CHAPTER TWELVE #2
Hunger inside me whirred, begging to chase her at the recognition that whoever she was, whatever she truly was, was worth risking coming here, to find me. To show me history, verity, that someone out there knew who I was, maybe even who I used to be.
It all made me realize that her secrets, perhaps they were as dangerous as mine.
Aelia’s sun bled low across the skyline as we stepped outside, the whole town caught in a golden glow, like the streets had been dipped in peach-gold paint.
I scanned the road, first one way, then the other, searching for where she could have escaped to. It offered nothing back; she was already erased from being here at all.
“Do you want to go—”
Callum gripped my arm before I could finish, dragging me behind an abandoned shop and into an alley thick with shadow.
He paused, glancing toward the fading street where a group passed by, shouting their praise at the last stretch of light.
He waited until they vanished, until the glow gave way to gloom. Then his hands clamped down on my arms.
“What was that?”
I blinked, feigning confusion. “What was…what?”
His hands flew wide, raised above his head. “Verena,” he snapped. “Her song.” It wasn’t just anger in his voice but bone-rattling panic. “Curses are not common. There has only been one in the history of Selvarra.” His eyes burned into mine. “And that is yours.”
Yes, thank you, Callum. Always so quick with the reminders.
He paced the alleyway like a caged thing, boots stomping over stone. His hands rested on his hips, then flung to the air every few heartbeats, like someone had just uncovered his deepest, darkest secret.
“Hm.” I tapped a finger against my chin, shrugging. “Probably just a weird coincidence. Folks love a scary story.” My arms wrapped tight around myself. “It’s freezing, can we go? I wanted to get something at the cabin before night came and went.”
The blush of day was already being devoured by an indigo streak creeping from the east.
He only huffed, taking a forceful breath that misted out of him, chest rising as he stared upwards. His eyes didn’t glow. Not like they did when he felt certain, when he felt strong.
Maybe I should have been more concerned that a stranger knew the paradox swimming in my blood. The name. The ache. The hunger.
But while most people feared being forgotten, so few feared being seen.
I had always been noticed, but never for who I was. Nezra, she had seen me. Truly seen. And recognized it all.
My skin buzzed, not with Callum’s kind of disturbance, but with a quiet, dangerous optimism with knowing someone new, someone powerful, knew exactly who I was and didn’t run.
Didn’t try to kill me.
For the first time in my life, even before the curse nested inside my flesh, someone offered me a hand in finding where I had come from.
I’d stopped thinking about that years ago. Stopped letting myself wonder where I belonged when the Gods had already named me the end of everything.
But now…
I followed Callum to the mouth of the alley, leaning against the terra-cotta wall. “Reve might be another story, though.”
He turned, raking a hand through his curls. No coat. No shiver. The fire in his blood kept him warm while the rest of us froze. “What do you mean?”
I traced the bracelet circling my wrist. Funny how such a simple gesture could become so precious.
“I thought you were listening,” I murmured, pushing off the wall, getting close enough to taste the bitterness off his breath. “He was talking about Obrann and how he’s collecting soldiers to send them out in the next few weeks.”
His eyes narrowed before glancing back toward the street, like he was expecting someone to be listening. “Which is where?”
I only lifted a shoulder, studying the split edges of my nails. “He didn’t say.”
His eyes snapped back to me. “Interesting.”
“So,” I turned to him, “you’re not even a little curious how Reve knows the king’s plans?”
Callum exhaled. “He probably overheard it. Or it’s another tavern rumor. You know how these things spread.”
“Aren’t you curious,” I pressed, “why you haven’t heard it?”
He met my stare then. “That’s exactly why it’s likely untrue.” A subtle shift ran through his posture, the smallest correction of his collar. His universal sign for don’t push me. “You can’t take every whisper as gospel, V. Not every story told in the dark is prophecy.”
My mouth curved, not quite a smile. “Maybe not. But some of them start that way.” I caught his arm as he started toward the road, dragging him back a step. “We need to move faster. If Obrann finds the heir before we do, he’ll destroy them. The kingdoms will crumble and Selvarra will burn.”
He shook me off, jaw tight. “I will talk to everyone.”
It was simple to see his focus was cracked, his thoughts still snagged on Nezra and what she knew.
I cut where it would land deepest. “Think of Elva, Cal.”
His stride broke mid-step, boots scuffing right on the edge of the alley. The last sliver of sun spilled over him, coating his body in a burnished flare as he looked to me, staring a moment too long. “That is all I do.”
I exhaled. “We’re running out of time. We need to act now.”
He dragged a hand across his mouth before murmuring, too soft for even the wind to carry, “Faster than you know.”
The last of the light faded with him as he stepped out of the alley, leaving me alone, where darkness roused, brushing against my spine.