“So, we will not only forgive them for the retribution that will surely come upon us, but we must also forgive ourselves.” Julian stopped in front of me, holding the bloody knife between us. His silver eyes challenged me. “Nos omnes connexae.”
“We are all connected,” I whispered with an exhale, settling into place.
Julian grinned. “That’s right. It seems the Heathen spirit found you after all.”
“May I?” I asked, nudging my head toward the knife as I removed my glove, preferring to do it myself.
Julian handed it over. “Welcome home, Danvers.”
I pushed my coat’s sleeve up to my elbow, and when I looked down, a white scar was already slashed across my palm.
My breath halted as I was taken back to the day in the cave.
I wish I’d known then, when she was holding a knife to my throat, lying naked with me to keep me warm, and telling me stories about pirates and sirens, that we were writing the beginning of our own.
“What’s that?” Julian asked, looking at my palm.
I smiled. “It appears my loyalty lies elsewhere as well.”
Fallon emerged from the back door, flying down the steps, a cloud of white moving across the clearing, tears raining down.
“Julian!” she cried.
Julian turned and instantly rushed to her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Fallon could hardly get a word out, could barely catch a breath.
“It’s Winta,” she said, her voice shattered. “She’s dead.”
Julian’s gaze darted to us, then back to Fallon. “The Shadows?”
She shook her head, her tears falling, her cries gentle.
It took me back to when she was a little girl again.
“No, she wasn’t even sleeping. It was something else,” she said, breathy. Julian rubbed her back, trying to get her to breathe steadily enough to tell us what had happened. “Kioni said not long after Stone left, her mom just dropped dead. No explanation at all.”
Julian’s gaze swept toward me with horror in his eyes.
My heart pounded, not wanting to believe it.
“No,” I thought I’d said, unsure if it was in my mind or in the air.
Could I have taken her life as a result of bringing Phoenix back?
Julian exhaled though his spine had become stiff. “A consequence. A balance.”
CHAPTER 44
ADORA
New Moon
January 12, 2021
16 Days until the Crimson Eclipse
19 Days until the Cantini-Sullivan Wedding
