My hands curled into the fabric beneath me. “But the Starved is dead. So I’m safe now, right?”
She shook her head sadly. “There is more than one Starved. The Serpent Lord will never give up.”
“Why did you take my memories?” My voice broke.
Edith exhaled slowly, as if she had been dreading this moment. “If I hadn’t, nothing would have stopped you from going back to Draven.”
I couldn’t get enough air.Draven.The name was a door half opened in my mind, shadows pooling just beyond the threshold. Something warm and inviting pulling me where I refused to go.
“The Azure royal family have a secret power. They can shift in ways that others cannot even imagine.” Edith’s eyes were firm. “You cannot shift at all. The Azure King and Queen were both killed along with the crown princess, Draven’s sister, but I believe Draven escaped and hid. He is now king of his dominion.”
“Why do you think that?”
She pressed her lips together. “Because of you. Before you were knocked unconscious during the Annihilation, you were absolutely certain he had survived the attack. You could feel it through your Pair bond.”
I swallowed hard.
“I decided to wait,” she continued, “until you came into your full powers with your second zodiac year.”
My pulse pounded in my ears. “I agreed to this?”
Her expression tightened. “No. But, Rubi—”
I stood, shucking off the covers. I swayed slightly for a moment. “You took my memories, my power, my very identity—against my will.”
“It was the only way to protect you,” she said, her tone growing more desperate.
I shook my head, hands trembling. “How?”
“I put the spells on you before you awoke,” Edith said, voice raw now, her hands twisting together in her lap. “To change your appearance. To take your memories.” She closed her eyes briefly, then whispered, “I am so sorry.”
I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice. “Were you going to hide who I was from me forever?”
“Only until your second zodiac year. But by then, you hadalready Bonded Flame. You were being targeted by demons again.” She shook her head, her expression grim. “You were in the Culling and being watched. I couldn’t take the risk of telling you then.”
I let out a sharp breath, the pieces clicking into place. “The attack in Steel Haven.”
She nodded. “That was no coincidence.”
“No. This—this doesn’t make sense. My magic didn’t change when I turned twenty-four, when my second zodiac year came.”
She sighed. “Yes, it did. I am one of the most powerful nulls ever born, and it took everything I had to contain it.”
A memory surfaced: Edith, pale, drawn, weaker than I had ever seen her.
I whispered, “You were so tired…all this time because of me?”
“Your fate is too strong. It is a storm. It was only a matter of time before he found you. The Starved. The Serpent Lord. And his heir, the one of prophecy.”
A cold weight settled in my chest. “Who is that?”
“No one knows. We’ve been trying to find him for years now, to keep him away from you.”
Memories continued to press against the darkened corners of my mind, demanding to be let in. Fragments of something long buried flickered at the edges of my consciousness. A boy with crimson hair teasing me, irritated with Draven, as we all played in the gardens.
“This is why Auron seemed so familiar.” I could hardly believe the words I was saying. “He’s my brother.”
“Yes.” Her voice was gentle and filled with love.
