“I told you already,” Elderan bites with exasperation. “I changed him. I did my part; I played my last hand. The rest is up to you. Your fate is in your own hands. Let’s see how this plays out.”
I whirl around, arms and legs spread wide, covering Tristen. “We are not games! Not pawns for you to move!” I snarl.
Elderan angles his head; his appearance shifts, as does my breath. He stands taller, younger, with a body of brutish strength. His eyes gleam intensely, like stars against the dark. If they’re supposed to inspire hope, I feel diminished. He begins to glow a faint shade of colors, like the night sky exposing its dark depths.
My toes curl. His jaw makes Titus’s look like a child, but what scares me are his haunting eyes, not of light but dark heavens, vacuums that pull at my chest, trying to drag me closer.
He’s seen life, death, and the in-between. Traveled the heavens, moved the lands all with his exhale.
Don’t ask how I know this. I sense it as one senses a pebble in their shoe.
Thick-cored arms crossed like chains, an exposed scarless torso, nothing but leather pants covering his legs. No weapons. He needs nothing, only his blinking eyes and dancing fingers.
My chin and shoulders inch in. “Are you a god?” I sound so weak. I know he said he was endless, but isn’t that the true definition of a god?
“I already answered that.”
“You said those we called gods could die. Maybe we labeled them wrong. Maybeyoudeserve that title.”
Amusement lights his face. “If I were, shouldn’t you be bowing?”
I am no coward. I raise my chin. “Not all gods deserve to be praised.”
His eyes turn from hot granite to soft silk as he tips his head back and laughs. The sound is a drum so deep it changes my heartbeat for a moment. “Oh, Selene. I know what men see in you. I dare say you intrigue me.”
I growl, feeling my mate mark burn.
He holds up his hand. “I would never touch you.” He rolls his eyes. “If only others felt the same.”
Tristen is right; speaking with Elderan is running in circles. I jab a finger towards Tristen. “Undo what you did to him.”
“It’s too late for that.” He glances at Tristen as if he were picking an item from a wardrobe. “The change has started. You can’t remove spice from a mixing bowl; it’s best to accept the new taste.”
“You sicken me!” My finger curls in. “This was not what my brother wanted.”
Elderan steps forward, and I almost stumble. It feels like the land quakes beneath my feet. “Your brother was the catalyst that saved you all.” His words hold no bitter notes, but his eyes find me lacking favor now. “I tried to guide others, but they turned out like Torin. They molded my advice to their own agendas. Everett was the first one to listen. I came here in another form, spotted Everett, and talked with him.
“I was so accustomed to seeing men want objects, but your brother wanted something else, and that intrigued me. It was Everett who saved you all; he deserves your bowed heads. Now, it’s up to you not to dilute his end goal.”
I crumple, sinking to my knees. I pull Tristen’s torso onto my lap and push his hair off his head. He’s hot now. Is that good? No, wait… that’s a fever.
“I did not cause your suffering, Selene. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
“You aided it!” I cry.
His shadow looms over Tristen and me, but inside the darkness, it’s bathing us in light. “Bandages can hurt when applied, but their purpose is to heal, as is mine.” He waves his hand, and the door appears.
A faint draft of air from the stairways touches my cheek, but I feel sick.
His light builds. I know if I turn to look, it will blind me again. I press Tristen’s face closer to my chest.
“Tell Titus not to be fooled by peace. It is a prelude to turbulence, just as the ocean stirs slowly before a storm.” His hand on my shoulder shocks me; his light illuminates my body. “Sometimes fighting—sailing against the current of fate—is what batters the ship the most; allow the tide to sweep you to a new destination, Selene.”
Light fills every nook and crevice of the small room, climbing up the stairs until it fills the entire library. I gasp, curling inward as I squeeze Tristen to me. By the time I control my breathing, the light vanishes, creating a loud snapping boom that shakes the land.
The castle trembles, and dust seeps out from the cracks in the stones, raining down on me.
We’re alone.
