Page 259 of May: Bloom & Bane

The oldest wound in our soul closes beneath her hands. She has reached into the place that has hurt for so long we mistook the pain for part of ourself, and with nothing but her words, she has pulled it shut. No gap remains. No ache waiting inside it. Nothing left to forgive.

The mark on our chest flares once, a brilliant, blinding gold—and dies.

Zero.

NOW, the curse howls. Its final command rips through us with the fury of a scorned god. The scythe tears free of the stone in a shriek of black magic and swings, the blade gleaming as it arcs toward the woman who chose us anyway.

CHAPTER 78

vaelí

The whole world slows to a crawl. The scythe arcs through the moonlight, carving a path straight toward Eden’s neck. Her eyes never leave ours, filled with absolute certainty. Her lips part, breathing a single word into the space between us.

“Vaelí.”

The blade strikes her skin⁠—

CHAPTER 79

it finds nothing

—and passes straight through her. It finds nothing. No soul to hook. No thread to sever. No curse left anywhere in creation to obey.

The hilt trembles in our grasp, bone unraveling into thousands of tiny emerald clovers. Her small hands cup our face. “You really are the clover Kyle rests under.”

CHAPTER 80

vaelí means clover

—EDEN

His legs buckle beneath him, and he crashes to his knees in front of me, arms wrapping around my waist so tightly I gasp. He nuzzles my belly with his skull. A sob escapes him as he presses kisses against the place our daughter sleeps.

“You’re still here.” His forehead falls against the curve of my stomach. “Both of you.”

A broken laugh escapes him. It lasts barely a second before collapsing into another sob.

His trembling hand slides over my belly.

“Hello, my little shadow,” he whispers, blue tears dripping onto my dress. As though she’d been waiting to hear his voice again, a tiny heel answers from within. He laughs through another sob.

“I told you,” he murmurs. “Daddy would make it.”

My hands find the sides of his skull, burying my fingers into the thick shadow hair at his nape. “I would live every lifetime exactly the same way… if it always led me back to this,” I murmur.

He plucks a single clover from my hair and brushes it over my cheek.

“You asked us once what Vaelí meant.”

I nod, leaning into his touch.

“I told you I’d tell you when the time was right.”

“I remember.” I smile softly. “You never did.”

He looks at the clover between his claws.

“I finally can.” His thumb trails along my jaw.