Page 38 of Flight of Fate

“I don’t think you celebrate it in Eherea,” Herinor explains, green eyes alight when Kaira meets his gaze. “It’s something even Myron and Royad barely know since it’s a tradition of the ancient Neredynian people; perhaps us Crows are the only ones still remembering.”

“Why are Traitor Crows coming to the Fairy capital to do a blood sacrifice on this night?” Kaira demands, and I’m glad I don’t need to because even my mental voice would have been shaking.

“It’s not only the night where the realms of the living and the dead become closest but all realms, known and unknown. And those of the gods.”

“Shaelak,” Myron explains. “They came here to make a sacrifice to Shaelak himself, not just any god. Why?” His eyes pin Herinor, the male squinting into the half-light. Silver sparks aredancing at Silas’s and Royad’s fingertips now, too, bathing the old rocks in what appears like shimmering stars.

Herinor’s throat bobs.

“Why, Herinor.” When the male doesn’t answer immediately, Myron’s magic springs loose, wrapping around Herinor’s neck, ready to snap. “They could have spilled their blood on any rock in the woods. Could have prayed in any temple. They staged an attack in the north to lure us out of the city then slayed half a district only to get to this temple. I want to know why.”

Herinor shakes his head, not in defiance but in resignation. “I can only guess.”

“Guess then,” Royad hisses, his blade flashing silver at Herinor’s throat an inch above Myron’s magic. “I am not as patient as our king, so you better be quick.”

My heart pounds in my chest like a hammer on an anvil, the pulse ringing in my ears, but I try to listen, try to grasp whatever they say in words or between the lines.

Herinor’s eyes fill with genuine fear as he opens his mouth to speak, as he halts before the first word forms. A droplet of crimson appears on his lower lip as he blows out a breath, starting over.

I’m not the only one noticing, and it’s Kaira, who steps in front of the warrior Crow, shoving Royad’s blade aside as she shields him with her body. “Can’t you see it’s hurting him?”

We all see it, but Kaira seems to be the only one who cares because we need the truth he’s guarding more than we need him right now. Ephegos and Erina are plotting the demise of this realm and that of all Crows who aren’t following him. If this holiday has anything to do with it, we need to know.

“It’s all right, Kaira.” Herinor’s murmur is nothing like the male I’ve come to know. Something broken, resigned, and self-loathing flickers through the facade he’s been wearing, and I know that he’s ready to risk it.

With a gentle hand, he grabs Kaira’s shoulder, squeezing once before he shoves her out of the way, and nods, ignoring the fear tightening her features.

“Because they needed a temple dedicated to Shaelak and no one else, and this is the only temple left in Eherea. People have long forgotten in the human realms there is a Brother Guardian and a Sister Guardian, their temples dedicated to both. Even in Askarea, people pray tothe Guardians, not one of them individually the way they used to in the old days.” The drop on Herinor’s lip hasn’t grown, a sign he hasn’t given any vital information Ephegos forbade him to share, but by the tremble in his voice, I know he’s about to spill something that could kill him. “Ephegos knows the way we all did that this temple exists because we used to hunt in this city at every Ret Relah. He must have learned about who the Brother Guardian really is and decided to take a leap of faith.”

“Get to the point,” Myron growls, and I’m inclined to second his words of impatience.

None of this matters unless he tells us thewhy. And we’re back at the beginning, at those weeks and weeks of asking questions no one gave me answers to, all of them bound by Vala’s curse.

“Only this night they could reach between realms for the god who’s hidden his answer to Vala’s curse in the human realms for centuries,” Herinor continues, a sheen of crimson now covering half of his lower lip and part of his upper lip. The horror on Kaira’s face is nothing compared to the guilt pooling in my stomach as I push for more information.

“What do you mean, hisanswer to Vala’s curse?”My breath catches in my throat even before Herinor speaks again.

“Shaelak made all the Crows. His creation. But he only eversiredtwo children, Ayna. One of them in Neredyn, and one of them in Eherea. He did it to ensure there would be descendants of his blood with powers strong enough to break his sister’s curse.” His gaze falls upon me like he’s already given all the answers and more, and a breath rattles out of him when Kaira turns away from him, stepping closer to Silas.

He lowers his head, not in defeat but bowing to his queen. “If I’m guessing right, you are a descendant of the God of Darkness, Ayna, his blood passed down through your father’s line. Every other generation there was a female child, not often enough to increase chances by much that they’d ever cross the Crow King’s path—or any Crow’s whatsoever, but it was his loophole to Vala’s curse. A key to unlock us all and buy us freedom.”

Silence falls over the temple, thicker than that in my head.

Shaelak’s descendant.

I wish he could lie so I could pass it all for a bad joke, for a deceit so he doesn’t need to speak the real reason, but Crows can’t lie, and the fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth is proof he’s breaking through an invisible gag-order.

“Did you know this before Ayna broke the curse?” Myron asks through gritted teeth, barely restrained rage flaring through the bond in a flash that makes me almost feel human again. But my claws remain on Myron’s shoulder, my feathered form light and small.

“I didn’t. I don’t truly know. It’s all guesses and deductions. But what Ephegos told me in Meer long after Erina forced that ring onto Ayna’s finger… Combined with what happened today… It all makes sense now.”

The reminder of Erina’s decision to make me his bride makes bile rise in my throat, and a shudder runs through Myron. That ring now lies discarded somewhere at the bottom of a stream where I cast it after my escape.

“Whether it was facts or guesses, you should have told us,” prompts Royad, sword still in hand and ready to strike should Myron give the order, but the Crow King still has his own power wrapped tightly around the male’s neck.

“Ephegos forbade me under threat of the bargain to share it. And I didn’t think it held any relevance when you already had broken the curse. Even if I’m right and Shaelak’s blood flows in your veins, does it matter if the bargain broke because Vala willed it or because Shaelak’s descendant fell in love with the Crow King? You saved us either way.” He pauses for a deep breath, and the honesty of his words hits me. He truly didn’t mean any harm, didn’t even consider that it might have made a difference if I’d known.

“You naive, stupid, ignorant male,” Kaira hisses, and I could swear fire dances in her brown eyes, ready to spill into the world.

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