“Are they awake?” Aurelia’s question broke the silence—and my heart.
I nodded, knowing she was thinking of her own family. “Yes. They are awake and alive and well inside the walls.”
Keres and the others didn’t say a word, but I knew they were all biting back the rest of that truth: Our families were inside the walls, but we remained out here.
“That’s good.” Aurelia’s eyes searched mine for a long moment, as if she could find another meaning there, some softer truth. But there wasn’t one.
“Which gods sealed the gate?”
I felt the others’ eyes on me, but I ignored them, not letting my gaze waver in this moment. It was one of the questions I knew would ruin things between us. Even so, I found myself relieved this was the one she’d chosen to ask.
“Was it the Fates?” she pressed. “Because this tattoo they gave me?—”
“It wasn’t the Fates,” I told her. “And they’re not who gave you that tattoo either.”
“What are you talking about?” She shook her head. “The morning after the curse, I woke up with this. It’s a symbol of the gifts theybestowed?—”
“The Fates don’t possess the gift of furyfire,” Keres said.
Aurelia frowned, reaching up to touch the inked mark on her neck. Her gaze cut to Amanti. “You told me?—”
“You assumed,” Amanti cut in gently.
Aurelia’s hands fisted. Black smoke escaped.
“Princess,” Keres warned.
“I know,” Aurelia snapped. She forced her fists open, and the magic winked out. A moment later, her breathing calmed.
I shot a look at Keres, impressed.
The fae warrior simply crossed her arms.
“The tattoo is the gods’ mark for their Chosen One,” Keres said into the silence. “It’s imbued with their power. Part of their whole mission to right the balance or whatever.”
Daegel muttered something at her, but she threw up her hands, saying, “If everyone else is going to tiptoe around it, what do you expect me to do? She deserves to know. She’s not made of glass.”
Aurelia shot me a pointed look. “Glad someone thinks so.”
“Aurelia,” I began.
“Which gods,” she said again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keres open her mouth. But I beat her to it, taking the fallout onto my own shoulders as I said, “The Furiosities.”
Aurelia swallowed hard. Then nodded slowly. I braced myself for furyfire or some weapon aimed at my head. But she didn’t even move.
The silence stretched.
The others just waited, but I remained tense, prepared for a fight. An interrogation. An inferno.
Finally, she looked at me and said, “What happened to your face?”
Thorne snorted loud enough for it to echo off the walls.
Chapter Ten
Aurelia
