“You are staying in the garden tonight,” she said. “If you don’t obey, you also don’t deserve to sleep on your bed.” And with that she closed the door, locking me outside.
Little Gwendolyn turned around, starting to cry. The tears flowing down her cheeks. Tears I had almost forgotten and still I knew they weren’t tears of sadness, but of shame and anger. Feelings a little child should never be feeling. How often have people in my neighborhood wondered why I used to throw myself to the floor and cry? What they had thought to be a reaction of defiance, was actually my body’s reaction to defend itself. But as a child, I wasn’t able to understand it.
I spent the night outside in the garden alone, all by myself in the darkness. My mouth felt dry and I was sooo thirsty. I was already half asleep when I felt soft feathers brushing against my arms. So delicate and soft, as if I had only imagined them. Maybe it had been a child’s attempt to calm itself down. Butthen the scent of sage, moonflower, and musk surrounded me. The thirst and fear slowly went away, helping me fall asleep. I felt fingers grazing over me, whispering soft praises in my ear. Was this real?
My eyes opened. I was back in the present in Xavier’s bedroom.
Damien was watching me, concern flashing across his face. “Are you okay?”
I nodded slowly. “It was a memory I almost forgot. It’s like my body tried to erase it.”
“You’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever met,” Xavier murmured, pulling me gently onto his lap and pressing a kiss to my forehead. He did it often, but something about this one had been different… it felt like he was trying to erase these memories from my mind with the touch of his lips against my skin.
“If I ever see your mother,” he added darkly, “I’ll kill her.”
“Xavier…”
“He’s right,” Damien said softly, still holding my hands. “But I’m also relieved. Because that night… that pain… It was how Malakai found you. Your pain called to him. And he’s never stopped searching since. No matter where he is now, he won’t give up hope, simply because heknowsthat you’re alive.”
Malakai.That was his name. It felt so surreal. I still had so many questions, but at least now I had a name.
“What my mother had explained to be the wild illusions of a child was actually my angel mate trying to connect with me?” I asked.
Damien nodded.
How could that even be possible?
“But… he doesn’t know me.”
“Heknowsyour soul, and that’s enough for him to find you. Angels have incredibly high sensors for their bonds.”
Xavier’s hand trailed up my spine in soothing strokes. “Do you feel where he is now?”
Damien’s face grew more serious. “He’s not in Aetrum. I smelled ashes.”
“Ashes?” I asked, anxiety tightening my chest. “Is that… bad?”Because it sounded bad, very bad. My hands immediately found Xavier’s chest, like I needed to feel his heartbeat to make sure I was safe.
“He could be in the Demon Court in Marabour…”
“That’s what I thought, but I also smelled rain,” Damien added.
“Oh.”
“The Demon Court is made of fire and ruin. It hasn’t rained there in centuries.”
“Then it must be somewhere else in Marabour,” Xavier murmured. “Someplace hidden… cloaked.”
“I’ll speak with Sparrow.”
“My brother? Why?”
He didn’t answer right away. His silence stretched, like something heavy was about to break.
When he finally spoke, his voice was taut. “Because he may know more than he’s telling.”
A long silence hung between us before the man that had found me in the Lakes of the Sirens left.
Chapter 19
