Page 30

CHAPTER 30

AURORA

A urora had never been happier to feel the cool night air of Manere on her face. The souls she collected tumbled out and were absorbed by the shadows that waited. She sagged against the wall, trying to find a moment of peace before dealing with the god whose pain had finally lessened. She opened her eyes, grateful that her sight had returned.

She trudged up the stairs. The moon was rising, and the stars watched from their place in the heavens. When this was all over, she would find a place where no god or star could find her and sleep for days. Thane’s bedroom door was open. He was sprawled out on his bed, the furs and sheets tangled around his legs.

From here the damage didn’t look so bad. She could let herself believe the sore muscles were from overuse. The exhaustion from a night of too much indulgence. But the closer she got to the bed, the harder it was to believe that. There was a large gash over his left eye, his neck and shoulder a mess of dark bruises.

She carefully crawled into bed and studied the dark lashes that lay against his skin. Bits of stardust still clung to his dark hair. She had never loved until Thane . Before him there had been gods to pass the time, to fill a need. But she had never loved them. Her mother wouldn’t let her. She told Aurora to enjoy all the things gods had to offer but never fall in love, for her heart would break.

And Aurora was prepared to live with that. Until Thane . She had caught a glimpse of him once when she and her mother had visited the underworld. He and three other gods, one who she now knew as Pain , were leaving Death’s fortress. They were all dressed in dark leather. But Thane stood out. He was laughing at whatever was being said and caught her eye for just a moment before her mother whisked her away. But she couldn’t get the thought of him to leave her alone. So that night she wished to see him again. For days she waited, and yet he didn’t appear.

Then one day after she and her father had fought, she found Thane asleep at the edge of her father’s realm. The stars above him whispered their warning that Fate was playing games. But Aurora couldn’t resist. So she stepped right to the edge of the heavens and watched him for a moment.

Silver drops of dew shimmered in his dark hair. He reminded her of a fallen star. One that had burnt out, leaving a dark smudge on the bright colors of the morning. His mouth was busted then too, and a dark bruise marred his cheekbone. He , too, had fought with his father. Aurora would later learn they fought over her. She wouldn’t realize Fate's cruelty until the curse.

His eyes fluttered open now, just as they had that morning.

“You’re back,” he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I am.” Her fingers fluttered over the gash above his eye and then down to the bruises on his jaw.

Thane captured her hand and kissed her fingertips. “ It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Deception is not your realm. And I felt it all. I couldn’t see out of my eye. I thought it fell out.” She smiled at him. “ Would you still love me if I lost my eye in the hot sands of the mortal world?”

“You have to ask?” He ran a battered knuckle over her cheek. “ How did it go?”

“Fine. Envy was there. Cadel saw her.” Cadel had disappeared the moment they landed in Manere . “ Why did you not tell him?”

“I thought one broken heart in a lifetime was enough.” His voice was rough. “ What would it have changed?”

“Nothing.” Aurora rested her weight on her elbow. “ Are we still cursed?” She held out little hope that Death would give her this one.

“Yes.”

“I thought so.” Thane’s exhaustion wrung any excitement she felt for reaping the first three souls. “ Why does he do this to you?”

Thane traced her jaw, then bottom lip. “ I’m his punishment.”

Aurora groaned and flopped down on the bed. “ What does that even mean, Thane ?” She watched the stars above them. They whispered and gossiped about her and the god she lay with. Fate would soon know how close she was to breaking his curse.

“My father and Fate have been at odds since the creation of mortals. Death would take one of Fate’s loves, and Fate wove you into my life.” Thane looked over at Aurora . “ What better way to beat my father than give him a son who loves the daughter of Life ?”

Aurora thought back to what Death had said to her. The truth about her and Thane . She refused to accept that her love for him was part of a scheme that Fate had planned out. “ And if it was just some game Fate was playing, would that mean that our love is not real?”

Thane smiled and moved closer to her. “ Does it not feel real?”

Aurora had had lots of time to think about her love for Thane . In the moments right after they fought, she thought about asking Love to write another name in her book. She had even gone to the god. But when Love asked her who Aurora wanted, Aurora couldn’t think of one name. Not only could she not lie, but she couldn’t think of her life without Thane . The thought of never being with him was far worse than the heartache.

“Dove, what’s wrong? Are you doubting our love?”

“Never.” She brushed a finger over his mouth, leaving a glittery trail behind.

There were those who thought Thane got his beauty from his mother. They hadn’t seen the beauty Death hid from the world. A beauty Death saw as a weakness. The same beauty Thane reflected back.

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a god,” she confessed. How different would their lives be if they were two mortals who had fallen in love? If their parents had been farmers and not vindictive gods? Would their love still burn so bright?

“Hush, do not say that. Where would I be without you? Where would the mortals be if not for us?”

“Maybe they’d be better. We are gods, and yet we bicker over petty things. We breed things like Hate . Envy . Lust . We are supposed to be better than mortals. The moral compass that guides them. Instead , we fight amongst ourselves. Bicker like children. Mortals are doomed if we are their saving grace.”

Thane took her hand and laced their fingers together. “ Mortals have been doomed since they were conceived. They are our flaws. They were never meant to be perfect.”

Aurora looked at him. “ And us? Should we not be perfect? Should we not be above childish wishes and curses?”

“Love, without us there wouldn’t be wishes. There would be no rain on a spring day. No sunrise to paint the sky with all its brilliance. No seas of blue or a moon to recite poetry to. We are the balance. As gods we carry the mortals’ burdens so they are free to live.”

“I’m tired of bearing the burden. I would like some peace and to live without heartache.” Aurora moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest, watching the stars and the night sky peacefully coexist. Her life had always been tainted with some sort of strife. First with her mother molding her into what her version of a god should be. Then her father demanding that she marry. And now Thane’s curse.

“I know, love. I’m tired too. Tired of all of it.” Thane inhaled sharply.

She looked up at him. His silver eyes were tarnished and dull. “ Tired of me?” His pain was partly her fault. If she hadn’t tempted Death , Thane wouldn’t be lying here trying to hide his pain.

“Never of you, dove.” He ran his finger over her brow. “ I’m sorry.”

His remorse hit her hard. “ What have you done now? I swear to all the gods in the heavens and underworld, if you are cursed again, Thane , I shall tie you to a chair.”

“No, love.” He smiled weakly at her. “ I’m sorry for loving you. For causing you pain. For not doing better. For …” He closed his eyes, breathing through a wave of pain.

“For loving another.”

“I never loved her, and she knew that.”

Aurora wanted to press him on why then. But his exhaustion was pushing down on both of them. “ There is nothing for you to be sorry about. We must bear the burden of our fathers. Now sleep. Your pain is making my teeth hurt.”

“Stay with me here.” His voice was already fading.

As much as she hated being a god, she could not live without Thane or the softness life as a god afforded her. “ Of course. But why are your hands so cold?” Aurora complained when he slid a hand up her shirt.

He inhaled a sigh of contentment. “ I love you, Aurora . Never doubt that.”

“And I you, my beautiful darkness. Now sleep.” Aurora curled up next to him, trying to think of a way to stop this. To stop Death from using Thane against her.

Above her, on the ceiling, was an unfinished painting of an embracing man and woman. The woman cried tears of gold. Pain was etched across the man’s handsome face. Aurora couldn’t tell who had made the woman cry or caused the man pain. Had they done it to each other or was it some unforeseen force that hadn’t been painted?

Like Death ?