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When I was born, they expected me to be either a witch or a human. But my existence defied all logic, as I was neither. Somehow, it was my grandfather’s abilities that were passed down to me. “The gods intervened,” my mother would say. It was the only explanation.

My name is Princess Aurelia of Rimor and I am a mythic – the last of my kind.

My mother knew my powers would put me in danger. I would be hunted. Used. So we kept them a secret.

But somehow, someone found me. Someone who had been looking. The night they found me was the night my mother died.

They killed our guards and chased us through the woods. My mother’s only solution was to bind my powers and my memories. If I didn’t have my powers – didn’t even know about them – they could never find me again. So she made it so no one could tell me who or what I was. Made it so I forgot all about magic and immortals, even my mother’s origin.

The pain I experienced as my powers were taken was excruciating. My mother’s powerful binding spell made it feel like my very essence was being ripped from my body. She cried for me during every second of it. Then it was over, and she ran, leading my hunter away from me.

And then she died, the binding spell extinguishing her powers enoughthat she couldn’t defend herself.

Only when I saw the eyes of the wolf would the spell break. She didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it was what the prophecy foretold. A prophecy that had been around for centuries, predicted by the few remaining witch prophets long ago.

My mother died protecting me for who I am. What I am. I am a mythic. The last mythic.

* * *

“Aura,” Elias beckoned gently, when the darkness took over and the sun was long set. “You need some rest.”

“We can’t leave him here,” I said, wiping more tears from my stained cheeks. “We need to take him back to Rimor.”

Elias pulled me up to my feet. “Rimor is a long way away. His body won’t—”

“I don’t care. He deserves to be buried at home.”

Sorrow shown on Elias’s face. But he nodded. “Okay. We will. But right now it’s night, and you need to rest.” He glanced down at my uncle’s permanent sleeping form. “I will put him in a building to shield him from the elements, and we will take him back home tomorrow.”

And so I agreed to let Elias lead me to the small hut Balor had been sleeping in so I could get some rest. After recovering my memories, and killing someone with my powers within moments of reobtaining them, my body was completely drained of energy. A heavy heart and new worries kept me awake for a short while longer.

How would I confront my father? How would I tell him his only brother died saving me? What would become of Rimor, having an immortal queen? Or Sprath, with no king? All those thoughts swirled in my mind as my eyelids fell heavier and heavier until the sweet escape of sleep took over.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Agentle caress on my cheek is what woke me, sparks igniting under my skin. I forced my heavy lids to open, my eyes swollen from all the crying I had done throughout the night.

“Good morning, princess,” Elias spoke gently, calmingly. I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, but severe pain caused me to groan. Elias flinched slightly as I brushed my fingers against the burn marks that wrapped around my arms.

A low growl caused me to look up. Elias’s eyes darkened into something lethal.

“I will kill her, Aura. I promise you that.”

“And you have every right to,” I answered. I reached up and pulled back the collar of his tunic, revealing a burn scar that was poking through. My heart shattered at the thought of what Elias had to go through. I was tortured for only a few minutes. Elias was tortured for weeks at a time…for the last threehundred years.

A tear slipped down my cheek, and Elias frowned. “It’s all over now,” he said reassuringly, but I still felt sick to my stomach.

“Aura, your uncle…his body won’t be well preserved by the time we reach Rimor.”

My fists clenched and my throat suddenly felt dry. My uncle was dead. He was only protecting me, and it got him killed. He would have won his battle with Volund –did win, and even had Volund discard his knives. But Sarai torturing me distracted Balor enough that he didn’t check Volund for hidden weapons, or strike him down. He was too focused on saving me, only for Volund to throw a knife at his back. The fucking snake.

I shook my head, trying to clear the memory. “Maybe we can take him back to the village. Maybe Willow can slow the…decay.” I nearly choked on the word.

“Even if we made it there quickly enough, I’m not sure Daegon will welcome us,” Elias answered.

He was right. The chieftain barely allowed us in and was more than happy to see us go. If we showed up with a dead body, I was certain we’d never be welcomed back.

There was a long silence between us before Elias spoke again.