Page 7

Sia carefully pulled the flower petals back until the paper lost its enchantment. Inside, a milky stone shimmered, waves of warm magic wafting from it. She sucked in an amazed breath, examining it closer.

“What is it?”

“It’s a Passion Stone!” Peri said excitedly, setting it onto Sia’s other palm until it grew warm with magic. “I connected it to Rocco already. So when you hold it, it’ll tell you exactly when he’s thinking of you… even if it’s just a tiny fleeting thought. Yellow means general fondness, pink is for delight or friendship, and red is—” Peri cleared her throat, her cheeks warming. “Red is for, um, passionate thoughts.”

The sisters both stared at the milky-white stone in anticipation, excitement fluttering between them. Only the stone remained stubbornly white, far longer than either of them expected. Peri’s heart sank.

Surely, today—the day of Sia’s Ascension—Rocco’s thoughts would be only of her. A glance at Peri confirmed that her sister had been expecting the same. Her mouth grew dry, this was not how she’d pictured this moment going.

Peri quickly snatched the stone from Sia’s hand and stuffed it into her pocket. This made no sense! Their mating ceremony was mere days away. Shouldn’t he be preparing everything for their future lives together? Furthermore, she had been there when Rocco promised their parents that not only would he be Sia’s protector, but that… that he would cherish her always.

Gods below, she must have made a mistake with the spell.

Except, that was highly unlikely. She’d spent far too many hours checking and rechecking the magic to be sure of its success.

Also, Rocco had known she’d be giving the stone to Sia today! Why had he made no effort at all to let Sia know the myriad of ways he loved her? Maybe he’d forgotten. Likely, he was so overwhelmed with getting things ready for Sia that his thoughts were elsewhere. Only then, the stone would have—

Peri snapped out of her cascading, panicked thoughts the moment she noticed how glassy Sia’s eyes had grown. Desperation to stop her sister from crying crawled along her skin. The last thing she’d wanted was to make her sister sad. Her voice came out a rasp, but forcefully cheerful. “I’m sure I got the spellwork wrong.”

Sia nodded slowly. “Maybe. But—I don’t know. Aunt Clovis says it takes demons longer to love the demoness they’re mated to. It’s not in their nature like it is for us.”

“No! I know he cares for you. Of course, he loves you! How could he not? I mean, look at you—you’re gorgeous, kind, and occasionally funny.”

That got a mangled laugh from Sia. “Occasionally!”

Peri coughed a laugh, relief coursing through her as she noticed that Sia was no longer on the brink of tears. “Oh hush. You know I think you’re hilarious. And I—well, Rocco helped me with this present, because he cares about you.”

Peri reached out and grasped her sister’s hands in hers. “You’ve spent all your time with him these past few months. I know you both love each other. I mean… he gave you the jacket you’re wearing right now, didn’t he?”

The sisters glanced down at the jacket, watching the tiny stitched bodies worship and care for the demon, their mate, next to them. She glanced back at Peri, her gaze quietly assessing before letting out a soft sigh. “Thank you for the present. Even if the magic wasn’t quite right, yet.”

Peri threw her arms around Sia and hugged her tightly, trying to say a million things she couldn’t verbalise with her embrace. “Concentrate on the fact that, after today, you’re going to be immortal!”

It was silent for a moment before Sia pushed Peri away from her, turned her, and guided her towards their bathroom. “Alright. Alright.” Sia said with stilted cheerfulness. “And you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry!”

Peri sat slumped in her massive bathtub, the soft lapping of water calming her as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. A thought about her own betrothed slipped into her worries. Was what Aunt Clovis said true? Would it take Valus so long to find her lovable?

How was it that everyone believed demons couldn’t befriend demonesses without developing feelings, yet those same demons could be in long-term relationships and not be completely smitten with their partner?

The snakebites on her wrists gaped at her mockingly, cracked and swollen, pulling her back to more pressing worries. Tonight, as Sia became immortal, Peri would be witnessing something that could compel her to accept the Bite.

After her class yesterday, when she’d been exchanging notes with Brightmore, he’d shoved a jar of cream into her hand and told her it was from Brennessel Croft. Her stomach had clenched at the name of her former best friend. Brenn had included a small note, asking her to rub it on whatever was irritating her wrists to help with the swelling. She’d taken the balm and stared at it for a long while after he’d left.

At first, she’d hidden it away. Part of her felt she didn’t deserve such spontaneous kindness from Brenn, but then another part of her couldn’t help but wallow in the memories of their friendship.

She scooped out more of Brenn’s salve to massage into her wounds. Her fingers pushed the cream in slow circles around the raw edges. A shuddering sigh of relief burst from her, followed by the rush of long repressed memories.

Brenn hunched over cackling in a heliotrope field, kneeling next to Peri gathering ingredients, brewing salves or potions, telling her an interesting fact or story, drinking cappuccinos in their favourite dingy café.

The most brutal memory was Brenn's face, bewildered and then devastated, as Peri stuttered her way through an explanation that her family had forbidden her from seeing Brenn again.

She pushed her fingers harder into her wrists until the pain of applying the salve mixed with the rankling ache from the wounds themselves.

The first moment Peri truly realised how different her life would soon be was when her grandfather, Moloch—the Grand Duke of the Holy Circle—had threatened that if Peri continued their friendship, he would not only keep Brenn from Ascending into immortality, but Peri as well.

Moloch had been seething. He’d said he’d never allow somebody so faithless to become immortal. But if Peri broke ties with Brenn, and Brenn proved to be more pious in the future, then he’d have no problem recommending both of them to Ascend.

So she’d isolated herself from the truest friend she’d ever known. They would have stopped being able to see each other later on anyway, because in the Holy Circle, demonesses who were mated stayed home. So, what did it matter if her heart broke now versus a little while later?