Arik's hand never released Liam's.
The entire thing lasted perhaps five seconds. Then darkness returned. The throne stood empty.
Arik slowly inhaled.
His shoulders rolled back.
He tilted his head to one side until something in his neck cracked, then to the other, testing a body that suddenly contained something it had apparently been missing since birth.
His eyes opened. Gold. With a faint ring of red burning around the pupils.
Arik smiled.
"Oh."
Liam stared.
Arik looked at his hands, flexed his fingers once, and seemed almost pleased.
"That explains several things."
Felix had backed away from the throne.
His face had gone completely white.
"You couldn't."
Arik looked at him.
"I just did."
"That body was mine."
The chamber became silent.
Even Liam turned toward Felix.
Arik's expression shifted into something remarkably close to disbelief.
"Excuse me?"
"I preserved him. I kept him here. I protected what remained when everyone else abandoned—"
"He was me."
