AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have to understand something, Esmeralda,” he said. “When you get your wings, you become a full spiritual creatureagain. Your soul will separate from this body. And since your body is dependent on your soul…”
He allowed me to finish the sentence by myself.
I slowly lowered myself on the bench, trying to understand. I looked at my hands, the lines in my palms deeper than normal.
“They won’t remember me,” I said.
He grunted in objection. “They won’trecognizeyou. There’s a difference.”
“But how? That doesn’t make sense. When Luc got his wings, I recognized him still. We all do.”
“Because we’re still in the Den of Sirens,” he said. “Nothing is completely hidden here. But the moment you leave…”
My hands shook. The moment I left this place, I’d lose my true identity, my original family, the king, and Luc. But if I stayed, then my father…
“If nothing is hidden here,” I said, “then shouldn’t I have recognized the king when we first arrived?”
He exhaled with an exhausted hiss.
“First, the king hid himself from you purposely. He can break the rules as he pleases. Second, as an incarnate, you’re between worlds, and the rules bend differently.” He sat down next to me. “You can’t recognize the sirens, but they recognize you. If you get your wings you’ll recognize them again, but the human world won’t recognize you anymore.”
I leaned over my knees, resting my elbows against them as my heart sank in my chest.
“Is that why they stay away from me?” I asked.
“Who?”
“The sirens.”
He tsked. “Noticed that, did you?”
I nodded. He was silent. But only for a brief, peaceful moment.
“You were a murderer here,” he said flatly. “It makes sense that they would keep their distance until you’ve been cleansed and given your wings back, at the very least.”
I sighed, exasperated. “There’s that optimistic honesty, once again.”
“Do you prefer me to lie to you?”
My shoulders slumped. “No. I’m quite grateful for your honesty, actually.”
A thought struck me.
“What about you?” I asked Jacques suddenly. “You travel between worlds. When I become a siren, will you forget me as well?”
His lips twitched, but he neither smiled nor frowned.
“My soul has been tainted by my demon,” he said. “Because of that I can never be purely human again, regardless of my mortality. So the answer is no, I won’t forget you.”
I held my head in my hands, groaning. “There are too many rules.”
“That happens when the spiritual crosses with the physical. Each realm has their own rules, and when they cross there are even more complications.”
“You never told me any of this before. When we were in the court and Luc got his wings, you never mentioned that my own father wouldn’t recognize me.”
“Because I already knew your love for your father. And in knowing that, I already knew you’d reject your wings.”
I scoffed and folded my arms. “I really hate how you act like you know me so well.”
