The blood bond had made a complete fool out of me. It had brought me to my lowest point, made me realize how verymortal I was. The gods had shown me their true power. I’d spat in their face in rejecting the gift of a blood mate. Now they were punishing me for it.
And worse yet, Erina had been hurt in the process. I’d been cruel and callous to her. She hadn’t deserved that.
“I’m done fighting this,” I said.
“Did you try to find her?” Thaine asked.
“I sent scouts to Laras,” I said. “No luck.”
“And this Luc Denoren?”
I shook my head. “He changes employment so often, I haven’t been able to track him down. Especially if he’s not recorded in the archives. I’ve checked three of his last jobs and rooms where he’d been staying. He’s not at any of them.”
Thaine blew out a breath. “Have you told Azur? He won’t stop until he tracks them down in Laras. You know that.”
“No,” I clipped out. “Leave him out of this. He has enough to do. This is my mess, my mistake. I’ll fix it.”
“He made plenty mistakes himself with Gemma,” Thaine reminded me. “He would understand.”
I shook my head. “I only want you to know right now. And only because you barged in here uninvited.”
“Good thing I did,” he replied. “Whatever you need, I’ll do it.”
“I know,” I said. “But go back home. I don’t need you here.”
“I beg to differ,” Thaine said. He sighed, stretching out his wings. “I’ll stay in Vyaan for a few days. It’ll make Maudoric feel better.”
I huffed out a sharp breath. “It would.”
“What’s your plan when you finally find her?” Thaine asked after a long moment of silence lapsed between us.
I suddenly felt incredible tired, the last few weeks having caught up with me.
“Not be a conceited and self-serving elitist fool?”
“I’m serious,” he drawled.
“So am I.”
Tilting my head back to look at moon, I saw it was almost full. No wonder the winds were picking up. I’d let the world skip by since Erina had left. Since even before then. I hadn’t been right since I’d discovered her, right underneath my nose.
All the time I’d wasted…
“I’ll do what I should’ve done from the moment I knew she was mykyrana,” I told Thaine seriously. “I’ll give her every reason to stay.”
Determination began to burn in me. An ember that was being stoked, carefully and purposefully.
“I need to go find her myself,” I said quietly.
“Wait until after the moon winds,” he advised. “They’re strong. Use the time to get your head on right and clean yourself up. Your keep is in disarray, and Maudoric is trying her best to hold it together.”
Logical as always.
“But after the moon winds,” Thaine said, his eyes glowing green in the moonlight, “go bring yourkyranaback home.”
CHAPTER 29
ERINA
