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“She is steeped in untruth. The roses in her glade are white because of your influence. They should be lavender bushes instead.”

“Huh?”

“Be careful, Paris.”

That was not a satisfying response.

A section of the garden wall vanished, leaving behind a rectangle of white nothingness.

Gavriel’s wings retracted. “You will not be a winged creature, nor will you ever have our power. But you can save this world by using Blood Melody and end the doom of every seraphim soul. It will awaken when you are in the presence of The Wheel.”

Another bomb dropped. “What doom? Where are the souls?”

A second wall vanished.

“The screaming darkness keeps us from returning to The Wheel’s embrace. It is a place made for all seraphim by the deities. Your success will set us free. If you fail, you will go there too.”

The screaming darkness. The place I went to before I resurrected. What the fuck?

“I will be going there shortly,” he said.

“You can’t go. You need to tell me more.”

A rose bush faded, white negative space remaining in its place.

“Of course, Paris,” he replied with soft assurance. “This is the most important part.” He smiled before continuing. “The Knife of Fractured Rapture is Melusine’s creation. The mer deity forged it in the depths of the East Ocean to punish her lover. Stole the blood of every race, including the last living seraphim, to create it with a dark mer spell. The words of the curse are a deliberate insult to the legacy of true Blood Melody. Her way of rejoicing in our end.”

“So the melody of the blood thing is⁠—”

“A petty insult.”

Melusine officially sucked. “That’s horrible.”

“It is my blood she used for the blade,” he added. “I had been in hiding after fleeing the fall of my realm, only to come across her one terrible night. She attacked me with the crystal dagger, declaring me her final puzzle piece.”

“Were you her lover?” I asked.

“No.” He was curt and to the point. “He died shortly after she completed the knife’s curse.”

My temple aches, my brain overfull.

“Melusine’s cruelty knew no bounds. She enjoyed playing with the fragility of mortal hearts. I’m sure she will again if she ever gets free.”

There were no rosebushes left now, just one wall remained, along with the tree.

“The knife is an unfortunate hindrance to your progress, yet also a means to reach your destiny,” he added.

“I…” I couldn’t speak.

“With the dagger, you found the vampire king, who will aid you in your quest. I once believed it was nothing more than a cruel coincidence that such a thing came to find you. Now I see it has brought you to where you need to be.”

“That…shit.” Ugh. Stupid words failing me when I needed them most.

“Get to Melusine’s forge and you will have the means to break the blade. You can find it twenty-three miles off the coast of the Orca Peninsula, 1000 meters deep.” He released another one of those windy sighs. “Dive deep, Paris. Set yourself free from the curse to see the key. Find The Wheel. Save the world. Save us all.”

I’m going to pass out.

I chewed on my bottom lip, my stomach worse than a tangle of wild vines in the jungles in the southern parts of the Mer Domain.