“What cost?” I questioned as I squeezed honey into the shaker on the counter, then added the espresso shots. I shook the mixture together as I waited for him to answer. I should have texted my friends . . . should have alerted them that Lucanus was still seeking the two spies, and that I’d instead offered to helphidethe males in my apartment.
But I didn’t.
I just stood there, waiting for him to answer me.
“My affinity . . . it comes with the power to restore and take life,” he started, and I nodded, knowing this from my own education early on in life. “Butonlywhen Aeternus commands it.”
I frowned, never having heard of this before. “Explain, please.”
“My affinity, while the most rare in Aurelia, can only be used when Aeternus commands me to call on it. It is a powerful gift, but only when used in faith in the Eternal.”
“What happens if you use it without permission? Surely you can do so.”
He laughed softly. “I could if I wanted, but I currently have no interest in giving up my own life—the consequence for utilizing the affinity at will.”
My lips curved down as I processed the information, before refocusing on the coffee as I asked, “Do you wish you weren’t gifted with the vitas affinity?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. My affinities allow me to be one of the most sought-after spies in Aurelia. Still, I had to sacrifice a great deal to make it into my position. I’ve dedicated centuries to Elion and the Guild, to following the commands and instructions set out for me by Aeternus.”
“Which is why you’re here, in Solis?” I prompted.
“Correct,” he replied. “And why I kept my identity hidden.”
“Was the sacrifice worth it?” I asked as I moved across the kitchen. “All of the time you’ve dedicated to the Guild? The lives you’ve taken? The danger?”
“Worth it?” he asked back.
I nodded with a glance in his direction, watching as the kitchen lights flickered with the shadows cast across his face.
He was silent for a moment before he answered. “To do something meaningful with my life? To know that I’m fighting for what’s right? Yes, I think so. It doesn’t mean that I don’t hate my job some days—the things that I’ve had to do to become who I am. But the looks on the faces of those the Guild is able to rescue, to protect, to share the light with . . . to know that I’m following the Eternal and walking in the light. Yes, I’d say it’s worth it.”
“And the gold coloring?” I questioned, shifting the conversation as I pointed to a cabinet above my head, indicating toward the mugs in a silent question. I unscrewed the lid to the shaker, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, mixed with orange blossom honey, filled the air.
“The gold color of the markings is what everyone’s markings appear like in Aurum Quarter, and many in Lumara and Noctem have them too. It is the affinity color that was first gifted by Aeternus.”
“They’re all gold?” I asked, studying his markings closely.
“Yes,” he answered earnestly. “As are our wings.”
My eyes flashed in surprise at that. “Can I see?”
His teeth ground at my question, a heavy silence falling over my kitchen before he finally nodded his head, his hair bobbing at the movement. I held my breath as he called his own wings forward, golden wings emerging from his back as they took over the space in my kitchen.
An awed breath of air slipped from my lips as I took in his wings. They weremassive, spanning half my kitchen when they were at rest. I reached out, gently touching the golden feathers of his wings, marveling at the gleam of each feather.
“They’re stunning,” I whispered as my fingers stroked along the feathers, watching as his wings rippled from my touch. I looked up at him, finding his gaze fastened on me, his eyes at half-mast as my fingers delicately stroked his feathers. “So this is why you didn’t have your wings on display at the court.”
“Yes,” he replied with a laugh. “They would have blown my cover.”
“Why are they gold, when ours are black?”
“When the Eternal created Aurelia, he gifted us with the affinities. It’s why our Marking Day ceremony is so different from yours—stemming from worship and prayer rather than being restrained in a chair in a High Temple.”
I nodded, still trying to grasp the pieces of our history we’d lost. “Your Marking Day ceremony is different?”
He nodded in confirmation. “It is just the beginning of the differences between our Quarter and yours.”
I swallowed before asking, “You worship the Eternal during your Marking Day?”
