Graves’s eyes widened, and he pulled away from her in a swift movement.
The steady rocking of the ship was filled with a long stretch of quiet. Luella wrapped her arms around her knees, folding them closely to her chest as she studied the whirls in the wood surrounding them, feeling a tightening in her chest with every gust of air.
Silently, a cheesecloth was passed from Bastian to Az, and her demon pressed it into her palms, unfolding it and lifting a wedge of hardened, aged cheese from within. No meats. The pad of his finger brushed her lower lip as he held it to her mouth.
Luella felt trapped by his soft amber eyes as she ate the morsel. She realized how ravenous she was as the flavors melted on her tongue.
Graves passed a waterskin to her. "You rested three days, but your body is still weak. You didn’t eat, and barely kept down the sweet waters we trickled over your lips."
She took the waterskin, with a soft nod in thanks. The way he said those words made her think thathewas the one to watch her sleeping body and trickle water over her lips in a quiet cabin, with no one else around. His deep blue eyes seared into her skin, lingering hottest against her wings. He watched her… and kept watching. And when she dared to meet his gaze, his eyes flicked away—only for the weight of his attention to settle on her again the moment she looked elsewhere.
A soft mewl stole her attention, and she couldn’t help but smile as tiny Ven padded across the deck, golden eyes peeking at her from a mass of black, silky fur. Bastian hissed as the kitten trailed by him, her tail held upright, nearly brushing his arm. Ven ignored the vampire entirely, butting her head against Az’s thigh as she trilled. Luella reached out a hand, cooing under her breath. Ven leaned into her, whiskers tickling her fingertips.
"Tharen," Vale called, breaking Luella from her stupor.
She glanced up, finding Tharen procuring something from a crate by his side—a small, purple book.
"No more secrets," Vale told her when she met his green eyes. "Unless they are not mine to share."
Her brow furrowed at that.
Tharen sat before her, and his wolves perked up from their slumber, sensing their master nearby. Her body tensed as the trio grew nearer, the smallest staring at her from a mass of pure white fur.
"What exactly do you know of the prophecy?" Tharen unlatched the book, flipping it open to reveal blank pages.
She shared with him the lines that haunted her, feeling the words spill free from her lips, and then said, "When I found theCompendium of Fates, I was not able to read all of the prophecy. There was a line… it—it broke off. As though the page had been torn. It wasn’t until later that you all shared with me you had the other piece." In that strange in-between, after she had awoken.
"A child born in the dark, with hair white stark. Eyes of moonlit blue, an enchanting hue. Bound to the thee of might, who wickedly plight. Fated to be in the stars. For eons, they are. The Vincire will be bound, and the Queen will be crowned." Vale recited the lines perfectly. "Two halves of a whole. That is not all, however."
"We didn’t realize until we understood the truth of your heritage." Tharen tempered his tone as he spoke to her. "A splintered lineage, to bring together the kingdoms. She will be one over all elements, the sun, and the stars, to defeat the malevolence."
"The prophecy has come true thus far," Bastian said. "The malevolence is the Tenebrae, which you will defeat. Your heritage is… splintered, and we can assume that will pave the way for the union of the kingdoms. Luna and Serpentis."
She was trying to understand. Her brainhurt. She had known of the prophecy, known in small bits and pieces of what she must do, but they had never simply sat down and laid it all out. Hearing it like this made her wonder if?—
"Queen," she breathed. "I am to be… Queen?"
"Yes. That is what we believe. In time, I will make you Queen," Vale answered.
"H-how?"
She was scared for his answer, but it came as no surprise to her when Vale said:
"We will be wed."
Luella shook her head. Something hot and angry bubbled up inside her. "I will notmarryyou."
Vale focused on the sea before them, steering the ship, knuckles white as he gripped the wheel. "It is written."
She was still shaking her head. "There has to be another way." She reached for the Compendium, and Tharen gave it up easily, as if mocking her with the prospect of blank pages.
As she gripped the book, her thumb slipped on the metal part of the latch that kept it closed. Blood welled in a small pinprick. A ripple of familiarity coursed through her as something sharp cut into her flesh. She hissed, nearly dropping the book, but she caught it before she could, treating it reverently. That did not stop a droplet of her blood from smearing across the pristine, empty pages, leaving a streak of scarlet.
Ink took form, bleeding to life like the blood that bloomed across the pages. Elegant, looping scrawl, written as if by an invisible hand.
She held her breath. As did the roaring wind.
And when a small dot formed, signifying the hushed end of the lines, she could only stare at the words on the page.
