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“Because they care for you and want to see you break the curse. They will move on when you can.”

“But I finished the trials.”

She scoffed. Who would have known that having a goddess scoff at you could be so embarrassing? My cheeks burned brightly.

“Those trials are not the way to break your curse. The bloodstone will break your curse! You know this.” She tossed her arms in the air to exaggerate her point.

“But I touched it, and nothing happened.”

“The trials were to give you a reason to want to get the bloodstone, but you must give it to Cassius to break the curse.”

Irritation filled me at this stupid revelation. I had to hand Cassius a stupid fucking rock to break a curse he caused in the first place.

“So… My memories rely on handing a damn rock to Cassius. Am I understanding that correctly?”

The goddess tried to suppress her smile.

“Yes.”

“Why?” I sighed. “Why can’t I just tell him I love him or something?”

She shook her head.

“You don’t understand. That bloodstone was your mother’s bloodstone. She was a blood witch—a very powerful blood witch. She was a queen before your father had her killed. That bloodstone holds power, but only for you. Gifting something so special to someone will give them some of your power too. Although no one knows that, that is why it’s important that you give it to Cassius when and if you decide to forgive him. It is a truly high honor. It will show that you chose to love him even after he killed you.”

“My mother caused all of this,” I hissed angrily.

“Yes, but she saved you by doing it, Thea. Your father would have killed you if she hadn’t barbed your magic inside.Heis your enemy, not your mother, not Cassius.”

Suddenly, Della groaned in pain and fell to her knees. I hurried over to her but stopped when she held her hand up. She looked at me, blood dripping from her nose as she gasped for breath.

“Are you alright?”

“I said too much about the curse,” she wheezed. “It will pass.”

I watched her as she seemed to be in severe pain, but she waved me away when I tried to help her again. After a few minutes, she took a full breath.

Della’s words swarmed through my mind as I helped her stand back up. She wiped the blood from her nose. We stood in silence for a long moment. There was one detail of her story that kept sticking out to me, and I thought maybe she hadn’t realized her mistake.

“You called me Thea Valeska earlier.” I looked up at her, confused. I had expected her to apologize and correct the name to Thea Alzara, but she gave me a sly smirk.

“Did I?”

“Yes…did you mean Thea Alzara?”

The wisps turned dark green, and the goddess looked at them as if she were communicating without speaking.

“No, I didn’t mean Thea Alzara.”

Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes traced down to the crown tattoo on my wrist.

“But that’s Cassius’ surname.” My mind suddenly flashed to Cassius and I standing on a cliffside with a priestess, but the memory was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

“Did he not tell you?” Her confusion made me let out a staggered breath. “I assumed he did.”

“I have not let him tell me anything. I am too scared of losing him to find out the truth,” I sighed, defeated.

Her eyes moved back down to my communication bond.