Page 52 of The Arcane God

“You tell me, viper,” he said as he took a few steps closer.

She stood up, as if unsure whether she should run to him or from him. He covered the last few strides between them quickly, in case she decided to run, and then he reached out, grasping her upper arm in his hand. She was solid—real—warm and his. He nearly sank to his knees at the gift of it all.

“Ty,” she whispered, her voice in disbelief and almost pleading.

“Stop talking,” he said, and he wrapped one arm around her, holding her body flush with his as he placed the other on the back of her head, and kissed her.

He kissed her to erase all the fear and the worry she must have felt. That he’d felt. To assure them both this was real; they were together once more. But most of all, he kissed her for love. Because how wonderful it was to be reunited with the one person in all the world who brought him peace. To hold her in his arms and know that she was safe.

She tasted of blackberries and lavender and hope, and as their tongues tangled with one another, he felt the wetness of her tears on her cheeks as she clung to him with all her might.

After a minute or two, though part of him never wanted to, he pulled back, holding her face in his hands as he looked into her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Ena,” he breathed, his voice breaking. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back to you.”

Her eyes shone, tears running down her face as she smiled despite them. “Ty,” she sobbed. “I don’t understand. You were dead. I thought you were gone. How are you here?” she asked.

“Shh,” he said, soothing her as he choked back tears himself. “I will tell you everything, I swear. Just let me hold you for a minute, okay?”

She nodded at him, and he pulled her into him once more, their bodies melding like two pieces of metal fused together—making each other stronger.

They stayed like that for a long time, just breathing together, until he could feel Ena sagging in his arms. She must be exhausted. He was exhausted, too, and he had no idea what she’d been through since they’d been ripped apart.

“Do you want to tell me?” he asked quietly. “Whatever’s happened.” He could tell there was something big. He just hoped it wasn’t about her or the baby’s wellbeing, but he feared that was exactly what it was.

“You were dead, that’s what happened,” Ena said, huffing a small laugh into his chest as she gripped him tighter. “And…something else too.” She pulled back, removing herself from his embrace so she could look up into his face. Her bright-blue eyes filled with trepidation. “It’s about me,” she said. “About who…or what, I am.”

“What you are?” he asked, feeling increasingly confused.

She swallowed, as if nervous to explain. “You remember the strange cravings I was having? For your blood?” she asked.

“Of course, I—” Ty froze, some tiny inkling of realization creeping into his head, but he let her keep talking.

“Well, you probably don’t know this yet, but the Omnis worshippers, they’re called the stryx, and they…drink blood to survive,” she explained. “It fuels their magic, which they call the Change. They can turn into other beings on the full moon.”

“I actually did know that, or some of it at least,” he said, feeling a little blindsided by the turning-into-other beings thing. Was that cause for concern? “One of them found me—it’s how I survived after the river. She led me here, and I saw her drinking blood, though I did not know about the Change.”

“Oh,” Ena said, and he could practically see the thousand follow-up questions on her tongue about his journey after the river. “Well, it’s intense to see, to say the least. It scared the shit out of Turner at first, but the stryx have been nothing but welcoming and kind.”

“Are you saying…your cravings are somehow related to these people?” he asked, feeling like an idiot for not making that connection on his own sooner. He’d known Ena was craving blood, and he’d seen Xena drinking it like it was fucking woodwater.

“Not just the cravings. Me. I am related to these people. I’m pretty sure my grandfather was stryx,” she said.

Ty’s eyebrows flew up in shock. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Pretty sure,” Ena said. “Remember that story I told you? About the Aquilo seer and the men from the other side of the Chasm Mountains? Well, I think it was true, and it was about my grandmother,” she explained.

“Fuck,” Ty said, at a loss for any other helpful words.

“And…there’s more,” she said.

“More?!” he asked. “More than the fact that you are part of this secret third race of magic that drinks blood to survive?”

“Yes,” she said, the corner of her mouth tilting up slightly at his reaction. “And it has to do with you. Because I am so, so relieved you’re alive, Ty.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Not just because you’re my husband, and I love you, and this last month without you has been pure agony, but also because you’re my bloodmatch.”

“Bloodmatch?” he asked, feeling like he was just asking one constant question after another at this point.

“Yes,” Ena began. “Apparently, it happens when one person’s being complements another’s; their blood becomes the perfect food for a stryx. Only, once they drink it, they cannot survive without it.”