But Aghen shook his head softly. “We can’t count on that. It’s not common to find one’s mate and even if you do, Amyntas probably won’t care. Best case scenario is he allows your mate to come with you and let you be together once he has what he wants, but we can’t bet on it.”
“What if I mysteriously lose my virginity in the upcoming year?” I continued. “I won’t be pure, he won’t—”
“That would be seen as a grave offense. Aninsult. You can’t go around sleeping with other people when you’re promised to marry someone. It would bring shame to our family, and he might roast you on the spot.”
I rolled my eyes. At least, I wouldn’t have to go with him. My mother and father could also burn, I didn’t care.
“Ania, you need to listen to me carefully,” Aghen said, pulling me slightly closer to him. “The only way you can get out of this situation is if Amyntas changes his mind on his own. If he somehow decides that even though you have stronger genes that the other Maiden considered, you’re not worth the trouble.”
I looked at him as we slowed down, close enough to the makeshift camp that I could see the shape of my father standing close to a group of men with sparse scales on their forearms.
“You need to up your brat abilities to the highest levels, Ania. Make him dislike you enough that his stomach churns at the thought of spending even five minutes with you.”
We were close enough that I could actually see all their faces now. Amyntas was not hard to spot among his soldiers: taller, broader, small scales on his cheekbones. His monolid slitted opal eyes were focused onme as we walked impossibly closer and an uncomfortable shiver went up my spine.
“That’s the only way,” Aghen continued. “I’ll try and talk you down too, but you need to make him dislike you. You need to make sure that when he meets the other Maiden in two weeks, he won’t even think twice about choosing her.”
We stopped in front of them, my heart pounding violently in my chest.
The man standing before me was handsome, but terrifying. Black iridescent scales covered his forearms and were scattered on his cheekbones and up his neck. His slitted eyes reflected the light in the strangest way. The non-scaly part of his skin was tanned and his long black hair half tied behind his head.
“Here they are,” my father crooned with a smile. “You’ve met my son a couple of times, and here’s his twin sister, Anastasia. Isn’t she the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
Amyntas looked at my brother, his expression unreadable, before returning his focus on me with a slight nod.
“I’ve never seen twins before,” the Dragon leader said, ignoring my father’s remark. “They don’t look that much alike.”
My eyes darted to Aghen who stood ramrod straight next to me, eyes focused on our guest and his two soldiers just behind him.
“Let’s get this tour over with, shall we?” Amyntas said, slapping my father’s shoulder a couple of times before taking a step toward me.
My breath hitched in my throat as his hand closed around my wrist, pulling me with him in the village’s direction. My wide panicked eyes met Aghen’s, his gaze locked on the spot where Amyntas was touching me, brows furrowed. I stumbled behind the Dragon, hoping my father, brother, oranyonewould step in and call it off.
But no one did.
Although, I could feel goosebumps erupting along my spine, as if someone was watching but remained unseen.
Chapter 5
Carter
Well, fuck me.
So the Nephilim might have been right and the whole world had somehow forgotten about the “legendary Astrals.” Dragons were only one of the three species that fell from the stars and learned to adapt as the earth evolved. Stars that shattered the earth and killed the Dinosaurs, remained dormant for millions of years before emerging and roaming the earth.
According to one of the books, Dragons, Phoenixes, and Chimeras had played a part in human evolution, even learned to take on a human form to blend in and live with them. It said that there were originally only one of each kind, and they were Immortals. So how did they reproduce? The very first book I got from Lola said that “no one knows how they lived and reproduced, as their number grew larger over the years, but some have reported that they picked Maidens from their villages and they were never seen again.”
Did it mean that the first Astrals stayed alive from the moment the Dinosaurs went extinct until the first evolved humans walked the earth? Another book said that Astrals couldn’t reproduce within their own species and made a theory about them helping humans evolve to use them as a way to expand their own numbers.
Which was creepy as fuck.
But also explained theMaidenthing I’ve read and heard from Lola.
How was their existence collectively forgotten even among the Immortals? Dimitri did remember but Arc, who wasn’t that much younger, didn’t seem like he did. The strange Warlock—Nomin—seemed to know about it too, but said that it was better left forgotten.
I released a deep sigh, surveying the cluttered floor of my bedroom. What was the Archives’ ghost trying to tell me? To tell Lola, when she first let the small book fall? My eyes drifted to the small leather volume, Tedregon’s journal, written in old Korean, I haven’t read yet. Not that Tedregon sounded like a Korean name…
My phone buzzed on the floor next to me and I had to push some loose paper sheets filled with notes to retrieve it.
