Page 75 of The Curse of Ophelia

Veins dance with this hint of legend…blessing and a curse…greatness of the First…

It was rare. So rare. It was unlikely, but not impossible. I swallowed loudly, watching as that golden light around Annellius Alabath shimmered. The gold source he would not disclose…it had to be the answer.

I opened my mouth to speak before I could rethink the guess. “You have Angelblood.” It wasn’t a question. I knew I was right as the words tumbled from my tongue.

A dim sadness entered Annellius’s eyes. “I do,” he confirmed.

“And you’re an Alabath.”

He nodded.

“So, our bloodline has it? Our entire family?” I gasped at the realization of what flowed through my veins.

But Annellius quickly punctured that awe with a shake of his head. “No. At my failure, the Angels removed their blood from our bloodline. Traces of it remain, but it is not pure. It makes us powerful, but it is not nourished as it once was.” He hung his head. “I am sorry.”

My shoulders slumped slightly, but I shook off the disappointment. I did not need Angelblood. I had gotten this far without it. If the substance tainted Annellius beyond repair, then it was a blessing that I did not have Angelblood.

“But I am right?” I pushed. “I have solved every puzzle. Forgiveness, trust, Angelblood.” I pointed to each Spirit in turn. “I may pass?”

They nodded in unison. “Yes, you may,” Annellius began. “But we have one more message.” He swelled before me, appearing much larger than he had a moment ago.

I shriveled in his shadow, cold washing through me.

“Take caution, Ophelia. Should you survive the next phase of the Undertaking, your journey is not over. You have much more to face, and your future will not be pleasant. Your blood is strong enough to cause and end wars. But you do not need to face that blood-ridden future. You have another option. You may stay here, with the Spirits. You may remain, Blessed. Your soul…we sense something within it. We extend this offer to you.”

My heart skipped a beat with every sentence he spoke, each more ominous than the last. I knew the Alabath line was strong, but to say I could cause and end wars seemed a drastic claim to me. I looked at the Curse on my wrist. Warfare and blood painted gruesome images across the vision of the future I did not think I would ever have.

“You…want me to stay?”

He nodded slowly.

For a brief moment, I pictured my life within the Spirit Volcano. The painful death that awaited me when the Curse grasped my life would no longer be a threat. I would remain in this sacred dwelling participating in the legends of our people, without any more agony to plague my life. Surrounded by the warmth of the fires twin to my own heat, assisting future warriors on their own Undertakings—

But there would not be any more Undertakings unless I proved I could survive this one.

Staying in the volcano and relinquishing my future would rip that chance from every Mystique. It may be the easier choice, to escape the pain the outside world caused me and the certain death that awaited me, but running from reality was not an option.

And I did not want it to be.

I may have an arduous end in the near future, but perhaps if I could have a few more moments of bliss before then and heal something for those who came after me, the suffering would be worth it.

I looked at each Spirit in turn. “Thank you. Truly, I am honored to have received the offer. But I have unfinished business in the outside world.”

“As we thought,” Annellius responded. Though he sounded unsurprised, a shadow of sadness crossed his face.

“May I ask one more question?” My heart pounded, needing them to say yes.

Annellius nodded.

“Can you tell me where Malakai is?”

I held my breath. My every hope hung on this one moment—on them being able to tell me where to find the man I loved. Annellius’s pink eyes misted as he searched for an answer.

“We cannot.”

My heart sank. I wanted to fall to my knees and beg, but I saw the resolve in his hard Alabath stare and knew there was no hope of convincing the Spirit to change his mind.

“Well, girl, get on your way,” Hectatios said, not unkindly.

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