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Vile. Did I have to say such a saccharine thing to this creature?

The deity smiled weakly, petals falling unnoticed around him. “I’m afraid, my prince. There is something out there which haunts my days. A weapon.”

Curiosity sparked in both versions of me. “What is it?”

“My tongue is too loose.”

Past Me continued to stroke his side. “Talk to me.”

After a few moments of hesitation, Aidan said, “The Wheel of Beginning.”

Past Me sat up. “What is it?”

“The beginning of all things,” he answered, also sitting up. “Yet also the end of all things. A strange title really. Anyway, it is the power of creation, it is the power of time, and it is the power of ending.”

“I don’t understand.” Past Me spoke for both of us.

“We all come from The Wheel,” he said, voice shaky. “It spun me into existence, and it can spin me back out of it. All of us. All things. And there are those out there who wish to control it.” His bottom lip trembled.

“My love.” Past Me went for comfort.

Aidan rejected it. “It is both miraculous and deadly, and heavily warded. Thankfully, I have the key.”

When in Selene’s blessed name was this?

“You do?” Past Me asked.

I was so gullible back then.

“I’ll put it somewhere safe. The wrong hands can’t have it.”

“They won’t. I promise.”

Aidan clamped his bottom lip between his teeth, those evil eyes moving up and down Past Me’s body.

“I mean it, Aidan. No one will ever know.”

The deity launched himself at Past Me, grabbing him by the skull, pressing his fingers hard into his temples. Golden light spilled across Past Me’s hair, choking off any questions. The younger me froze, trapped in Aidan’s grip, temples pulsing as if small creatures writhed under the surface, waiting to burst out.

“I should have never told you,” Aidan said with what sounded like regret spiced with anger. “It’s your cock. It loosened my tongue. I’m too close to you. This is not part of the plan.” He grunted and spat over the side of the bed. “No more secrets for the handsome vampire prince.” He chuckled, not letting Past Me go. “I think it is time to end the bad habit of being enamored by scrumptious cocks with beautiful men attached to them.”

Fissures of gold spread across Past Me’s body, seeping into his skin.

“No matter,” Aidan added somewhat dreamily. “I have taken it back. All is as it should be.”

At that moment, I heard shuffling outside the bedroom door. I wasn’t sure if the past version of me heard it or not. Aidan certainly didn’t, lost in triumph at having corrected his mistake.

He’d taken my memory. The something he’d stolen that my sister Camilla mentioned in my memories.

The Wheel of Beginning…

The scene collapsed around me, returning me to the living room of Paris and Elio’s parents.

Paris’s eyes were lights in the foggy haze. “What he stole,” he whispered.

The elf would have seen the memory play out himself, always connected to my remembrances.

The Wheel of Beginning…