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She shakes her head, eyes cracking open. “I just… can’t see it.”
“For me or for him?” I manage, heart pounding.
“Both,” Ava says softly.
“Oh.” My mouth twists to the side. “Whatever. I don’t care.”
She laughs gently. “You are such a poor liar.”
“Shut up.” I bump my hip into hers. “Thank Dagny you weren’t here to see me lie to all the brides.”
“I would’ve paid a fortune to see that,” she says.
We fall into easier conversation, letting the topic of mates drift behind us.
I smile and nod as Ava speaks, but I’m only half-listening. Mind too busy lashing me with her assessment.
I just can’t see it. I just can’t see it.
She couldn’t see a bond.
Not in me. Not in him.
Not in us.
Is there something wrong with me?
Did Death send me back half-witch, half-other, and decidedly mateless?
Or is it possible that Riven was my mate… and the bond between us was severed along with my head?
I go quiet, introspective, as we wind deeper into the garden, following a pebbled path into darker groves. I pluck the prettiest and healthiest blooms—pale pink peonies, iridescent orange dahlias, and twilight purple roses.
In every blossom, I search for the color of the sunset the night desire first bloomed between Riven and me. For the shade of the potion I brewed that allowed us to be selfish. For the hue of the love bites he leaves on my skin, marking me as his.
With a bit of eucalyptus and cloud flowers, I’ll be able to make a gorgeous bouquet and flower crown.
A branch snaps behind us.
I whirl around, expecting to see Riven. Maybe even Carver, with that crooked grin of his.
But there’s no one there.
Just flowers and trees and that same stillness from earlier.
I glance at Ava. “You heard that, right?”
She nods and lifts a finger to her lips. Her eyes slide shut—just for a breath. Two.
They snap open.
“Gwyn—”
A sharp, blunt pain bursts across the back of my head, and I cry out.
The world around me goes dark.
Chapter 36
