I couldn’t reveal the truth to Gabriel. Doing so would have ended Malachi’s life. I have never been surer of something.
I cared for Malachi once. Loved Malachi. I even thought we might marry someday.
But he is my past.
Gabriel is my now.
There are no other choices. My Fate was written into the sands as vividly as the tears that stained them after Mother’s death.
Roland is dead.
Dead!
Everything I worked for cannot be in vain. For ten summers, I endured unspeakable pain, ridicule, failures.
It wasn’t for naught. It cannot be.
The opportunity to avenge Mother is gone. But there must be a reason why I’m here. I’m sure of it. I can still honor Mother by stopping the Bloodstone tribe from regaining their magic.
And I will.
Malachi’s words echo in my ears.“This will kill you.”
It takes everything in me to not scratch the mark from my skin. If only that were possible. If only it wasn’t there.
If only, I had all the answers.
ChapterThirty-Nine
The mid-afternoon sun beats against my back as I sit next to Kassandra in the garden. Luc’s daughter, Adelaide, plays with a rag doll next to Kassandra.
Only three days have passed since the celebration and my conversation with Malachi. And well, finding out my world has altered.
Roland is dead.Dead.
Even now, the reality sinks into my bones.
“You’re good for him, Sol,” Kassandra says, pulling me from my thoughts.
I glance over at my friend. “What do you mean?”
“You’re good for Gabriel. He needed someone like you.”
Lumps thicken in my throat, stealing any words I might have said. The tightness returns. Squeezing my chest. My lungs. My breath.
She hunches back and runs her hands together, freeing them of the dirt clinging to her skin. “After he was betrothed to Ravenna, and things didn’t end well, I thought he’d never marry.”
“Gabriel was betrothed?”
Kassandra nods. “Yes. One summer ago.”
I brush dirt from my surcoat. “What happened?”
A fierce scowl wrenches at Kassandra’s mouth. “Ravenna broke off their betrothal and married someone from her tribe.”
Is she the one who stole his heart and shattered it?
Intense empathy wells up inside me. Empathy for Gabriel. Empathy that someone would be so callous.
