26
MAX
“So, you can read it?” Reid asks, looking over the pages. To him, they’re blank, just some pieces of hand-snow parchment. To Baris and I, we see the cramped handwriting, the measurements and little notes written in the margins.
“Yes.” My father turns the page, scanning something.
Reid glances over his shoulder. “And it doesn’t burn you.”
Baris sighs exasperated. “We established Aoife is my sister. She protected her book with blood magic. We share blood—therefore I can read it. As can Maximillia.”
“And Mal can’t,” Reid points out.
“I’m not of her blood, Reid.”
“I can read it,” Layla says, coming close. Her lips twist and she sighs. “And it isverymessy.”
“Wait, you can too?” Reid runs a hand through his dark locks, perplexed.
“How can you read it?” I ask.
Layla looks to my father and he turns his head, listening to the god in his ear. “She’s a half-goddess,” he explains plainly. “It comes with with territory.”
Once he met Layla, Baris seemed to understand who she was with very little awe. Being the mouthpiece for a God in Neevea and a Fairy, I guess he’s used to weird things happening.
“Of course.” I roll my eyes. “How silly of me to not catch that.” It’s bitter, but I have a good reason. I just killed someone without thought and I still have to get my mate away from Aoife. Oh, and a world to save.Completelyreasonable.
Mal has yet to speak about what happened. Only a few words to everyone when we departed and that was it.
I can feel his pain. Does he hate me? Wish for his brother? I never meant to kill him—it was as if the heart was ready to go the minute it was touched. I’ve never experienced it before.
“Half-gods have abilities none of us do.” Baris glances to Reid, who backs away to the hearth. Since we’ve been gone, my father has crafted a few more chairs for us to sit. A bubbling stew of rabbit hangs in the fireplace. “As do Fairies.”
Layla hums. “Royal Fairies more so.”
“Indeed.”
“Fantastic.” Fee throws a small ember between her hands as if playing a game. “Can you see what she did to Kaden?”
“It’s hard to understand.” Baris shows the pages to Layla and she nods. “She seems to have mixed a few spells. A love spell alone would not put Kaden under her control, nor would it break the bond between Max and him. That goes beyond mortals—that is a gift from the Gods.”
“Bless Dey,” Layla murmurs.
FuckingDey.
“But I do not know what she mixed this with.” He taps the book. “Effy did this once before. To Kyrin.”
“What did she do?” I plant my fists on my hips. “Maybe we can trace it.”
Baris nods. “It’s worth a shot.” Giving me the book, he takes a stick and draws into the ashes. “A Noire Rose can be used in dark spells. But can also be used in love spells.”
A rose blooms from the ash and he then draws lines. “Love spellsare banned. You are stealing someone’s free will. The Noire Rose in these spells is potent, but it cannot break a mating bond. Especially between two Heartbonds.”
A jolt runs through me. There it is again. Are we truly Heartbonds?
“Kyrin and Beatrice were said to be of both. I believe that’s how he was able to hold back his curse for so long. It’s how Kaden was able to come back with you.”
“And of Oslo?” Fee asks, arms crossed. “He never mated. But he fought it back.”
