“But Ididget hurt.” Tears gathered in her eyes. It was like he was being slowly tortured to death with each tear that fell. “It took me months—maybe even years—to move on. Even now, the wound still feels as fresh as the day you left it on my heart. What could possibly hurt me more than that?”
The mask he wore cracked and pain flashed across his features. For a moment, he just stared at her, blinking.
Then he looked away.
“Don’t do that. Don’t shut me out,” she pleaded.
“There are things that are better left unsaid,” he whispered, his jaw clenched.
“You decided for me.” Her voice rose and echoed off the rocks around them. “You can’t do that, Daimon. Youleftme. Cut yourself off from me and never returned.”
He stepped forward, needing to be closer. But she receded a step, refusing to relent. Twenty years of frustration and anger came bubbling to the surface.
“You’re hiding something, Daimon,” she continued, holding his gaze. “After the Baile attack, I spoke with Maliena.” Her eyes were wide. Determined. “She told me about your mother, about how she was an outcast like your father. And I realized even if you never knew your father, he might have found you—and he might have made you feel like an outcast yourself.”
He swallowed and his head began to pound. She was so close to the truth, so much closer than she realized. Pressure was mounting against his chest, against his entire body, like a dam about to break.
“Just be honest with me,” she pleaded, sensing she was close. “Why shut yourself off from me—from the world—and not come back home? If it’s something with your father, we can figure it out. Even if he worships the dark gods?—”
“My father doesn’t worship the dark gods,” he burst out. “Heisa dark god.”
Evelina’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes widening.
“My father is Nyx,” he said firmly, feeling instant relief, like the weight of the Zenovia Mountains had just been taken off his shoulders.
He had finally said it. And there was no going back.
Forty-Five
Evelina
My father is Nyx,the God of Fear and Dreams.
Evelina froze. The words slammed into her over and over again.
“My mother was fae,” Daimon continued. “Shewas the one that worshiped a dark god, devotedly and without fail.”
The blood drained from her face.
“How long have you known?” she whispered.
He ran his hand roughly through his hair. “Nyx came to me the day I was supposed to return back to you. He showed me memories—” His voice broke and he took a steadying breath. “Memories of my mother being burned alive just after my birth. It was at the hand of the villagers in her own town—people that had known her since she was a child.”
Evelina swallowed thickly. Her mind raced as the words sunk in.Daimonwas the son of a dark god. The shadow boy with midnight eyes who comforted her when she was plagued with sadness. The soldier who left her behind. The commander who shared a dream with her when she was overwhelmed.
“A midwife was supposed to come in after my Essence released, but she came too soon,” he continued, looking at the ground. “She saw the way my Essence cut off, theway it didn’t seek out anyone other than my mother. Maliena ran out the back of our cottage with me in her arms. She’s hidden the truth all this time.”
He wouldn’t look at her. There was so much pain in his eyes that she felt his sadness mingle with her anger. He’d dealt with this alone for nearly his entire life.
“Maliena knew?” she asked softly.
He nodded his head and looked up at her. “If anyone learns who I am, whose blood runs in my veins, they would treat me just as they did my mother. What future would you have with a forsaken god’s bastard?”
She held his gaze, her body unnaturally still as she took his words in. Worshiping the dark gods was punishable by exile to the wildlands—untamed forests with creatures straight from the Vale.
“I refuse to doom you to the same fate,” he vowed.
She reached forward and took his face in her hands. “That is stillmydecision to make.”
