Ariyon reached out and tugged at my hips, pulling me closer until I was resting against him, both of us slowly kicking our legs to stay above water.
“You came for me.” He leaned his forehead against mine, and in that moment, it was all worth it. All the nights I stayed up scouring books for any information that might get Ariyon back, trekking to Ealdoria to see Emmeric, fighting the Grim. It was all worth it the second Ariyon’s skin touched mine and I didn’t feel pain. Since the day I’d first met him, first looked into his silver eyes, I’d felt a magnetic attraction to him. He was my normal, the only man in the realm to give me what had been denied to me since birth.
“Fallon Bane!” Multiple voices boomed at the same time, and I pulled away from Ariyon, snapping my head up to peer at the light.
I gasped as the light dimmed to a manageable level. Standing there on a large boulder in the middle of the pool that we were floating in was…a creature. A creature with four heads, one of which was of a fae man, one that of a lion, one a raven, and one a woman. Their body was one being, feathered in parts, fur on others, with multiple arms, legs, and paws and even a pair of wings.
This was the Quorum?
I swallowed hard, knowing I was in the presence of great power. Invisible waves of energy radiated off their form, like heat from the ground on a searing-hot day.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me.” I wanted to show respect since I knew this creature had Ariyon’s and my fates in their hands.
“We agreed to see a Maven healer,” the heads all spoke at once, which was terrifying.
I swallowed hard. I had technically tricked them into seeing me. “I am a Maven healer and whatever else you want me to be. I can be anything. My power is such that I can switch abilities with anyone.”
“House of Ash and Shadow,” the female head growled.
“Against creation,” the lion said.
“Yes. Not natural,” the male fae agreed.
The raven just crowed loudly, causing Yanric to shiver slightly from his place on Ariyon’s shoulder.
I swallowed hard, trying not to let what they were saying affect me. I had no idea what they were talking about.
Against creation?
“It’s not her fault,” Ariyon called out beside me, “that she was created this way. It was my family’s doing. Wasn’t it?”
What?
I glanced at Ariyon like he’d lost his mind, and then the light flickered in the grotto.
I peered up at the Quorum to see the lion head regarding Ariyon curiously. “A Madden who knows the true history. Interesting indeed.”
The creature shifted its weight so that the woman’s head was facing us. “It matters not. Why have you called this meeting?”
Okay, this was getting confusing.
I swallowed hard. “I think I accidently used a portal to bring Ariyon’s body here when I saved his life. I know bringing a mortal body into the Realm of Eternity is against the rules, and so I’m begging you to let him go home. You can take whatever you want from me. Let me bear the consequences of my mistake. I am even willing to give my life.”
“No!” Ariyon yelled, and then I was yanked up out of the water and suspended midair. My stomach lurched as panic shot through me. I had been lifted out of the water by an unseen force, water dripping off my limbs as I floated directly above the Quorum.
Ariyon and Yanric were screaming, but I couldn’t hear anything; their mouths were moving, but nothing was coming out. I peered down at the creature and watched in fascination and horror as they peeled their bodies apart, no longer sharing one form. The fae man and woman were naked as they walked up into the air to meet me head-on, as if ascending an invisible staircase. The lion swished his long tail, and the six-foot-tall raven took flight to land behind me. I was surrounded.
“Fallon Bane, you would give your life to return Ariyon Madden back to the land of the living?” the woman asked.
Ariyon flailed in the water madly, but I couldn’t hear a sound. I could only see him struggling. He was trying to get myattention, shaking his head vigorously to get me to say no. I looked away from him to the woman who had spoken.
“I would,” I said without hesitation.
The lion tipped his head back and roared, a haunting sound that caused a scream of surprise to rip from my throat.
The raven peered at the fae man, and its eyes flashed silver. “Take her second life. Let her keep this one. There is still good she can do with this body.”
The fae man nodded. “Very well. Ariyon Madden will return to the land of the living. You, Fallon Bane, will be restored as well, but when you die, that is the end. No rebirth, no chance to live forever in the Realm of Eternity.”
