Chapter 441: You Are Dead, This Is A Dream

Exhaustion pulled Lilith under before she even realized she was falling asleep.

One moment she was sitting on her bedroom floor with her back against the door, trying to process everything, the witches’ warnings, Victoria’s confession about the covenant, Thalia’s debt hanging over her like a guillotine.

The next moment, darkness claimed her.

Not the peaceful darkness of normal sleep. Something deeper. Heavier. Like being submerged in water that was too thick to swim through.

And then…..

Light.

Lilith opened her eyes and found herself somewhere else entirely.

Not her bedroom. Not the estate. Not anywhere she recognized.

She was standing in a meadow bathed in golden sunlight. Wildflowers covered the ground in every direction. The air smelled of honey and summer grass and something else, something that made her chest ache with longing.

“Hello, little witch”

Lilith spun around.

Nicholas stood ten feet away. Watching her with those calm grey eyes that had always made her feel safe. He looked exactly as she remembered, tall, broad-shouldered, every inch the Alpha Prime he had been in life.

Except he was dead.

Gone. Consumed. Dissolved into nothing.

This couldn’t be real.

“You’re not here,” Lilith said. Her voice came out shaky. “You’re dead. This is a dream. I’m dreaming.”

Nicholas smiled. That small, knowing smile that said he understood something she didn’t yet. “Does it feel like a dream?”

Lilith looked around. At the meadow. At the impossibly clear sky. At Nicholas standing solid and real in front of her.

It didn’t feel like a dream.

It felt real. Vivid. Like she could reach out and touch him and he would be warm and alive under her fingers.

“How are you here?” Lilith whispered.

“I told you,” Nicholas said quietly. “I never left. I’m still here, Lilith. I’ve always been here. You just couldn’t feel me until now.”

He took a step closer. Then another. Moving with that deliberate grace that had always characterized everything he did.

Lilith’s heart was pounding so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.

“This isn’t real,” she said again. But even as she said it, she didn’t believe it.

Nicholas reached out and cupped her face with one hand. His palm was warm against her cheek. Solid. Real.

“Does this feel real?” he asked.

Lilith closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Tears streaming down her face. “Yes.”

“Then stop fighting it,” Nicholas said. “Stop trying to convince yourself I’m gone when I’m standing right here.”

Lilith opened her eyes and looked at him. At the man she loved. The man who had died to save her.

“I miss you,” Lilith sobbed. “Every second of every day I miss you. And it hurts so much I can barely breathe.”

“I know,” Nicholas said gently. He wiped her tears away with his thumb. “I feel it too. Through the bond. Your grief. Your pain. Your guilt about being alive when I’m not.”

“I should have refused,” Lilith said. “I should have stayed dead. I should have….”

Nicholas kissed her.

Not gentle. Not asking permission. Just claiming her mouth with an intensity that stole her breath and made her knees weak.

Lilith made a sound between a sob and a moan and kissed him back desperately. Hands fisting in his shirt. Pulling him closer. Needing to feel him. To confirm he was real and solid and here.

Nicholas’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against his body. Every inch of him pressed against her. His body feels warm and alive, and Impossible at the same time

When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing hard.

“Stop apologizing for being alive,” Nicholas said. His voice was rough. “Stop wishing you had died instead. I made my choice, Lilith. I chose you. And I would make the same choice again without hesitation.”

“But you’re gone,” Lilith whispered. “You’re not coming back. And I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

“I’m not gone,” Nicholas corrected. “I’m right here. And I’m going to prove it to you.”

His mouth found hers again. Deeper this time. His tongue moving against hers with demanding pressure that made heat pool low in her belly.

Lilith’s hands moved to his shoulders. His chest. Feeling solid muscle beneath fabric. Warmth. Life.

Nicholas’s hands slid down her back. Over her hips. Pulling her harder against him.

She could feel his arousal pressed against her stomach. Hard. Unmistakable.

“I want you,” Nicholas murmured against her mouth. “I’ve wanted you since the moment you woke up. Since the moment I realized my sacrifice worked and you were alive and breathing.”

“How?” Lilith gasped. “How are you here? How is this possible?”

“Does it matter?” Nicholas asked. His hands moved under her shirt. Warm palms against bare skin. “I’m here. You’re here. That’s all that matters right now.”

He pulled her shirt over her head in one smooth motion and tossed it aside.

Cool air hit Lilith’s bare skin and she shivered.

Nicholas’s eyes darkened as he looked at her. “Perfect. You’re perfect.”

His mouth found her neck. Kissing. Biting gently. Moving down to her collarbone. Her chest.

Lilith’s head fell back and she let herself feel. Let herself stop questioning. Let herself believe, even if just for this moment, that Nicholas was real and here and touching her.

His hands moved to her pants. Removing them along with her underwear. Leaving her completely bare in the middle of the meadow.

“Lie down,” Nicholas instructed.

Lilith looked at the grass beneath her feet, it looked soft and inviting.

She lowered herself down and Nicholas followed. Covering her body with his. His weight pressing her into the earth in a way that felt grounding and safe and absolutely overwhelming.

“I love you,” Nicholas said. His grey eyes holding hers. “I love you so much that dying for you was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. And Lilith….I need you to understand something. I’m not gone. I’m still here. Still connected to you through the bonds. Still watching over you. Still loving you with everything I am.”