The journey would be long without his inhuman speed so Cain paralyzes me as he takes us somewhere unknown. I keep my eyes closed against his chest. I can't feel a thing except tiredness. I start to fall asleep but we land seconds later. He holds me against the edge of something hard and uncomfortable, gradually releasing his hands when he's satisfied that I won't fall off.

We're sitting on a high roof to a house, a row of suburban houses are positioned in front of us, their walls glowing slightly by the dim lights of the streetlamps. If it wasn't for those lights then I wouldn't be able to see a thing. It's colder here, freezing, I tighten the jacket around me as I tremble. I gaze at the snowy mountains in the far distance. If I had Cain's wings then that would be the first place I'd go, not here.

"Where are we?" I say.

"You don't recognize that house?" he says, pointing to the one opposite us. "You lived in it for twelve years."

I gasp, staring hard at the brown-and-white house with a triangular shaped rooftop. At the white steps that lead up to the small porch wrapped around the front entrance with a wide-open door, the tree that grew in our front yard, growing so big that it made looking out of my bedroom window difficult. The lawn is overgrown, the grass brown and decayed. It's strange to see it so dark, almost like it's dead.

"You brought me back to Canada?"

"I brought you home," he says. "That is your home, isn't it?"

"It was."

"Your parents are ready," he whispers, he holds the blade in his hand but I don't look at it. "They say goodbye."

I wipe my tears as he slices it against his arm. I remain quiet, my eyes following the bright strip of light that bursts towards the starry universe. "Goodbye," I say.

This is as close to a funeral as I've ever gotten for them. Their bodies are still in that house which is why I cannot go inside it and why Cain didn't take me there. Burying them won't make a difference, they are somewhere else now. Somewhere safe and far away from the suffering of this world. Cain folds his arm around me. I drop my head and I turn to look at him. He stares into the air above me.

"What are you thinking about?" I say.

"I'm thinking that I have been searching for thousands of years for a purpose to exist and I have never found one, until I met you."

I smile. "Did you get that out of a cracker?"

"Aurora, I'm serious. You make me feel things that I've never felt, question things that I've never questioned. It was the connection at first, I had to protect you because the connection forced me. I'm not being forced anymore." He looks down, meeting my eyes softly. "When I heard that you were attacked, that you could have died, the idea of losing the completed soul didn't even occur to me. I was concerned for you, not for myself. In all my time of existing that has never happened."

I'm not sure where he's going with this and if I'm strong enough to handle it. It's obvious that we care for each other, that he cares for me, but we've both been too afraid to speak about it being more. About it being something impossible like a relationship. Like love.

"You don't have to do this," I say.

"You're not food to me," he says. "You are beyond that. You are my equal, our souls are equal. Mated. Paired. However you wish to call it. I want you by my side."

"I am by your side."

He smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "I want you by my side as Queen."

I lean back, my eyes wide. He studies my astonishment with a frown. Not only would that start a war among his species but the humans would never speak to me again. Christian would hate me. Jackson would hate me.

"As Queen, you would have the power to command the guards," he says. "You would have the power to command my entire species. It will make you safer. And you can have this." He looks down to the blade in his hand. "Obviously not all the time but it forces their respect."

"Cain, no." I shake my head. "You are asking me to declare myself as your lover."

"As my equal," he says.

"The humans won't see it that way. And what about your species? You think that they'll just accept that?"

Cain shrugs. "I don't really care."

"I care. They already think you're changing too much, this will push them over the edge. What if the council bring an army?"

"They would have done it by now," he says. "They don't have the numbers willing to fight. My guards outnumber them. Aren't you even a little bit tempted? You can leave whenever you like, the guards will have to follow your orders and remove themselves. I have fallen behind with so many meetings and business around the world because I couldn't leave you for the past few weeks. This way I don't have to worry about you. Blake will be assigned as your personal guard."

I rub my head. This isn't a decision I can just make at once, I will need time to think about it, to consider what's really best for the humans. I can't deny that having some form of power over the creatures isn't tempting, that having to bow their heads to a measly human standing in front of them doesn't light me up with amusement. But it's not just about the position. It's about being by his side, showing the world that we're beyond something unnatural and disgusting. What if this could make other creatures consider humans as more too? Or maybe Cain and I are just that rare that it'll always be unimaginable to anyone but us.

"You are everything to me, Aurora," he says. "And even though I know that I am not everything to you, I hope to show you a world where we can make a difference together."

Tears sting my eyes as I look away. He wouldn't feel that way if he knew what I was planning, if he knew that I would sacrifice my own life, and his, to try and set the world free. I am so torn. It infuriates me that I am torn. This could never work. Me as Queen? It's laughable, it's insane. And yet I trust him. And yet this damn thing he planted in my head won't allow me to stop considering it.

"Say something."

"I need some time."

"Okay. Whatever you want." He drums his finger against my cheek, pulling my attention back to him. "You are so beautiful."

I linger my fingers into his shoulder as he kisses me. It's been a long time since I've felt his lips on mine, since I felt the frenzy that captivated my stomach. It's back again. Our lips lock strongly, his delicious scent overwhelms my senses. I pant against him, lost in the raging heat. I squeeze my fingers tighter, telling him with my touch that I want more, that I want all of him. He leans back with curious eyes, a smile forms on his lips.

"We can do that all night long if you were Queen," he says. "It won't matter how purer your soul gets, no one will ever touch you again."

I push my lips back to his. "Then make me Queen."