Once comfortable in some loungewear, I settled into bed with the book on the markings. I flipped to where I had left off, my vision instantly hooked on the text.
There was nothing that could be considered beneficial on the first few pages, but the introductory line of the following chaptercaused my grip to tighten, leaving fingerprint indents in the parchment.
Legend claims that the markings of the gods are never seen on a mortal. This is not due to the fact that the markings don’t exist, but rather the theory that those who bear them are not truly mortal. There is currently no record that confirms the existence of these markings, though there is also no record denying their plausibility.
My head jolted back. Was this saying that I was no longer mortal? Because that made no sense. I almost died. Clearly, I was mortal.
Skimming a few paragraphs down, I kept reading.
Once cleaved from its original corpse, a soul cannot be retrieved. A soulless corpse will remain forever soulless. Though the soul can roam or go beyond the veil, it can never return to its original host. Once a vessel has lost its soul, it has been lost forever.
An immortal soul, such as the ones belonging to the gods, cannot go beyond the veil while attached to an immortal body. However, if the immortal soul is unlinked from its vessel, and relinked to a mortal one, the soul loses its immortality. If the mortal housing the soul dies, the linked soul will go beyond the veil with their original one.
When an immortal corpse loses its immortal soul, the corpse itself becomes mortal. Nonetheless, no mortal corpse by origin—even with the gain of an immortal soul—will be capable of achieving immortality.
Laying the book on my stomach, I focused on the stillness of the ceiling while I climbed through the ladders in my brain.
The way I was drawn to the Draemornian back in the interrogation room. The way Isawinto his mind when he was dying.
The way my skin and hair glowed wasveryreminiscent of how Blythe’s entire body shimmered when she transferred her starlight to me.
Leighton’s statement about godly energy.
I shot upright, the book flying off of the bed.Oh. My. Gods.
Maybe the answer had been right in front of me all along—so clear that ignoring it made more sense than believing it.
Though I did not accept the claim of being a goddess, Blythewasone. And if she and I truly shared the same energy as Leighton suggested, then maybe I was somethingsimilar. Something not nearly as holy, but more forcible than other mortals to walk the earth.
Amidst my momentous revelation, the door swung open, startling me.
Sebastian frowned as my frantic gaze startled him.
“What is it?” With a snap of composure, his face fell entirely serious.
“I have a theory.”
His attention flickered between my serious expression and the book. “About?”
I didn’t stutter. “I think I knowexactlywhat the markings mean.”
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
“The markings of a god mean that you hold all the power and energy of a god without being immortal,” I stated in utter confidence.
“All?” he asked for clarification.
I nodded. “Yes. All godly power. Hear me out?”
He nodded slowly, and I took that as my go ahead to ramble.
“For a while, I’ve wondered why Blythe couldn’t just resume her godly duties after I freed her soul from her statue. But I just realized after reading more of the book that since it wasonly her soulin the statue, the body she had resided in was long gone.” I began pacing the room with my hands folded behind my back. “And as Leighton said, the energy of a god cannot be destroyed. The soul needs to gosomewhere. That somewhere, was my body.”
Sebastian’s eyebrow twitched. “Didn’t we know this?”
“Let me finish.” I held a palm up. “I thought she just gave me the power of the cosmos, but I think she gave meallof her power. Her soul has been slowly intertwining itself with my soul. For instance, when I first wielded the starlight with Delani and in the woods, my skin didn’t glow. But when I tried with Kohenafterwards, it did. I had killed others before the Draemornian in the interrogation room and I didn’t see into their minds. But with this last one, I saw his entire life because that kind of power must have been in the realm of Blythe’s capabilities. Maybe Kade was right about the meteor shower acting as another catalyst. Almost like a rebirth of Blythe's magic—her soul but in a mortal body.”
