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“Her magic is a part of the realms now. Which means you could no sooner eradicate it, then you could remove ours. I understand Hecate has not been easy on King Karnavious. He might not be able to change due to his brokenness. Sometimes, it isn’t worth the trouble of trying to glue something back together. You’re so young, Aria. I was once young too, and I had to let the man I love go. I had to do so in order to wed Tirsynth. It was who blessed me with your father, which I did for the betterment of our world.”
“Knox and I are both broken. He understands me better than anyone else could ever hope to. His edges cut hard, and they’re very sharp. However, when he forgets that we’re sworn enemies, feeling his walls crumble, if even for a moment, it’s worth the pain I’ve endured.”
“You love him?” She spoke softly, but she didn’t need me to answer the question. “He’s not for you, Aria. He will not survive Hecate’s obsession with him. I’ve seen the future, and he’s not in it with you.” Her eyes showed genuine sympathy, yet it failed to sway my decision.
“Then I don’t want to save the world.”
Chapter Five
Aria
Thechambergrewthickwith tension at my outburst, but I refused to back down. I didn’t want anyone else. Knox deserved a future, even if that future wasn’t with me. He endured unimaginable hardships to safeguard the Nine Realms, so if there was even a slight possibility of his demise, I would battle to avert it. I’d burn down the realms to save him from that fate.
“You’d throw everything away for his future? A future that might not even include you? He may very well turn against you, Aria. Have you considered that?”
“No, because Knox is loyal to those that he considers family.”
“Does he consider you such? Or are you merely something he wishes to own?” she asked carefully.
Her question had me backpedaling, but I wouldn’t concede. “I honestly don’t know what he considers me, but it doesn’t matter to me if he does or doesn’t. He’s my mate, and if you’re asking me to disregard that bond and to allow Hecate to claim his life, you’re going to end up disappointed.”
“I understand. Karnavious blood is very addictive, but then, who doesn’t relish catching the heart of a dragon? Did you know his bloodline’s the only one able to actually shift into dragon form? Like our bloodline, the world fuels their shift, and they’re cursed because of the fire in their veins.”
“I was told as much,” I admitted as I let my guard down a sliver. “The future can be altered by a single deed, Scylla. One choice can change everything.”
“It can. That much is true. But could you watch the world burn to save him?” she countered with a calculated look burning in her aqua-colored depths. Reading my mind, she exhaled heavily. “A phoenix doesn’t always have a singular mate. Sometimes, we have many.” When I opened my mouth to argue, she lifted her hand up for me to allow her to speak. “We don’t mate purely for love. Love isn’t something our breed desires from another. Sometimes we merely mate to create young, if our previous mate isn’t producing young. Others mate for protection, be it their own or for their young. Hell, we’ve even been known to mate merely for companionship. Our breed does what is needed to ensure new phoenixes are born as often as possible and are protected as well afterward. That you are in love with your dragon is most puzzling to me.”
“Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe I’m not a phoenix?” I offered in explanation.
Her head dropped back as a clap of laughter escaped her lips. “Your fire burns too brightly inside of you for you to be anything but. I’ve also seen your flames and know your chaos by heart. I should know, after all, I held that same chaos long before you did. Long before you were ever born, it was mine. I sacrificed my life to kindle those flames into the inferno you now hold inside of you. I knew when I made the sacrifice, that it would eventually bring your soul into existence. I’ve spent all this time here, waiting for you, my darling.”
When my jaw dropped open, she reached over, pressed two fingers to my chin, and closed it.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered, with regret coating my words.
“In order to bring forth the one prophesied to save the world, they demanded a sacrifice. I traded my life for yours, Aria. I was told what would be required of me, and then shown a path to take. The Fates demand a hefty price for altering the future, which is what I have done. They offered me insight into your life. I was shown your desires, tragedies, and the life you’d live. In order to secure your future, I needed to put aside my desire for vengeance against my enemies. I was told who to mate with, who had to fall so you could rise, and then told I’d be given five trials to pass, which cost me dearly. I’ve never questioned my choices, nor do I know. Seidr magic isn’t without cost, and oftentimes the price is hefty.”
Goosebumps spread over my flesh. Had she actually sacrificed her life in order to create mine? Sacrifices were rumored to be made for acquiring souls, but it was unprecedented. In fact, it was forbidden to meddle in the crafting of another’s soul. Swallowing past the lump forming in my throat, I struggled to put what she was saying together to see the larger picture.
“It isn’t something you’ll be able to discern or understand fully, Aria,” she stated before nodding toward the serene pool. “Please undress and enter the pool. The land waits for no maiden.”
I stripped out of the black, skin-tight outfit, and the moment my feet were submerged in the pool, a tranquility flitted through my entire being. At my soft gasp of shock, Scylla chuckled.
“I felt that inner peace the moment I surrendered to the land, too,” she explained before lighting the burners of oil around the pool. “When the Fates tell you what to do, you don’t question them. Once you’re set on a path with them leading, you follow. Each test they handed me, I did without question. However, some left holes in my soul, as I’d known they would. Some forced me to lie to those I loved most, others forced me into uneasy alliances.”
“I don’t know if I’m worth all of that,” I admitted, hating that anyone had sacrificed anything for me. Even so, I refused to be forced into a corner for something I had never asked for.
“I shall be the judge of that. I had to trust an ancient enemy in order to secure your future. The Karnavious Dragons didn’t start out as our enemies. The Fafnir bloodline, at one time, were dragons along with the Karnavious line. Draghana was the last to hold the ability to shift. Her grandmother was Hela, who was rumored to be the sister of both Fenrir the wolf and Jörmungandr, the World Serpent. As you know, she was also the queen of the afterlife realm of Hel.”
“Holy shit.”
“You say that a lot.”
“What do you expect when you’re dropping some pretty heavy shit on me?” My eyebrows pushed together as I waited for her reply. Her silvery hair swished around her as she nodded, a sly smile played on her lips.
“As I was saying. Draghana held the ability to shift, which my bloodline lacked. We made up for the shortcoming with mana. It created a balance, but balance is a fickle thing. A single misstep can shift it, and Draghana did so by creating life with a mortal man. Dracarius Karnavious wasn’t like us, nor did he belong in our world. When he appeared in the Nine Realms, he brought others with him. It ruined the balance as Dracarius and Draghana fought one another over land each desired to be theirs.” One handmaiden held a basket out for Scylla, who took it with a genuine smile burning in her turquoise eyes.
“What is that?” I questioned with uncertainty clinging to each word.
