21. Rae
RAE
My hand slipped from Rhys’s chest, but my body still buzzed, even with the lack of contact. It was as if some foreign energy pulsed through me.
I backed away from Rhys. His words were weapons, and I had no armor for them.
But it was Mikel whom I couldn’t help but look at with horror. He was not a father to me. Not even as flickers of memory started to return. But neither could I call him a stranger. He was some bizarre combination of the two.
And the pieces of knowledge I did have of the man, I didn’t want.
Like a face red with rage as he spat out his hatred of the Nocturnae. His coldness as he demanded perfection of his wife and children.
But the worst? The moments of kindness.
Mikel tending to my skinned knee with magic. Showing me a rare bird that had made its nest in a tree in our garden.
How could so much hatred and love live in the same being?
Lyra moved forward. “All will be revealed.” She held out a hand to me. “Soraya. We are ready for the next phase.”
“Rae,” I choked out. “My name is Rae.”
Lyra’s mouth curved into a gentle smile. “Rae. Let us get our next answers. I promise, they will help.”
I met her on the dais. She stood before a white marble statue. It was a mounted bowl of sorts, but inside were stones that looked like volcanic rock.
“What if you took my magic?” I asked, desperation getting the best of me.
Gasps sounded from around the room.
“If you took it, could I go home?” The burn behind my lashes was back and, with it, a mounting pressure.
“Sacrilege,” Queen Daphne hissed.
“Now, Daph,” the King said, patting her shoulder. “You know when someone’s memories return, they come in bits and pieces. It will take time. And she’s been out of Lumaria for a long time.”
“Fifteen years.” My mom sniffed as if trying to hold back tears.
King Evander nodded. “Fifteen years is a long time to be away from our life. From the light. But once she feels the call, she’ll realize this is where she was always meant to be.”
He sent me a wink of reassurance. As much as I appreciated the kindness and what he was trying to do, it didn’t help. It didn’t ease my longing for home.
As though Lyra could read my mind, she spoke again. “Your home will always be with your fated. And your magic is intertwined with your life. If we took that, you would cease to be.”
The tears pressing against my eyelids slipped free, trailing down my cheeks and falling to the floor. They were silent in their passage, but I felt the grief in every single one.
“The only person Soraya is fated to is Calloway,” the Queen snapped. “They have been promised since she was five and he eight.”
Lyra eyed the Queen. “You know your promises mean nothing in the eyes of the gods.”
It was a verbal bitch slap if I’d ever heard one, and Daphne gaped at the Fate. She might be some witchy royal, but apparently, even she had to bow to the gods.
But who the heck were the immortal beings pulling all these binding-me-to-someone-for-all-eternity strings?
They didn’t know me. They had no clue that I couldn’t form full sentences in the morning until I’d had a nice, crisp Diet Coke.
They hadn’t been with me as I worked my ass off to get into the botany program of my dreams—the same one they’d ripped me away from.
They didn’t know that I couldn’t handle scary movies and loved popcorn with M&M’s for the perfect salty-sweet combination.
So how in the world could they match me with my perfect counterpoint?
They couldn’t.
“Mother,” Calloway said calmly. “I believe the gods will know that she’s my intended. My soul’s mate.”
Daphne let out a huff. “You were always among the most faithful.”
In any other situation, I would’ve rolled my eyes. She seemed like one of those mothers who believed her kid could do no wrong. Sorry. No matter how awesome your kid was, they still threw the occasional tantrum, broke the rules, or made mistakes. But, apparently, not according to Queen Daphne.
“Rae,” Lyra pressed gently. “Give me your palm.”
I watched in horror as she pulled out a blade. My gaze flicked back and forth between that and the volcanic stones. The rocks had begun to shimmer with the same sort of iridescence the Nocturnae’s wings had.
“Is this some sort of human sacrifice? Or, uh, witchy sacrifice?” I stammered. But even as I asked it, I sensed no movement from the three men who’d moved to protect me before.
Lyra let out a laugh. It was like bells chiming. “I’d forgotten how refreshing it is to meet someone unaccustomed to our world.” She extended her hand again. “Your palm, please, Rae. One moment of pain for an eternity of completeness.”
I frowned. Had no one talked to her about how unhealthy it was to think that someone could complete you?
I’d had boyfriends in the past. Had even been in love for a fleeting moment in college.
But someone who completed me? No, thank you.
I’d complete myself. I would just like to find someone I trusted enough to share that complete self with.
I didn’t think sharing those thoughts would get me anywhere, so I shoved my hand at the Fate and looked the other way. I’d never been particularly good with blood—especially my own.
Lyra began speaking in that unfamiliar language again. It was unlike anything I’d heard before. A second later, pain flared across my palm. I let out a hissed breath, but the blade was already gone.
The Fate kept chanting as she squeezed my hand over the rocks. I looked then. My blood dripped over the stones as she spoke what I assumed was an incantation. The pressure she put around my hand, the cut—all of it hurt. But not as badly as I would’ve thought, given her warning.
I was wrong.
Lyra released my hand and waved hers over the rocks. Pale-blue flames sparked to life, making me jerk my hand back.
It was then that the real pain set in. It felt as if someone had pressed a red-hot branding iron to my skin. I clutched at my left shoulder, crying out. Then my right wrist. My right shoulder. My left wrist.
I twisted in nonsensical movements, trying to take stock of all the places that hurt. And that was when I saw it. Each spot glowed.
A grunt sounded behind me, making me whirl around in time to see Rhys stumble, nearly falling to his knees. Then Kian did the same. Confusion swept through me as Lyra hurried to my side.
She tugged up one of my sleeves and then the other. Pulled my pajama shirt back to reveal my collarbones. Each spot had its own brand.
All were circular, but the center of each contained its own uniquely intricate design.
My left collarbone was a unique flower with sparks swirling around it.
On my right collarbone was a different bloom surrounded by stars.
My left wrist held a circle with yet another blossom, this one coated in ice.
And finally, on my right wrist: a flower unlike any I’d ever seen, with roots stretching out of it.
“Four,” she breathed in awe. “The gods have never bestowed such an honor.”
“Wh-what?” I stuttered.
“This is a trick,” Queen Daphne shouted.
I took in the men, both breathing heavily through their pain. Rhys and Kian. Each pressed a palm to the side of their neck. But I could see their answering brands glowing beneath their fingers.
Oh God.
The room erupted.