Page 106 of Entranced By the Basilisks

“They’re more than allies,” I say.

William’s face breaks into a smile at my expression. “I am aware. Should you choose them, I imagine that they’ll become mates.”

“Oh,” I say, and my relief is an exhale on the word. “Well, I’m glad you know.”

William’s mirth turns thoughtful. “What a miracle it is for them that you’ve become Chosen.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. No one has really broken it down for me.

“Not only will your lifespan match theirs, something Adder’s haven’t been able to have in centuries, but Jasper and Ari can openly be together.”

I crease my brow, not understanding. William sees my confusion and tries to explain.

“If they were to mate without you, Ari’s standing in the community would suffer. It’s not easy to ally with an Adder, even after all these years. Doing business with me in passing isn’t the same thing as taking an Adder as a mate.”

“Jasper wouldn’t want that to happen,” I say. He’s not a taker. He wouldn’t want Ari to suffer because of him.

“Being blessed by the Goddess is a rare thing. If you are to choose them as mates, the community would have no choice but to accept that it’s the Goddess’s will for Jasper to have a Chosen.”

“Choosing seems to be a big part of your culture,” I say to give myself time to think through that. That can’t be Ari’s strategy… it’s completely contingent on me staying Chosen. He said that if we succeed in reverting this, it wouldn’t matter for our relationship.

But did you ever believe that?

William’s eyes crease with concern. “I forget that you didn’t choose to become Chosen. I’m sorry, this must be quite traumatic for you.”

“In hindsight it hasn’t been terrible.” I bite my lip in thought. “In the beginning, I freaked out pretty bad. The only thing that calmed me down was the idea of finding a way to reverse it.”

William’s brows crease in concern. “It is unfortunate that it’s so permanent. More than one Chosen has changed their mind after being blessed in our long history. It’s thought that’s why so few chosen are selected now.”

Permanent.I blink in confusion.

“They’ve tried to reverse this before?” I ask.

“Yes,” he frowns. “Times where mates seek to become Chosen to please their partner, but regret the action when they realize that they’ve become something completely different. I’m sure you understand the struggle of suddenly being something else. The last Chosen who tried to reverse it died in the process, and no one has attempted since.”

Died.

“And this is common knowledge?” I ask, my voice going higher.

William shrugs. “For someone in serpent kin society, yes. That attempt wasn’t that long ago, maybe a century and a half.”

“Would Jasper and Ari know?”

He straightens and widens his eyes. Apparently connecting dots faster than I have while living in this penthouse. “Emilia, being a Chosen is very rare—”

“Would they?” I interrupt, not really caring what he’s going to say.

His shoulders drop in defeat. “Jasper probably doesn’t. He’s young and hasn’t moved in our society much at all.”

“But Ari would?”

“Yes, he would.”

The breath leaves my lungs. The whole time, Ari has been lying to me. He hasn’t worried about what reversing the blessing would mean for our relationship because he knows that I’m like this permanently. Shock and disbelief roar in my ears first, but the anger is quick to follow.

My hair lifts and slithers. I don’t have to look to know it’s shifted back into the serpents, hissing in rage.

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