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“Love lasts eternally.”

Naia shook her head, expression growing serious. “Then why is it painful?”

He studied her face, brow creasing, as if he wasn’t sure how to phrase his reply. “Love lasts forever, but people and moments do not.”

All she heard was our moments together will one day end, and her pulse flickered with opposition. She wanted to freeze time and prove him wrong. They were both immortal, and they would never be separated. His definition was too morbid, too depressing for her to believe in.

If that was the case, what was the point of love when those that it was shared with disappeared one day?

With resolve, she declared, “I do not wish to let go of those I love. I want you forever with me.”

Her father’s dancing slowed to a tranquil sway, his eyes flitting between hers.

At the sound of his hesitation, she considered what her mother would say to such things. Attachments were a weakness. Perhaps her father shared the same belief.

Naia dropped her gaze shamefully, staring at the back of her own hand resting on her father’s shoulder. “I suppose it makes me weak.”

Father tilted his head, dropping a strand of his black hair across his forehead. “I believe it makes you quite the opposite, my darling.”

“I am without a title.” Her eyes burned with the pressure gathering behind her sternum. “Unlike the rest of you, I don’t have power flowing through my veins. What good am I?”

He held his enclosed hand up between them. “Continue to hold on to love, Naia. Deeply, fiercely, infinitely, and it will always find its way back to you.” He stretched his long fingers open, revealing a blossomed flower. Its petals thin and defined, a stunning velvet burgundy. “In my opinion, that is precisely what makes you a goddess. All hail Lady Naia—Goddess of Everlasting Love, Infinite Love.”

Naia scrunched her nose, shaking her head. “Hilarious, Father. There are no such deities. I’ve done my research, remember?”

Father tucked the dahlia behind her ear and smiled. “All High Deities had a time when their lineage did not exist. No one knows when the next lineage will emerge. Who says it cannot be you?”

The idea flourished a hope in the bottom of her belly, its roots traveling through blood and bones and touching her soul.

Naia couldn’t tell if he was joking, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him just the same.

39

ETERNITY

The Present

The High Goddess of Fate was how Naia remembered—like a floating piece of silk.

Leaves on the trees crystallized. The bark glittered like ice as she approached Naia. Hair like waves of gold, decorated with feathers, falling down her shoulders. Her skin shimmered like it was made of the finest jade crystal, and her power emanated with each step, trailing a delicate, sparkling dust.

Everyone, including Theon and Solaris, were unconscious.

Naia quickly located Akane, who had miraculously held onto Ash through the fall. He was secure in his thicket of blankets, fast asleep like the others. Naia let out the locked breath in her diaphragm with relief spreading in her chest. Thank gods.

Her eyes jumped to Ronin’s sleeping form, fixing on the measured rise and fall of his chest, reassuring herself he was still alive.

She had no faith in coincidences, and her intuition told her Lady Ruelle’s presence was with purpose.

The High Goddess stood as a bright, ethereal being over her. “It has been a pure pleasure to watch your fate unravel, Lady Naia. You’ve grown into such a beautiful goddess.”

Naia bowed her chin, avoiding looking directly at the High Goddess as a form of respect, and said, “Excuse my straightforwardness, Lady Ruelle, but why did you save Ronin?”

Ruelle laughed, the sound like a delightful rush of wind chimes. “Lady Naia, I did no such thing. You spared his life.”

Naia jerked her head up, mouth agape.

Ruelle’s smile was as radiant as a ray of sunlight. “He was the first to declare aloud he worships you.”