Page 37

ALICE

This was officially turning into the longest day of my life. How could so much happen in the span of just a few hours? I mean, I was glad we were finally finding answers to all our questions, but it was starting to feel like a tsunami. It didn't help that we were cooped up on the bridge while the menfolk traipsed around Darlam.

We had several screens up. Some showed us drone footage from surveillance cameras Noodar and Tharaax had launched while flying over the planet. On another screen, we watched Xyrek and Zaarek make their way down a mountain, followed by another drone.

Each man had one pointed at him, but right now, the one that was supposed to be shadowing Zaarek was pointed at the Darlams on the other side of the river. My heart stuttered in my chest when I watched this group of twenty-eight people—we counted. The men cast nets into the river to catch fish while the women and children sat down and washed their clothes.

The women and children were dressed in colorful, carefully tailored clothing, reminding me of medieval times, while the men wore leather pants. Most were shirtless, but some kept their chests covered.

"Can we get a closer look at that one?" I asked, pointing at one of the men with a shirt.

"Oh, he's a looker," Nova said.

"You know we can hear you?" Zaarek's annoyed growl came from the other end of the comm.

"Oh, keep your pants on," Nova purred, her Southern accent thickening in amusement. "There’s only one man for me, and you know it, sugar."

"What are you looking for?" Sloane asked, adjusting the camera and zooming it in.

"Can you get his arm?" I squinted my eyes. "There! See it?"

Sure enough, black lines stood out. "Now that one," I pointed at another shirt wearer. His markings were clearly visible as well. After a few minutes, it was clear that all the men who wore shirts had mating marks.

"Now the women," Sloane demanded, already adjusting the camera.

All of them wore shirts, some with longer sleeves than others, but there didn't seem to be a pattern as to why. Three of them bore mating marks, just like three of the men.

"What does that mean?" Zoe asked.

"I'm not sure," I replied. I wasn't sure it meant anything. But seeing surviving Darlams was a miracle all on its own.

"Who do we think they are?" Sloane asked, her voice steady, calculating.

"I think they’re the descendants of Shade’s Vale," Xyrek answered over the comm in a rough voice, which appeared to be mirroring his emotions. He had surely been through the wringer today, and I wished I could be there with him. For him.

"Shade’s Vale?" Zoe echoed, frowning. "That sounds like something out of a fantasy romance novel."

"It was named after the Shadebound," Xyrek explained. "Single Darlams who never found their Soulweb bond."

"Wait," Tucker leaned forward, brow furrowing. "You mean they were exiled? For not mating?"

"Not exiled," Xyrek corrected. "But they weren’t welcomed, either. They left. Created their own community."

"That’s insane," Luph muttered. "Not everyone finds their fated mate. Why would they be punished for something they couldn’t control?"

"Because they tried to control it," Xyrek said. "They didn’t just live without mates. They chose their own."

That set off a ripple of reactions.

"So what?" Nova snapped. "They fell in love on their own? That was enough to get them kicked out?"

"They didn’t just deny themselves a mate," Zaarek’s voice came through. "They stole one from someone else."

"What?" Sloane turned to look at the screen as if hoping Zaarek would appear and explain.

"The Soulweb doesn’t just bind two people together," Xyrek said. "It weaves an entire path. When a pair chooses each other instead of their fated mates, they don’t just change their own lives. They cheat two other people out of ever meeting their true mate in this life."

"That’s… dark," Hannah murmured, her fingers tapping against her arm.

"That’s ridiculous," Zoe interjected. "People should be able to love who they want."

"It’s not about love," Zaarek said. "It’s about balance. The gods wove the Soulweb for a reason."

"That is a convenient way to keep people in line," Sloane muttered.

"It's not about control," Xyrek argued. "It's about harmony. The Shadebound didn’t just choose for themselves. They chose for others. They took something they had no right to take."

That hit differently.

I swallowed, shifting in my seat. "So you’re telling me," I said slowly, "that by running off and picking their own partners, they left two people completely alone?"

"Yes."

The weight of it settled like a stone in my stomach.

"That’s brutal," Nova muttered.

"It’s the truth," Zaarek said.

A tense silence stretched over the bridge until Hannah spoke again—her voice cold, distant, filled with something none of us expected.

"They were hollow. They walked in the shadows, forsaking the light of the gods. They gave in to their own selfish longings and defied the gods' will."

The entire room fell silent.

"What the hell, Hannah?" Tucker muttered.

She blinked, confusion and horror crossing her face. "I—I don’t know why I said that."

We all looked at her, then back at each other. Zaarek’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. "Because you were our High Priestess, Suahaana."

And just like that, another bomb dropped.

Hannah’s breath hitched, her eyes widening in shock. Luph took a slow, disbelieving step back as if reeling from its weight. Sloane cursed under her breath.

And me?

I just stood there, watching the pieces of our past fall into place like an unstoppable chain reaction.