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“Your uncle?”
Kiara nodded, shaking me off. My arms fell to my sides, itching to return to where they belonged. I held back as she paced.
“He was never my uncle,” she snapped. “And my grandmother, she lied to me my entire life.”
Kiara’s face became a contorted mess of emotion. “Everything I have ever known has been a cruel lie.” She lifted her injured hands, laughing mockingly. “I’m a fuckingkey, Jude.” I took a cautious step, but she hissed in warning. “He said he was Arlo, God of Earth and Soil. Agod.”
She gave me her back and resumed her pacing.
Jake’s eyes darted between us, looking just as confused as I felt. But then he lingered on me as if examining me for the first time.
“I’m one of the three keys,” Kiara repeated, stilling in place before spinning around. “He—Arlo—said I was, that I have a piece of Raina in my soul, and that my grandmother was a damned sun priestess. Like one of the old sun priestesses devoted to Raina before the curse.” She laughed at the last part as thoughthatwere the most absurd thing she’d said.
“I’m a monster with a piece of a god,” she cackled, lifting up her hands, twisting them for us to see.
A monster? I had no clue what she meant. And if she was one of the keys, then why were we sent here? Cirian’s map burned a hole in my pocket. If I wasn’t mistaken, we should be at, or near, the markedX.
“Kiara, we will figure this out.” I damned the consequences and took a brazen step. “We just need a moment to talk—”
“You don’t get it,” she whispered. “I was attacked by ashadow beast. That’s how I got my damned scars. And I don’t know how that affects any of this. If it taints the magic I apparently possess. Magic that doesn’t even belong to me.”
I froze. Her scars… A shadow beast had attacked her. How she even managed to survive in the first place was a miracle.
I squared my shoulders. It didn’t matter what happened ten years ago. What mattered was keeping her safe now.
Lightning struck nearby, the force of it causing my knees to wobble.
Another bolt hit in the same spot, about fifty feet east. Jake sidled to her, his arms hovering protectively before her. I didn’t think he was aware of how he safeguarded Kiara with his own body.
“What now?” I groaned, not in the mood for more games. I needed a second to process what Kiara had revealed. Her uncle was a god? Her grandmother some old sun priestess? And the part about her being a key? There was more to the story.
And I’dfinallylearned the secret behind her scars.
I’d been gone all of a couple hours and all hells had broken loose.
“Ki!”
Her name was called from afar, the familiar voice causing the hair on my arms to raise. I grabbed my dagger and patted my thigh, assuring myself my second blade was securely strapped in place.
Patrick called for her again, and before I could reach for her to stop her from making a huge mistake, she bolted. Shadows trailed after, cloaking her from sight, wisps of blue glittering like gems in the chaos of onyx.
Kiara didn’t stop as I continued to scream her name, trying to tell her the truth about her friend. As fast as I was, she ran faster, carried by whatever supernatural magic she’d summoned. Who knew what she could do, touched by the dark power of a shadow beast?Andwith a key inside her…
I hurtled forward, slowing when I reached a wide clearing bursting with soft lilac and blue Midnight Blooms.
Patrick stood in the very center, his arms outstretched in welcome, a smile on his boyish face. Kiara ran to him, returning his smile, his name on her lips. She flung her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.
I started to run again, shouting at her to get back, away from Patrick, but it didn’t matter.
Patrick reached into his jacket and plunged a dagger into her chest.
Chapter Fifty
Kiara
A man visited our temple. He was young, handsome, and undeniably arrogant. He asked me if a woman possessing brilliant red hair had ever visited us. I lied, of course, but I have a feeling he will be back. There was something lurking behind those pale-green eyes of his. I hesitate to use the word “evil”, but it is the only word I can use to describe what I felt.
Found in the diary of Juniper Marchant, Sun Priestess,
