Page 82 of The Rose in the Shadows

Clay nodded, turning away from me to the shelves of books along the wall and gazing over them, looking for one in particular. I knew I should follow him, but I found myself still drawn to the bident, as if its magic and my own were inexplicably attracted to each other with the force of magnets brought too close together.

“So, how did the bident get here?” I wondered.

“Ennoss took it from his brother when they fled. He returned it to House Hyrax, trusting the magic wouldn’t poison their minds as it had his brother.”

“Wasn’t he worried they would use its power against him?”

“They couldn’t.” Clay shrugged. “Many have tried throughout the years, but just because we carry the blood of Gods doesn’t mean we are godly. No one has ever harnessed the magic in it. Only Hyrax himself would be able to.”

My fingers lifted, drawn to the cold steel handle of the bident. I needed to touch it. I needed to feel it. And it wanted me to. I could sense that. The spear wished to connect with me as much as I needed to hold it. Was this what Caldrius had felt, or was this the effect of Hyrax’s blood in my body pushing me to connect with my ancestor?

The sound of Clay dropping a heavy book onto the table in the center of the room was enough to snap me out of the trance and turn back towards him. He flipped through the pages quickly, pausing when he found what he wanted and turning it towards me.

“Look,” he commanded.

I strode to his side, and his fingers gently slid over the tome to me. The pages were lined with name after name, ending suddenly with one final signature.Zacharia Moore-the man presumed to be my father. And the man who had once been presumed to have been the end of the Hyrax line.

Until me.

Clay pushed something into my hand: a quill.

“I believe this page is missing something,” he whispered.

My breath caught. We still didn’t know where I had come from, or even if Zachariahwasmy father, but I had obviously come from Hyrax and that made the names on this list my family. Even if I couldn’t remember them, by adding my name to this list, I could claim them.

Steadying my hand, I dipped the quill into the ink jar Clay held for me before officially signing my name into the family tree of Hyrax. Just like that, a book that had been put away on a shelf forever was given a second chance at life. And a girl who still carried the burden of lost memories was able to reclaim some semblance of family.

“Thank you,” I whispered, acutely aware of how close he stood to me and the heat that radiated from his body towards mine. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

He shrugged, cheeks reddening slightly. “I know you’ve felt alone and are desperate to know your past. I wish we had found more information for you, and I swear to you I am still looking, but I thought knowing this place existed, knowing your family’s history is here, might help you.”

I nodded, trying to breathe through the sudden emergence of a lump in my throat. “It does help.”

There was a stillness in the air, a tension that grew thicker with each breath I struggled to achieve.

“I hope you know you’re not alone, though,” he continued. “You’re an Athenian citizen and that makes you my responsibility technically, but you’re more than just that. You’ve become more than that to all of us.”

His fingers brushed over my cheek, wiping away the tears that had dared to escape. And for that moment, I simply forgot.

I forgot everything that had happened until we stood pressed together in the Hyrax Archives.

I forgot about all the nightmares and subconscious warnings.

I forgot about the Dragon’s cruelty and the responsibilities Clay and I both had to our people.

I forgot about everything and everyone until all I was aware of was how his shining gold eyes seemed to stare right through me. All I could think of was how this man sawme.Clay saw meas a woman, not just a pawn or a princess. He saw me and he embraced who I was instead of what I represented.

His arm wrapped gently around my waist, pressing into the small of my back, and I turned to him. I met his eyes, and I didn’t look away. I didn’t want to. Who moved first was unclear, but in the silence of Hyrax estate, Clay’s lips finally pressed into mine.

He was gentle at first, questioning. He left that question in the air, inviting me to tell him whether this was okay.

Looking back, I should have taken a moment to allow my rational mind to consider what I was doing, but I let my body and the desires it had suppressed for months take over entirely.

Yes, I wanted to fulfill my duty to my people.

I wanted to remember the life I had before this kingdom.

I wanted so much, but above all, I wanted him.

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