Page 25 of Touch

“Likewhat?”

“It’s penned in the ancient narrative. Long ago, The Stars advised The Fate Court on the essentials of protecting our world. One of those essentials is a warning about mortals who can see our kind.”

Yes. Everyone knows the story. The Stars had informed The Court about rare mortals who unearth the truth about deities and the damning effects they have, though the celestials hadn’t been able to explain why. Even their knowledge has limits.

Wonder leans forward. “There’s one fundamental we’ve never been told, but each generation of rulers has. It’s been hidden for millennia in The Archives.”

That library hall of records and manuscripts is Wonder’s favorite place in The Dark Fates. It houses every bit of lore abouttheir world, including scrolls documenting each wisdom The Stars have ever shared with their sovereigns.

But hidden tidings? That is doubtful. The Fate Court values truth and keeps nothing from their people. Love quirks a brow, silently expressing as much.

“Well, not preciselyhidden,” Wonder concedes. “They store this information in The Hollow Chamber.”

That, Love believes. The Hollow Chamber is a subterranean place deep within The Archives where deities shelve volumes of little importance. Insight and history that have overstayed their welcomes, outliving their value among gold-leaf titles, spools of vellum, and dust. All the same, Wonder gives credence to anything on paper.

The goddess lowers her voice. “I was down there and may have discovered a scroll. It recounts an era when The Stars inferred to The Court a warning: If a human and deity ever fall in love, they will be bound to each other as mates. And that deity will become mortal, forsaking their previous existence.”

Love surges to her feet. She charges onto the branch where Envy had been sitting and prowls its length. Flummoxed doesn’t begin to cover how she feels about this. For the next thirteen days, The Court will bow to The Stars—although it puts their kind in jeopardy—and task her with a man who can change her? That intensifies the risk. Of all deities, Love has been the hardest emotion to create. She’s the first love goddess ever conceived, millennia in the making, and therefore not easily replaced.

“Then why would The Stars advise that I match this man?” she demands. “The Fate Court must have clamored.”

“Oh, Love. You’re more exhausting than Angst.” Wonder peers around the snow-caked forest once more. “I’m sure it wasn’t painless for them to give you this chore. As for the scroll, did I not just say it’s in The Hollow Chamber? It’s been ages,so The Fate Court may have forgotten about its existence. My guess is none of The Courts throughout history took The Stars’ guidance on that front seriously. It wasn’t a prophecy so much as a precaution. Come now. An immortal and a human becoming mates? An immortal capable of love and who yearns to become an aging, fragile human? Enough to pursue such a desire? Possible in theory but absurd in reality. That’s why the scroll must have been transferred to The Chamber. Do you resent this information?”

“More than anything,” Love confesses.

Wonder smirks. “You fancy him.”

While Love forces herself not to hiss at the accusation, the goddess beams. “We all saw it when we got here. Any time we mentioned him, you melted like candle wax or threw a colossal fit. That’s a radiant start. Loving him back is the other half of the change. Isn’t it marvelous how answers to the greatest obstacles can be found right under our noses?”

“What if an immortal does not wish to change?”

Wonder shrugs with pleasure. “I wouldn’t know what to tell them.”

Love drops back onto the branch. A chorus of brittle twigs cracks around her. “What were you doing in The Chamber?”

“I got lost.”

Wonder’s scarred hands are now bunched in her lap rather than brushing through her hair. Out of sheer distraction, she often gets lost when she’s in a new human village. Though, not in The Archives. That’s Wonder’s haven.

No. She’d been down there for another reason. Had she been looking for something else when the scroll ended up in her hands? Like the rest of their crew, Wonder hasn’t returned to The Dark Fates in a year. So how long has she known about this?

The goddess casts Love a sidelong glance. “You helped me once.”

The memory between them grows like a flower. That’s what this is about. Wonder believes she owes Love this knowledge, after what Love did—attemptedto do—for Wonder on the day she was tortured.

The goddess fluffs the blossoms of her corsage. “I’m also telling you this because you’re not like the rest of us, and that’s why I’m fond of you. Who wouldn’t favor a love goddess? Other than Anger?” She bites her lower lip. “He’s been watching you.”

Love stiffens. “Anger’s been leaving his jurisdiction to spy on me? What the devil for?”

“He saw you and the man meet,” Wonder confides. “He almost decapitated the mortal when your archery battle came to a stalemate.”

“It wasn’t a stalemate. I’d have bested him.”

“According to Anger, your aim was off.”

Fucking Stars. That part hadn’t happened, no matter what Andrew or Anger claim!

A growl scrolls up Love’s throat. “That’s how The Court knows about Andrew. Our crew leader decided to play informant.”

---