“I believe you’re remorseful for what you’ve done,” Lilly said. She walked over to the djinn and knelt down. The warrior before her might be much older than her, but she suddenly looked very young. Lilly tilted the woman’s chin so that Myanin looked her in the face. “You said the Great Luna spoke to you.”
Myanin nodded.
“She knows your heart, better than even you do,” Lilly said. “She’s seen all your broken pieces, and yet you know she loves you still.”
“I do.”
Lilly pressed her palm to the woman’s cheek. “Then she has forgiven you, and that is all you should need.”
“I still have to stand before my people and the consequences,” Myanin said. “I feel I could face them better with no more blood on my hands.”
“We all have blood on our hands, Myanin, whether we’ve taken a life or not,” Lilly said. “None of us is truly innocent. But what we do after our transgressions, how we continue to live our lives as we screw up and have to confess all over, that’s what shows our true character. ”
“The Great Luna spoke to me about my future,” Myanin said.
Lilly rocked back on her heels and let her hand fall. “I bet that was interesting. What did the goddess have to say?”
“She said I was not yet lost. And she asked me if I had considered whether she had somebody better for me.” The djinn looked confused.
“You don’t think there could be someone better for you than Thadrick?” Lilly asked.
“Did you think there could be someone better for you than Dillon?” Lilly didn’t miss the hope in Myanin’s question.
“At the time, no.” She shook her head. “And I didn’t date anyone after. I raised my daughter, a result of mine and Dillon’s relationship—the best result,” she added, “and I lived my life. I had accepted that I would never love someone the way I loved him.” She paused, and then a small smile tilted her lips up. “I was wrong.”
“The warlock king is your soul mate,” Tenia said.
Lilly’s heart twisted. “He is.” She didn’t say “was.” because though he was gone, he would always be her soul mate.
“Djinn rarely find a soul mate,” Myanin said. “And after all these centuries, wouldn’t I have already met him?”
“It seems like things are changing. True mates are no longer confined to the same race. Maybe your mate isn’t a djinn.”
Myanin’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. She looked at Lilly as if she’d just said the Order was the best thing that had happened since the invention of cotton candy.
“She seems to have a hard time with change,” Tenia said as she looked from Myanin to Lilly.
“Yeah, she’s going to have to get over that.” Lilly stood and walked over to the couch. She sat back down and looked at the two women. Tenia was simply staring back at her, but Myanin still looked as if she’d been hit by a truth bomb.
“How do I know this isn’t a ploy to get information to feed to the Order?” Lilly asked, though she really didn’t believe it was. There was too much grief and at the same time hope in Myanin. And Tenia, when she’d spoken of her child, had looked ready to crumble.
“I will make a blood oath with you,” Myanin replied. She appeared to be getting over her shock.
“From what I’ve learned over the years, blood oaths are a tad serious and usually dangerous,” Lilly said. She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees.
“They are,” Myanin agreed. “But the oath will keep me from deceiving you. If I make a blood oath with you and break it, I will die.”
“Okay, wow. That escalated quickly,” Lilly muttered.
“I know I can’t undo what I’ve already done,” Myanin continued. “The Great Luna has forgiven me, and I’ve made things right with the elder I killed. But I don’t want to die with my memory tied to the Order. I want to help destroy them. I want Tenia to get her young back. I can’t change the past, but I can help now. I can make a sacrifice for my sins.”
Lilly stared at the djinn warrior across from her, who sat with her shoulders pulled back and her chin raised. Her eyes spoke of pain and regret, but her posture said she was ready to take responsibility for her actions. Lilly thought about her mate and how he’d worked with Desdemona because he’d been so desperate for a mate. Lilly considered all the things she’d done in her life because of pain and anger. Maybe she hadn’t killed anyone, but in her lifetime, she’d lied, she’d hated, she’d even wished pain upon another. Who could claim they were truly innocent of any wrongdoing? Were those things as bad as murder? Maybe. Maybe not. But it was not her place to judge Myanin’s heart. That was the Great Luna’s job. Lilly’s job was to protect her people.
“I’ll do the blood oath,” Lilly finally said. “I have conditions.”
Myanin nodded. “A wise queen should.”
“I won’t keep this a secret from Perizada,” Lilly said as she glanced at Tenia. The fae nodded as her eyes filled with the sheen of tears.
