Page 51 of A Clash of Stars

“Did he kiss you this morning?” he breathed.

My eyes fluttered toward him. His eyes darkened, waiting for my response.

“That’s none of your damn business, Evander.”

He laughed, and his right hand pulled a strand of hair out of place and gently placed it behind my ear.

“I have to leave today. I’m not sure when I will returnorif I will. I know you don’t need protection. You are strong enough on your own.”

His right hand slid to my waist, and I could feel my body reacting to his touch. His lips leaned in towards my ear.

“Let me know when you’re finished playing with Madok. I’ll be waiting. Call out to me, and I’ll hear you. I don’t believe his story about your mate. Eros isn’t even a real person, but I am.”

He moved his lips before mine, “Madok can be your first, but I will be your forever.”

Evander placed an ever-so-gentle kiss on my lips, and I felt the swirl of heat rising in me, and his grip tightened on my waist. His kiss became more demanding, and I could feel the longing within him and me. My hands moved into his dark hair and pulled him closer to me. Bright flashes of gold blurred my vision when he stopped.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Clara Bear,” he whispered.

Then he was gone. I went to chase after him, but he wasn’t there. Where was he going? Why leave me here if he wants to be with me? It made no sense. Maybe he was toying with me or dragging me along for some unknown reason. He also knew I had a mate who wasn’t him, but he made a good point about whether or not Eros was even a person.

Ugh.

I must find a way to be alone without any man interrupting my thoughts. All they cause is trouble.

Later that evening, my parents arrived back at the house. They greeted me with their signature embraces, and I made sure my bralette was on this time and the shirt I changed into was not sheer. Our family was very loving and friendly, and we expressed our feelings outwardly most of the time but not enough for me to show off my nipples.

We sat together at the dining room table, just the three of us and a server. We bantered back and forth for a while when I finally opened up my series of questions.

“I have a lot of questions. I need—”

My father interrupted me, “We are in the city of Manzanita. This city is outside of the Kingdom of Claiborne. When the Kingdom of Aster was challenged for the first time, the people of Claiborne fled the city and came here. During that time, we became friends with a man named Jeremiah, who happens to be Athiana’s son. That is who you met yesterday upon your arrival.”

I immediately wanted to kick myself in the ass that I didn’t know who he was. I should’ve been the one bowing to him instead. It made sense now that I felt like I did after meeting him.

After I captured the Relic, all of Athiana’s essence and the other gods and goddesses were channeled into me, using me as a vessel. I’m sure that’s why I felt bonded with him somehow.

“Jeremiah explained everything to us and told us how we were connected to him. When Athiana placed the curse, another god retaliated, creating an additional one. Athiana wanted to have a way to ensure the safety of her people and to punish the god who betrayed her. She had a plan, as always. Athiana planted a piece of history into the first-generation children of the gods and goddesses, and they were to develop a competition to lure out the true descendent. This true descendant would be rewarded with a compilation of all six powers to eventually defeat her betrayer because she was banished from our world in the process of the curses being placed. However, she could still communicate with a few people inside.

“Athiana’s first attempt was to challenge the kingdom of Aster with her best friend, Josephine. She requested power from all of the royal bloodlines to create a vessel within Jo to try and defeat the Aster power. Athiana ensured everyone believed that the Variance had always been around, somehow planting it in their thoughts and that each kingdom would send its best and brightest royals to compete against one another for the rightful place on the throne. Everyone believed.

“For Athiana to make this a believable competition amongst the royals, she needed to create something. She made the Relic that you have on your finger. Josephine capturing the Relic would give her automatic power over Carondelet, yet, she already had all the power. It was just a step in the plan to defeat the Kingdom of Aster that fought against Athiana with everything they had. Her plan didn’t pan out completely how she wanted because an unknown force pushed into her kingdom, pushing her people out of the place they lived and into this city, Manzanita.”

He paused, taking a deep breath.

“I am telling you this for you to hear the truth of our home. This woman was important. She was all-powerful, yet it still wasn’t enough. Athiana knew that her friend would do anything to protect it all. Clara, Josephine was my sister. Your aunt.”

My eyes furrowed at my father as I tried to understand what he told me. “So, she already had the power from the gods within her, so how did she die, and how did the powers end up in the ring?”

He sighed, “When Josephine was captured, she spelled her magic within the ring, casting it away from her, protecting the future. She would have taken the throne of Sefida and brought control and honor to our land, but others came after her. When she fled here, she was protected by her friend, James, Madok’s father, but they found her, and she was killed.”

“So let me get this straight, my aunt is Josephine, the last victor of the ‘Variance.’ She found the ring, just like I did, and gained all the powers of the kingdoms, then was murdered.”

My father sighed, “After she died, we knew our plan would eventually lead to us challenging Aster. The onyx ring was held until another challenger could attempt an overthrow. My sister had great hopes that another descendent could complete the curse against Athiana’s betrayer.”

“But what truly happened to her? To you?”

He sighed, and a tear streamed down his cheek, “It was horrible. They couldn’t prove treason against the Kingdom of Aster, but I knew it. Josephine was beautiful, kind, and loving like you, Clara. She made me come to Manzanita, to your mother. She was here, being raised by goddess Colette, and that is how we got to know one another. Like Josephine herself planned it. Then Colette went missing a few years later, and we still don’t know what happened.”

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