Page 189 of The Reaping Rose

Davorian’s liquid-gold eyes swirl, and my heartbeat quickens. There’s something strangely familiar about him. As if we’ve met before. He takes a step forward, and the pull of his aether draws my blood to the edge of my veins like it’s aching to be closer to him.

Davorian’s gaze sets on me; an intimate smile stretches his cheeks. “I’ve searched every constellation for you.”

He takes a step forward, and I take a step back, closer to Wilder.

“I don’t know why you would.”

Davorian pauses, glancing between me and Wilder, his liquid-gold eyes churning. When he meets my gaze again, recognition settles.

A slow smile grows. “You will soon. I promise. Just like I promised that I would find you again, my mate.”

“Mate?” My throat tightens, and Wilder’s hand tenses on my back. “I’m not your mate.”

“Not in this form, no. But we are both settling in bodies not of ourselves right now, it seems.”

My head shakes. It won’t stop shaking. “You’re wrong. This is my body, and I’m not yours.”

Through all that has been uncertain in recent months, this I’m sure of. I know it in my bones—in Wilder’s touch. He is mine, and I am his.

So why does my blood pull in this other direction? Like when I was bound to both Wilder and Malachi, but different.

“Don’t worry, we will put you back together.” Davorian steps forward again, and Wilder shifts between us.

Davorian’s smile slips as his gaze darts to Wilder. “Do not forget your magic is a gift I have given, and one that I can take away. Although that may not be necessary in your current state. Either way, you will not stand between me and a shard of what is mine, even if your magic—my magic—convinces you otherwise.”

Davorian reaches forward, intensifying the magnetic pull that draws me to him, while simultaneously seeming to push Wilder back. But I refuse the pull, clasping my hand in Wilder’s, latching to him with every bit of celestial magic I can muster. A flicker of starlight resists him, and Davorian drops his hand.

“Ah.” He smiles. “There you are.”

“I’m not whoever you think I am.”

Davorian closes his eyes, breathing deep. He tilts his head back, and the breeze quickens. He stands like that for a moment, as my mother’s song stirs in the breeze, and I wonder what he’s hearing within it. His eyebrows pinch, as if he understands what I cannot.

“I see.” His eyes open to mine. “She only told you what was necessary. No wonder you’re confused.”

“Who?”

“Voilene.” His eyebrows pinch as he quirks his head, like he’s hearing something else. “Or I suppose she took a Fae name for your sake. Idunn.”

My eyes widen, and I take a step back, gripping Wilder’s hand tighter. Idunn can’t be Voilene—that would make her one of the gods. And me⁠—

What would that make me?

“Idunn is not a god. She’s a Fae. My mother.”

“Not quite.” Davorian twists the orb, pulling me toward him again, but I resist. “You are right in that she gave you life, but she did not birth you. Not in the sense that humans and Fae create beings. She can’t.”

Atlas tries to rush Davorian from behind, but he doesn’t even make it a step. Davorian holds out a hand, sending a rope of aether around Atlas’s throat.

“Let him go.” I take a step forward as he starts to choke. “I will only listen if you leave my friends unharmed.”

“Anything for you, my starlight.” Davorian releases Atlas, and Greer runs to his side to offer him support as he chokes for air.

There are only a few Fae left on the beach now, Lochlan included, and they haven’t moved. I try to reach for Wilder through the thread, but it’s dark, so I keep my focus on Davorian, hoping I can talk my way out of this.

“You said Voilene is not my mother.” I keep Davorian’s attention on me so he doesn’t hurt anyone else. “If that’s true, then what am I to her?”

“You are a piece of her.” Davorian’s eyes gleam. “My Voilene was always so curious. So creative. It’s what got her in trouble with the unspeakable gods in the first place. She grew one realm and could not leave well enough alone, even after they warned her. So she danced through the galaxies and painted a new place—a new collection of creatures. They balked, but they did not mind until she grew bored and tried something new. One drop of magic was all it took for them to turn on her.”