Page 190 of The Reaping Rose

Davorian’s magic trembles, and his fingers clench. “They cursed my mate to the stars, tainted my gift to her that ensured she would never be without me.”

He holds up the orb. Flecks of gold swim in the cerulean waves.

“When she wore this, I could speak with her no matter where she went. I could find her in any realm—any galaxy. But she got lost along the way, and when she fell into a realm that had magic like her own, she became confused by the very thing she created. So she wandered in the body of that Fae for many years, rambling endlessly but not able to tell me where she was.”

Davorian pinches the bridge of his nose, listening to the wind again. To Idunn’s song on it.

“A Fae being cannot contain my star goddess’s magic,” he continues. “And it seems your realm did not appreciate what was bursting out of her, so they trapped her someplace dark. Someplace quiet. They buried my mate where I could not reach her at all. Our connection was lost for many years among the stars.”

Because she was locked in the prison.

The Fae trapped Idunn—Voilene—in the prison because of her magic, and within those walls, she clearly could no longer speak with Davorian.

Davorian’s eyes flash to me, and I swear he heard that thought.

“How long ago did this happen?”

He tilts his head, his face pinching. “Moments. Millenia. It is all the same to me.”

I swallow hard, considering that. Fae live long lives. Centuries, sometimes thousands of years. But gods? There is no time in which they did not exist. At least, not that is known to the priestesses.

Time means nothing to Davorian.

“I hear you now.” He closes his eyes. “Now that we are close again, I hear you on the wind. In the air. Through the realm. Trapped in that darkness. You sing for me. Tell me they built that cage so you could not escape.”

My eyes widen. “That’s why they built the prison? To trap Voilene? A god.”

“It would seem so,” Wilder agrees.

“The creatures my mate created knew their realm was not strong enough for something as magnificent as her. They tried to contain her, but nothing is truly impenetrable. Nothing is truly impossible.” Davorian’s eyes move from me to Wilder.

“How do you know all of this?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“Because we are one, Voilene. The moment the void destroyed the shield around our orb, our connection was restored; I heard everything. All you see. All you know. Don’t you feel it?”

“I’m not Voilene.” I take a step back.

“That is a lie you tell yourself.” He twists the orb. “But you have been my Voilene millennia before you were a breath of starlight in this realm. And though you are but a piece of my mate, you won’t be that for long. I will fix this, just as you intended, my love.”

He steps forward, and Wilder moves between us. “She is not your anything. Keep your hands away from my mate.”

Wilder’s tone is deadly, but it sparks amusement in Davorian’s gaze. “That, I will not do. I will put her back together. I will set her free.”

“Only death can set her free from the prison.” My grip on Wilder tightens.

“That’s not entirely true now, is it?” Davorian’s gaze moves between us. “As you discovered with him, the prison spell is not perfect.”

“So that’s your plan, to kill her and bring her back so she can be freed?”

“Kill a god?” He laughs. “You cannot kill a god. Why do you think my mate carved you from her being? A mortal piece of herself. One tied with flesh, blood, and humanity. A piece that could die.”

Heat drains from my cheeks as I realize what he’s saying. My gaze moves to Esen’s body on the ground.

“You are my mate, but not all of her. You are simply the mortal piece we can sacrifice to put her back together. To set her free.”

My heart thunders.

Davorian is going to kill me. He’s going to use my mortality to set free his mate. And that part of my soul that was once hers will return to her.