Chapter 33
Aurelia
I was a terrible friend.
Terrible.
Yesterday, after hearing that Zahra was unable to come to training, I had fully intended to go visit her, but then Von took me flying, which ate up most of the day, and then after I flew into that tree, he had spent the rest of the night kissing every inch of me.
And I mean every inch.
Apparently, I had bruises and cuts in places that hadn’t even come in contact with the pine. Funny how that worked. Not that I had any complaints.
This morning when I woke up, my thoughts immediately went to Zahra. Naturally, my conscience was kicking my ass for it. I knew I had to make it right. So, I got dressed, shoveled my morning meal into my mouth as I crafted a bouquet of flowers for her. The roses and peonies came naturally, but the baby’s breath took me a few attempts to make. Although they weren’t perfect, they were still lovely, so I decided to include them. I finished the bouquet off with some salal and then headed towards Zahra and Dameon’s chambers.
My knuckles rapped softly against their door. I heard footsteps from the other side and then it swung open—
Dameon answered, shirtless and sweaty.
He had a towel slung around his neck, one hand holding onto it. His sleek eight-pack was on full display. It was well defined, like the rungs of a ladder, asking to be climbed. I imagined Zahra did it frequently. And honestly, good for her.
He smiled with his perfect white teeth, fangs and all. “Good morning, Aurelia.”
“Morning. Is Zahra here?” I asked, peeking around him.
“She is,” he said, his bare feet padding against the floor as he backed up. “Come in.”
I walked in, flowers in hand, my moral compass no longer screaming at me that I was a shit friend.
“Zahra, Aurelia is here,” Dameon called out, speaking over his shoulder.
Moments later, Zahra came striding out, her dark-orange gown flying behind her, catching on her quick-paced current. She held two baby outfits, one in each hand. The first was a tiny pair of pants and a matching shirt, and the other one was an adorable little dress. “Boy or girl?” she asked, showing me the outfits.
Dameon stood at her back, wrapping his arms around her, his flame-colored eyes peering down at the clothes.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my gaze flickering between her left and right hand .
“Do you think it’s a boy or girl?” she replied. “I’m fifty-fifty right now, so I keep buying clothes for both genders.”
I took a breath, inhaling softly as I let her question sit with me, until I felt the answer come to me. “Boy.”
“I think it’s a boy too,” Dameon said, pressing a kiss against her shoulder.
A sunny smile tugged at Zahra’s lips as she leaned to the side and glanced over her shoulder at Dameon. “Does that mean you have come around to it not being twins?”
“I only wished for it to be twins because of the prophecy,” he said, pressing a kiss against her cheek. “As long as the two of you are healthy, that is all I care about.”
I was tempted to ask what the prophecy was—I almost did—but I decided that some things were not meant for everyone’s ears, and if Zahra wanted to tell me what it was, she would. But for the most part, she seemed to be dismissive of it. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it for a reason.
That was something I understood.
So I didn’t pry.
In a sweet reply, Zahra kissed her mate’s cheek.
“Mmm,” Dameon purred with a wicked amount of swagger. He bit his bottom lip, as if he couldn’t get enough of her.
Zahra laughed softly before she turned her attention back to me, her eyes going to the arrangement of flowers. Dameon’s followed.
“They are for you,” I told her, holding them up. “Because of your back pain yesterday.”
Dameon released her from his arms, and she handed him the little outfits, saying, “Can you take these back to the baby’s chambers?”
He nodded and made his way to a hallway that was on my right.
Zahra turned to me, taking the flowers. She looked them over, her eyes twinkling as she did. “These are so very lovely. Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Of course. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m quite well today, actually. Sorry about missing training yesterday.” She offered an apologetic smile.
“No, no, please don’t be.” I shook my head. “You are growing an immortal. You have a valid reason.”
“True,” she said, her hand drifting to her belly. “By the way, speaking of training, I was thinking . . . you’ve come a long way with channeling the flame, so perhaps we could switch things up and have you focus more on earth-bending. I don’t know a whole lot about how earthly powers work, but I think Von might be able to help us out there.”
My brows raised ever so slightly.
Von could help me . . . earth-bend?
“Why the look?” she asked, peering curiously at me.
“I guess I didn’t realize that Von had the ability to hone the powers of earth, but now that you mention it, it makes sense.” The apples he was always eating, the seeds he’d given me for the orchard, the black roses he left on the silver tray, the ravens he commanded—he’d made all of those. The castle I was standing in right now, it was forged from hot lava, elements of earth and fire, being swiftly cooled off by . . . rain. I gasped. “Can he command fire and water as well?”
“Yes.” Zahra nodded. “He is the only god in the entire Three Realms who possesses all six of the primary powers. And even then, he has powers beyond those six, powers no one else has.”
My mouth popped open. “So mind and dream? He has those as well?”
“He does, although because he detests his dream powers, that’s why you’ll barely find him sleeping. As for the mind, surely you’ve seen that in action on the daily—he has a knack for getting inside people’s heads, knowing what they are thinking.”
Indeed, I had most definitely seen that. No one could mess with someone’s head quite as good as Von. He was, for lack of better words, the king of fuckery.
“I’m just a bit surprised by all of this,” I told her, my shoulder bobbing slightly. “Surprised I didn’t realize it before.”
“Don’t be, it’s not exactly common knowledge.” She looked at the flowers. “Now, I should probably put these in some water. Come with me to the kitchen and we can keep chatting.”
Moments later, Zahra and I were in their pristine, private kitchen—it looked like it had never seen a meal prepared in it before. Considering the Old Gods didn’t eat regularly like the mortals did, and they could attend the dining halls if they wanted a cooked meal, I could see why the kitchen looked as it did. I sat at a round table, a cup of steaming herbal tea in my hands. Zahra was busy placing the flowers in a silver vase, humming softly to herself.
She broke off the pleasant sound. “How’s the tea?”
“It’s good, thanks.” I peered down at the cup—breathing in the chamomile, ginger, and peppermint .
“I picked it up from the market down in Velosh, in the Third Tier. You’ll have to accompany me next time I go. I think you’d enjoy it—there are so many different things to try.” She washed her hands and then joined me at the table, seating herself in front of her cup of tea.
“I’d like that,” I replied, setting mine down after I had taken a small sip.
Zahra pressed a hand against her tight, springy, dark curls, styling them, her eyes sliding to mine. “So . . . I heard a bit of gossip the other day while visiting with some friends.”
“Oh?” I shifted forward, leaning in.
“Apparently—” she rolled her wrist, highlighting what she said next, “— someone lit fire to the Goddess of Life’s private chambers in the Golden Palace.” She paused for a moment, a smile touching her lips. “It destroyed a bit of the bedchamber, but the worst damage was done to the closet, where they suspect the fire was started.”
“Hmm.” A saccharine grin plucked at my mouth. “I wonder who would have done that.”
“That’s what the other goddesses were wondering as well.” Her head bobbed softly. “I guess the God of Life had a colossal-sized tantrum when he saw that the Goddess of Life’s clothes had all been destroyed. From the sounds of it, they were worth a pretty copper.”
At the mention of him , my body bristled. The smile fell from my lips.
Swiftly, Zahra reached across the table, her hand falling on top of mine. “Aurelia, I apologize. I didn’t realize—”
“It’s okay,” I told her, patting her hand with my free one.
“No, it’s not,” she said. “I know what it’s like to react like that when you hear someone’s name and I know what it means.”
“Do you?” My voice was soft.
“I do.” She paused for a moment. “Before Dameon, there was someone else. Although the bond never formed between us, I truly thought he was the love of my life. In the beginning, everything was great, but there were these subtle little flags, like him not approving of what I was wearing, or him getting jealous when I spent time with my friends. When people started to notice, I brushed it off, making excuses for him because I thought I loved him. Over time, the mental abuse just kept getting worse and worse, until I no longer recognized myself in the mirror. It’s peculiar how someone can do that to you—rob you of who you thought you were.” Her eyebrows pressed together. She shook her head, pushing the thought away. “Anyway, one day, when I was at a particularly low point, Dameon came along and he changed everything. He showed me what it was like to be loved by a good man. He saved me.”
I couldn’t help but apply what she said to my own situation—in so many ways, Von had saved me too. I was just slowly realizing that.
“I’m so sorry, Zahra,” I said to her before I took a breath, and then I did something that took a great deal of strength—I uncovered a part of my past that I had never told anyone, a part of my past that I had kept so deeply buried inside of me, I never planned to show it the light of day, but now, I felt empowered to . . .
I wanted to.
“One day, when Aurelius and I were walking through a forest in the Living Realm, we stumbled upon a peculiar tree. It was standing all by itself, as if nothing wished to grow near it. It was a bit larger than a fully grown apple tree, with leaves as white as snow. As we approached it, I became violently ill, to the point I fell unconscious. That’s how we discovered what my weakness is, what can end my immortal life. Months later, Aurelius and I got into a disagreement about how much time I was spending in my orchard, which quickly escalated into us shouting at one another. He forced me to drink his ichor so that I would be compliant to him and then he . . .” I paused for a moment, needing a few seconds to form the words on my tongue, to find the courage to let them out. “And then he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me through the courtyard gardens. There, planted in the middle, was the tree we had seen in the forest, the one that made me sick. He had had it removed and brought to the palace, something I didn’t know about until that day. When I began to vomit and the world began to flicker in and out, he flipped me onto my back, his hand crushing my throat as he threatened to end my life.” I looked down at my lap. “Days later, when I woke up, he was sitting by my bedside. He apologized profusely and I forgave him. That night, we made love for the first time in months, and I was content with him once more.”
“Aurelia, that’s so horrible. I wish I knew you back then, so that I could have helped you somehow. Abuse is a terrible thing. It really messes with your head and self-worth. I know other women who have gone back to their abusers more than seven times, because they think that is what love is. And it can happen to even the strongest of women.” She let out a breath, her hand never leaving mine. “Does Von know? ”
“He knows a small portion of it. He thinks there were only two incidents, but . . .” I took a sharp inhale. “There were so many more.”
“Do you think it would help you heal if you talked to him about it?”
“I don’t want him to know.”
“Why not?”
I chewed my bottom lip. “Because I fear what he might do if he knew about it all.”
Zahra was silent for a moment. “I understand. Talking to those we are closest to about abuse is one of the most challenging things we can do. It’s okay to take your time opening up about it. The important part is that you talk to someone . If you like, I can be that person for you, for as long you need. Just as Saphira once was for me.”
“Saphira?” My brows tugged together, creasing the space between them. I hadn’t expected that name to come up during this conversation.
“As hard as it might be to believe, Saphira and I were once close friends,” she replied with a confirming nod of her head, a hint of a small smile tugging at her lips. “She was there for me when I needed her and so I will always hold a special place in my heart for her, even though we are no longer as close as we used to be.” Her head dipped as her fingers warmly stroked her belly. “I suppose life has a variety of seasons, doesn’t it?”
I nodded.
I supposed it did.