Hell, maybe the love scared me even more. To give someone that much of yourself. To give someone the power to destroy you. I could understand it—why Vincent never learned how to do it. I could understand how it would be easier to never feel that kind of vulnerability. And yet. I pressed Raihn’s palm to my face, leaning into his touch. And yet. Ther

Turning is a fate worse than death.

“I’m not abandoning her.” My words were sharper than I’d meant for them to be. “I made vows. I’m not doing that.” Your soul is my soul. Your blood is my blood. Your heart is my heart.

“Daresay you’re evolving, princess.” “Your approval means so much to me,” I deadpanned, and Raihn’s laugh sounded like one of genuine delight.

I glanced over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure why—I did it without thinking. The look on Oraya’s face struck me. Satisfaction. Bloodthirsty satisfaction. The first time in weeks I’d seen something that looked like fight in her eyes. Goddess, I could’ve fucking wept for it. There she is, I thought.

When I opened my eyes, the stone door was gone. In its place was a tunnel of darkness. Goosebumps rose over my skin, already reacting to the magic of whatever lurked within. “Every shred of my being is screaming not to let you go down there,” Raihn said.

Right now, though, I didn’t need any kind of magical goddess-gifted heart bond to know that Oraya was pissed. She was wearing that a-cat-is-pissing-on-my-leg-and-you’re-the-cat face. My favorite of the diverse library of Oraya faces.

“Your mother loved you,” she said. “I hope you never doubted that, no matter what he might have told you. And so did the rest of us. Your siblings. Your stepfather. You were—are—so fiercely, fiercely loved. I always hoped that you felt that wherever you were, even if we couldn’t tell you it directly.”

His thumb rubbed that single circle on my upper back. “You’re safe,” he murmured. “Alright?” He sounded a little sad.