The night went still, and so did Rhazien, as if I’d just said something so taboo that his hundreds of years of immortal life hadn’t prepared him to respond.
“No,” he answered in a low rumble. “These tensions have been brewing for quite some time. We need to be extremely cautious with how we proceed.”
I could only imagine with immortality comes opportunity for discourse to fester.
“Isn’t what Vaspar did to me worse than what Dommik did?” I pressed, wondering why love would deserve the most permanent punishment over aggravated violence.
Rhazien nodded at that. “It would seem that way. But we’re trying to build a better world where love won’t be punished. That’s why your gift matters so much.”
And it all comes full circle. Had I not still been riding my blood high, Imight have had another panic attack. Luckily, the blood lulled my anxiety and I sipped my cider next to its master. I was the picture of calm and collected.
“We need to find Lorana’s stone before Eryx.” Rhazien nodded and pursed his lips.
I’d located dozens of pieces of jewelry for women of the Illica court using my gift. A stone would be similar enough to that, as long as I could see an image or access a memory. “What will it do?”
Rhazien’s stubble scratched under his palm. “It will wake my maker.”
I pushed my rebellious hair behind my ear. “Lorana?”
Rhazien’s gaze flicked from me to the dark horizon. “To wake a sleeping sister, a descendant of the Original must offer their shadow to an unbitten boundling. The balance between the immortal darkness, the light from the stone, and the willing human can wake an Original.”
My mind raced as it reached for scraps of information from Dommik, Oddo, and Rhazien.
“Waking Lorana would help prevent the war?”
Rhazien nodded and turned to face me. “Will you help me, Reyva?”
His eyes filled with pleading hope, and I suddenly wanted to promise him the world, but promising the outcome he wanted to hear felt irresponsible.
I licked the cider from my lips and leaned in to give him a gentle kiss.
“I will try.”
Creases framed Rhazien’s almond eyes as he smiled at me. “Thank you.”
Stars danced above us, like Rhazien had known the sky would be active tonight for an evening picnic.
“What’s it like?” I asked after a quiet minute. “Tasting someone?”
I thought of Vaspar’s disgusting comments about drinking more from me. Why, if I was so palatable, hadn’t Dommik had the same reaction?
My head rose and fell with the heavy exhale from his chest. “It’s like…a glimpse into someone’s soul. The blood is your essence. Your lived experience. It’s—” he paused, finding the words and I sat up fully to listen “—with the right person, in the right circumstances, it’s a transcendent experience.”
“Hmm,” I hummed as he leaned in to kiss me. The gesture felt like an apology wrapped within a vow. That when he eventually did feed from me, it wouldn’t be like what happened with Vaspar.
We were quiet then, until I noticed his eyes sweeping across myfeatures and body. The corner of his lips tugged beneath his gray-speckled stubble.
“What ever are you looking at?” I teased as I tucked a loose curl behind my ear.
“Honesty?” He raised his brows.
“Always,” I encouraged.
A soft knuckle brushed down my cheek. “I like seeing myself on you.”
“Like an oil painting,” I repeated his description from our first dinner together.
He chuckled softly. “Precisely. Except now, I only see my traces.” His fingers dropped to my shoulders and continued their descent down my arms, dancing across my skin.
