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Mercurial turned the necklace in his hand, and with a snap, it floated to my neck, clasping itself at my nape. “Of course, I can fix starfire. These diamonds, however, do not contain the material you speak of.”
I blinked. “What?” The diamonds were red; only starfire turned red.
“Let me ask you a question, your grace,” he said. “What happened the first time you wore this magnificent design?”
I felt the weight of my necklace against my chest. It had instantly warmed to my skin, molding itself to my shape. Like it had been mine from the start. Meant for me. Designed for me. Worn a thousand times before. I shook my head. I didn’t want to tell him. To admit it. It sounded stupid. It was private.
But he swayed his head side to side, hypnotic, his eyes mesmerizing and drawing me in, and soon the answer was bursting from my tongue.
“I saw a beach. A golden beach.”
“Lumeria.” He grinned like a cat. “Lumeria Matavia. What else?”
“My hand,” I said, remembering the vision. “But it wasn’t my hand.” I’d never told anyone this before. My fingers had been longer, my skin darker.
Mercurial eyed me carefully. “And what do you make of that?”
“I don’t know,” I said angrily, heart pounding. “You seem to know my thoughts. My dreams.”
He smiled wider, his eyes narrowed.
“Why don’t you tell me for once?” I said, hatred for this manipulative monster burning inside me, almost as fiercely as the fires had last night. I was tired of his questions, tired of his games.
“Last night, after the akadim broke the diamonds, what happened?” he asked.
I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to relive the moment. “I was bleeding,” I said. “She cut me with her claws. And then she went for Rhyan. And I felt…fire inside of me. And power. My hand was broken, my ankle twisted, but then it wasn’t. I was healed. I got up, and I chased her.”
“I suppose you think it was love that motivated you?”
“What else could it have been?” I asked carefully.
“When the akadim broke these three diamonds last night, she released what was held inside them. Not starfire, but another common red substance. Blood. And you, your grace, were also bleeding. Do you know what that means? It means some of the blood you released from the stars mingled into your bloodstream. And some of your blood went back into the stars.”
My mouth fell open. “There was blood in the necklace?”
Mercurial growled. “For Lumeria, do you not understand yet? This is no necklace! It’s armor!”
I stared down, my chest heaving. “Armor. But….” My mind whirled.
“Yes. Armor from Lumeria Matavia. Why else could you not find the necklace in the Museion’s jewelry exhibit? You were looking in the wrong place.” He sneered. “And can you think of the last time you mixed your blood with another’s? Mixed your blood with armor?”
I gasped. “With Rhyan at the Oath Ceremony. When we formed our kashonim. But I didn’t—” I shook my head. “You’re telling me I now have kashonim with the owner of this armor?”
“That’s what lit the fire inside you. That’s what gave you energy, strength, power. What allowed you to slay an akadim. What saved your precious Rhyan’s life. Why else do you think it burned through you, left you sleeping for almost a day after?”
“Whose blood?” I asked, staring down at my arms. Whose blood ran through my veins?
“You may have heard of her. She was once an arkturion of the old world. A Guardian of the Valalumir in Heaven before she fell. The most powerful soturion in history. The Goddess Asherah.”
I stumbled back. “Asherah? No. No. That’s—That’s not possible. How…how could I have a lineage with Asherah? Kashonim doesn’t work like that. It only connects you to the part of your lineage that lives. And Asherah’s dead.”
Mercurial raced forward, his face inches from mine, his mouth pulled back in a feral sneer. Fire exploded around us, its flames licking my skin with a scalding heat. “You stupid, foolish girl!” His hand wrapped around my neck, his fingers squeezing, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession. “Goddesses. Never. Die.” He pushed me back with such force, I fell to my ass, and crawled back onto my knees. Mercurial leaned forward, his hand gripping my chin, forcing my gaze upward. “They are reborn.”
The fires vanished, and I rose to my feet, my heart pounding with what he’d said.
“Reborn?” I asked. “Are you saying…?”
“You are not human. You are no one’s daughter. No one’s sister. No one’s friend. No one’s lover. No one’s slave. You are a goddess, made of the very essence of life itself. You are the sun, you are the moon, you are the stars. You are the water of the ocean, the dust of the Earth, the very air you breathe. And you,” his lips curled, “you are the fire.” He grinned. “And now, Goddess, you are in my debt.”
