Page 101

For several long moments, Sterling doesn’t move. “Why me?”

“Because you understand power isn’t just strength. It must serve a purpose.” Rivlan’s smile gives him an oddly human appearance. “You want to protect your people, regardless of rank or birthing station. Yet you also reach out to help your neighbors. I want to protect all people from this war.”

Sterling studies him. “By making me fight in it?”

“By providing you with the opportunity to end it. You’ve been fighting in it since it started. With far less power than what I offer you.” Rivlan’s form softens. “And Knox…there is no ‘me making you.’ It is all yours. Your choice. Your power.”

Indecision wars in Sterling’s eyes.

This isn’t a competition.

This is about saving our people…and about Sterling achieving his destiny without the woman he loves trying to stop him. I would have felt betrayed if he’d stood in my way. I loved him more because he never tried.

How can I stand in his way now, if this is what he needs to do?

With uncertainty churning in my gut, I paste on a reassuring smile and give the subtlest of nods.

Sterling, eyes still on me, directs his question to Rivlan. “When do we start?”

“When you formally accept.”

Sterling lifts his chin. “I agree to become the guardian and your champion.”

The air stills, as if everything around us is suddenly listening.

The stars are watching.

I shiver. Despite his stoic pose, goose bumps erupt on Sterling’s arms. The candles flicker before burning brighter. I swear the water in the pitcher on our table rises up and reaches for Sterling.

Rivlan nods, visibly relieved. “Then your training starts tomorrow. We’ll worry about setting the date later. After we’ve had a chance to assess your abilities. Until then, things will start calming down in your world.”

Sterling’s smile feels like the first in a long time. I understand why. He can stop a war between the gods and properly return magic to the world. That’s all that should matter, right?

After the God of Water leaves, dissolving like mist at summer’s dawn, the quiet between us lingers. In the center of our chamber, we hold each other, his arms wrapped tight around me, my face buried in his chest. His heartbeat drums a steady thrum in my ear.

“We’ll figure it out,” Sterling murmurs into my hair.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak. We both know which “it” he means. Not the gods. Not the war.

The years. The endless years ahead that we might not get to share.

I hold him tighter, memorizing the feel of him, the scent of him, the solid presence of him in my arms. In case this is all we get.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Water surrounds me in perfect circles, parting as if I stand in the eye of a storm. The surface trembles, reflecting the light in fragments that prance across my skin.

After a long night of losing myself in Lark and managing far too little sleep, I barely finished my breakfast with her this morning before Rivlan appeared.

With just a wave of his arm, he brought me here.

Godly training ground, he’d called it. A place that exists somewhere between realms.

He probably just named it that to feel important.

As far as the eye can see, crystal clear water stretches toward the horizon. The glassy surface mirrors a sky of sorts, the faint glowing blue interspersed with fluffy clouds in a mimicry of the real world.

I flex my fingers, feeling the water respond not just to my touch, but to my thoughts as well. My intentions tremble beneath my skin like an anxious alicorn. The water rises, not in the familiar wavering columns I typically create, but in massive, perfectly formed pillars that shoot upward with breathtaking speed.