Hera’s face transformed. The sadness vanished, replaced by a warmth so genuine it made my heart strain. “Oh, Savry, they are beautiful.”
He crashed into her, laughter bubbling in his throat as she steadied him with both hands. She brushed a strand of hair from his damp forehead and pressed a tender kiss there.
“I missed you.”
She smiled. “I missed you too. Did you enjoy yourself?”
He nodded vigorously into her chest, his arms still encircling her, before looking up at her with a wide, innocent smile that was a miniature echo of her own.
“It was lovely meeting you, Kaelia,” she said once the boy had settled against her side. “I best take him home for supper. My parents will be looking for us.”
I nodded. “May your solstice be kind to you.”
“And yours,” she replied gently. “Whatever path you choose, may it bring peace.”
I watched her walk away, her figure shrinking against the vast, golden horizon. I stood alone in the fading light, the shadow of the Thrynn tree stretching out to swallow me.
My pulse refused to settle.
Even here, surrounded by blossoms and soft laughter, something inside me strained toward a place that did not bloom.
I was not meant for the garden. I was meant for the dark.
12
CHAPTER TWELVE
The descent to the Lake of Veilith was steep and tricky, but Talon had been correct—the vines were asleep. Their milky, bulbous eyes were shuttered, their fleshy lengths as still as the stone they clung to. Aside from a few stinging scratches from stray branches that I could not see in the dark, I made it to the bottom unscathed.
Tonight was the only opportunity I had to confirm if this bond was real.
A part of me was terrified; if the lake confirmed Talon’s words, I would have to face Keeper Sora knowing she had fed me nothing but lies.
And if the water reflected only my own desperate face, looking back at me from the lightless depths?
I took a shaky breath, trying to process the thought. If his face did not appear, I was not entirely sure my attraction to him would diminish. If I saw only myself, and the connectionremained, I would have to admit that I was not just responding to ancient magic, I was responding to the man himself. That was the possibility that truly terrified me. If the bond was not real, then I was simply a creature who wanted the dark, and that was far harder to manage than destiny.
The Lake of Veilith was a flawless sheet of liquid obsidian, reflecting the starless sky without distortion. The trees along the shore bent inward, their branches dipping toward the water as if confiding their darkest secrets in its depths.
The soil softened beneath my knees as I lowered myself to the bank. Cool dampness seeped through my nightdress, and the ancient, earthy scent of moss and mineral water filled my senses.
I hesitated only a moment before sliding my fingers into the lake. The surface broke around my hand, ripples spreading outward in widening circles.
Then, something beneath answered.
At first, I thought it was moonlight catching strangely along the lakebed. But the glow pulsed. Once. Then again. A slow, steady rhythm, deep below, like a heartbeat reverberating through the water. The silver light widened, drawing my gaze with it, until the darkness gave way to shape.
A face emerged beneath the surface.
My lungs emptied instantly.
Cold eyes lifted to mine from impossible depths, unblinking. His dark hair drifted as though suspended in another current entirely, and the markings along his jaw flickered faintly—silver answering silver.
“Talon,” I whispered.
The distance between us felt irrelevant. The bank beneath me, the city above, the High Court—they all turned to ash. My skin erupted in a feverish heat, my pulse hammering against my ribs as if his hands were already moving over me.
A sob caught in my throat.