the mist surrounded him and vanished. When it was gone, he looked as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Legend of war," the light directed at Mor, "give up your reputation. No one will ever remember your name or what you did for your court so long ago in the war." A tear spilled out of her eye but she nodded and allowed the cauldron to take the only thing she had.

"Now it seems there are three Illyrians here, but only two are needed. Which two will it be?" the voice asked.

Cassian and Azriel looked at each other and blurted out a hurried "us" before Rhysand even had a chance to process what the cauldron asked of them.

"You two must yield your wings."

All sounds halted and the color drained from their faces simultaneously.

Suddenly the voice boomed, "now!" The two warriors lowered their heads as the mist swirled around them, taking their wings as well as their freedom. When they looked up, the life had fled from their eyes.

"It seems," the voice purred, "that there are two pair of mates gathered here." I felt Aelin's hand go slack as she closed her eyes and pursed her lips, exhaling through her nose. "Three drops of blood from each of you, that is what is required."

I looked around at all the confused faces; Rhysand had an expression identical to Aelin's. I said, "there must be a mistake. Feyre and Rhysand are the only-" I looked at Aelin, who had turned to me and now held tears in her eyes and an apologetic smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, Rowan," I could hear the sheer desperation in her frail voice as she choked. "I didn't want you to find out this way, I wanted you to realize it on your own. Gods, I'm so sorry."

The cord, the connection I had felt between us so many times before…it had been the mating bond. I looked into Aelin's red-rimmed blue and gold eyes and felt all of the strings of that cord unraveling inside and between us, filling the both of us with breath and another sensation I couldn't name, until all the individual strings snapped back together with a jolt. My breath was ripped from my body and I squeezed my eyes shut against the wind swirling around us. Mate. I stared at her in shock. There was no denying it, I've only felt this connection once before. I looked into her eyes, her devastatingly beautiful eyes, and… and finally the bond snapped into place, and I could not look away from her piercing gaze. My heart yearned for her like it never had, if that was possible.

I grabbed Aelin's damp face in my hands and crushed my lips against hers, feeling the desperation in my very soul. My carranam, my queen, my mate. Gods. How could I not have realized sooner? How long has she kept this from me?

She broke the kiss, still gripping my shirt, and looked at me for a long while before she smiled softly and picked up the dagger that had appeared on the ground in front of us. Feyre, Rhys, Aelin, and I drew blood from our fingers and let it drip into the cauldron.

When the last drop had fallen, the voice bellowed louder than before, "the last sacrifice has been known for thousands of years, by the creator of the book. Only she can truly destroy it."

Silence, then Amren stepped forward and peered into the cauldron. Confusion was clear on everyone's faces before shock replaced it.

"I have to get in it," she whispered, closing her eyes.

Rhysand stepped up beside her and grabbed her elbow, "what are you talking about?"

"I created it," she said and turned to Rhysand, his eyes grew wider, "I have to get in it to be able to destroy it. The magic from your sacrifices will turn me into the most powerful full-blooded fae of all time, then I will use my power to rid the world of it once and forever. I have to do this," she finished.

"Amren, there has to be another way," Mor chimed in. There was pleading in her eyes as Amren turned to her and shook her head.

"I chose this fate when I created the Book," she snapped. She took a deep breath before she added, "I saw the threat the Cauldron posed if it were to be in the wrong hands. The Book was created to nullify the powers if anything were to go wrong. I am the only one left in this world, in the worlds, to save you. I'll be okay." Amren ascended the few steps by the cauldron and stepped in, closing her eyes against the sting. I could hear the tss of the burning liquid as she dipped herself fully in it. Mist started rising from the cauldron and when Amren arose, her features were sharper and she had set determination in her eyes. Without so much as a word she got out of the cauldron and walked to the other side of the room. Everything was completely silent as the rest of us backed away.

She set her feet in a defensive stance and raised both hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, her eyes opened and were completely black, no white whatsoever. I heard everyone's breath catch; I even heard Mor whimper. One more breath and then there were two sharp lines of red shooting out of her palms and meeting each other at the cauldron. After a second, the lines grew wider and the cauldron turned a deep shade of red before it completely shattered all over the floor.

She turned back to us. Her eyes her normal stormy grey. No longer I could feel that mystical otherness prowling underneath her skin. Yes, I could feel the raw undulated power, stronger than everyone here, but she was one of us now, Fae.

"It always ends like this, me trapped in another body," she chuckled dryly, before she passed out on the ground.