Page 25

CHAPTER 25

AURORA

N othing had changed in the last couple days since she and Thane reunited. Nothing . As in, Death still had not appeared and Thane refused to speak any more of a way to break the curse. She should’ve been enjoying these few days of peace, but her peace felt like it was balanced on the edge of a blade. At any moment one of them would slip and cut the other.

Thane must have felt it too; that was why he brought them to The Sea of Wishes . A place where wishes that were not made on stars go to die. They walked along the broken shores, which were made up of all the tokens mortals gave their wishes.

It was Thane’s favorite place.

“I hate this place.” It wasn’t the place she hated. The sea was stunning. Its dark waters reflected back the bruised sky of Manere . The shore was made of coins, bits of glass, and tokens that glittered in the moonlight. What she hated were the wishes that floated down like smoke, leaving a slight ripple on the glass-like surface of the sea. They were wishes that would never be heard.

“Why?” Thane spread out a blanket in the long grasses that surrounded the sea and unpacked the basket.

Aurora picked up a tarnished copper coin, then ran her thumb over the forgotten king that was pressed on the metal. “ Some mortal is hoping they will come true.” Only wishes made on stars came true. And even those needed to be done right. A wishing star must be found and at the right moment.

Thane uncorked a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. “ Who said they didn’t come true?”

“I did.” She tossed the coin back into the sea before joining Thane on the blanket. True to his word, Thane was in something other than black. His loose-fitted white shirt and dark brown trousers gave him a more carefree look. When she was younger and still had silly dreams that they would beat the curse, she often pictured him in the heavens with her. A smile touched her lips at the thought of Thane dressed like Sky in pale blues and yellows, lounging on a cloud while she fed him sunberries.

That thought quickly dissolved like the smoky wishes that fell from the sky. Thane would look just as out of place as she did in Manere . Maybe they were never meant to have that. To live in peace.

“I didn’t bring you here to make you sad.”

“I’m not sad.” Not for the reasons he thought. Mortals were careless with their wishes. They’d make a wish on anything, like dandelion fluff and candles, so she did not feel sadness for them.

“You forget I feel everything you do. Your sadness turns my wine to vinegar.”

“That’s from drinking too much whiskey.” She swirled the shimmering liquid around the glass.

Thane moved closer, twisting a piece of her hair around his finger. “ No , my dove, that’s all because of you.”

These were the moments she missed the most when they were apart. The quiet mornings watching the moon rise over the hills of Manere . The nights falling asleep in his arms with his breath warm on her skin. They haunted her dreams and kept her heart from healing even after months apart. And there were never enough of them. “ I want more.” She blurted out the rest of her thought.

“Well, I brought plenty.” Thane motioned to the bottle.

“Not wine. You .” She didn’t pull her feelings in. She let them tangle with his. Her sadness to his desire. “ I don’t want this to end. I don’t want moments, Thane . I want lifetimes. I want centuries. I want your forevers. I want more of this.” She motioned to the space between them.

Thane pulled away, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. “ Can we not just enjoy these few moments that we have and not worry about what we cannot control?”

“Is that all I deserve?” She turned to him. “ A few stolen moments? Sky at least promised me sunbeams.”

“You hate sunbeams,” Thane reminded her.

“That’s not the point. He at least cared enough to try.”

Thane looked down at his glass. Now she could feel his sadness. See it in his mouth and the way he stiffened. “ You don’t think I try?”

“No. If you did, you’d fight for us. For me.” She knew that was selfish and unfair. She could feel his guilt every time they were together. It festered like a sliver of glass in her skin.

“Nothing with my father is for free. The price would be high.” Thane finally looked up at her. In all her years with Thane , she had never seen fear like this etched across his face. “ He could want your beauty. Your sight. Your tongue.”

Aurora thought for a moment of all the things Death could want from her. “ Would you not love me if I was hideous to look upon?” Aurora didn’t want to think about losing her beauty. Without it she was nothing.

“You have to ask?”

“Yes? I have already paid too high of a price. Several lifetimes’ worth.” Once , she believed she would grow used to the heartache. Like a sore joint. But the heartache was never the same. It could be a mild misunderstanding and the next time a bitter betrayal. Each time the cut was a little deeper, and she bled a little longer. “ If you will do nothing, then I must do something.”

“You think I have done nothing?”

“Yes!” She threw it back at him. “ It was me who found the witch. I am the one who is willing to do what must be done. You give me nothing but excuses.”

Thane turned to watch another wish drop into the sea. “ I’ve protected you from this. I’ve known how to break the curse since it was placed on me. You were never supposed to speak to that witch, and you wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been arguing with Pain that night.”

Aurora flinched, letting his words settle over her like the smoke that followed the wishes. All this time he had known. Her fear turned to anger, then back to sadness. “ Why ?”

“Because she’s Pain . That’s what she does. If I say it’s night, she’d argue it’s day.”

“No, why would you keep this from me?” The fact that he still spoke to Pain was another point she wanted to understand.

Thane narrowed his gaze. “ You have to ask? I knew you would try and break it. You went to Cadel , then to my mother. Deception couldn’t wait to tell me he had seen you. It’s a curse, Aurora . They are never as they seem. You take the life of a mortal to pay my father only to find that Fate has changed the price.”

“So that’s it?” Gods above, she was tired of gods. They lied more than mortals. At least with mortals, she expected them to lie. Gods should be above such petty things. She once thought about wishing it all away, wishing she could live amongst the mortals like the witch had. Alone . She’d wish to forget this place or that gods ever existed. Including the one sitting next to her.

Thane ran his hands over his face. “ Yes .” He picked up a coin and tossed it back into the sea. “ My father’s price will be too high, and if you fail…”

Aurora wished he had brought something stronger than the wine that glimmered in her glass. “ Why does everyone think I will fail?”

“Because Death never loses.”

“I will be?—”

“Be what?” Thane stood. “ Aurora , I have a realm full of mortal and immortal souls to prove no one beats my father. The witch you spoke to had lived two lifetimes and had seen things no mortal should ever see, and yet she couldn’t outsmart him. A Fae prince was not able to outsmart Death . And Fae are immortal!”

“There is the solution. If I fail, then I’ll be forced to spend my days with you in Manere . Why is that bad? That’s what I want in the end.”

“Tell me, my love, have you ever seen a god wandering my halls?” Thane looked at her over his shoulder.

“I’ve never looked.” Aurora shrugged. To be honest she rarely looked at the faces of the inhabitants of Manere .

“Because there are none. Gods don’t have souls, and if we did, they would be worthless to my father. He will want something that only you can give him. That is how he got my mother. She would have been your mother had things worked differently. Sorrow was in love with Life .”

“Shut up.” Aurora closed her eyes to all that he was saying. When he started to speak again, she stood up. “ I said shut up. I grow tired of your lies.”

“Lies? You’re saying my mother is a lie?” Thane turned to face her. “ Look at her. She’s fair and soft, and her tears are snowdrops. She was a god of the heavens.”

“No. You are just saying these things because you think I can’t succeed. Or maybe…” She paused. “ You don’t want the curse to be broken. When I break the curse, there will be no reason for us not to be together.” Her mind spiraled out of control with all the reasons he wouldn’t want her to break the curse. She had seen Pain and knew she was a better choice for Thane . Pain was a god that promised heartache and sadness. Aurora was the god that promised a blush of a new day. A soft caress of hope.

“Yes, that’s it. After all these lifetimes and all the pain and misery losing you has caused me, I have decided I don’t want you. Gods below, listen to yourself.”

“I am. And I’m listening to you. You were with Pain the night before the witch. How many other nights are you with her?”

“None.” Thane threw up his hands. “ I’m not doing this with you.”

“You’re right because I’m done.” Aurora stomped off. Her retreat was slowed by the shifting wishes under her feet and because of the tears. Why did he always have to hurt her? “ The curse.” She stopped and hung her head. She turned around and stomped back to Thane , who stood amongst the broken wishes, his heart also breaking. “ Thane . I … I didn’t mean?—”

“I know.” He looked at her, his eyes bright with sadness. “ I can’t lose you to him.”

“And I can’t keep doing this.” She stepped closer to him, touching his hand. Her next words were like ash on her tongue. “ If we don’t break it, it will break us. It’s already started.”

Thane took her hand. “ But at least you are still whole. He will destroy?—”

Aurora pressed a finger to his lips. “ It was always going to happen. Fate has woven the threads of our story before we were born. I think the curse was just a way to do it quicker. Death will cut them one way or another. And if I have to choose, I would rather choose when. I will not fail.” When Aurora was a child, her mother would whisper to her, Watch your heart, little one. It was made to be broken.

Thane kissed her fingertips. “ It’s not Death that will cut the threads. I will break them. That is what Pain and I fought about that night. She , too, had gone to see the witch. I will fail you. I don’t know how, but I will.” Thane cupped the back of her neck, pressing his forehead to hers. “‘ To untie the threads that Fate has woven, one heart will be filled with hate. And another will lose her mate.’”

“It means nothing. Just a silly riddle an old woman spoke. I could never hate you, Thane .”

“Not you. Me .” Thane exhaled the words. “ It is my curse. The heart that must break is yours.”

“The witch said it was a mortal, and why would you hate me?” Aurora cupped his cheek. “ Is your love for me so weak?”

“No, but everything is not as it seems with a curse. Please , Aurora . Let it be. Let us not tempt Fate .”

Aurora felt Cadel before she heard his footfalls on the shore. It was time.

“Thane, your father wishes to speak to you. And you, Aurora .”

Thane closed his eyes. “ Forgive me.”