Page 40

CHAPTER 40

AURORA

A urora brushed the hair from Thane’s forehead. How many nights had Ella dreamt of him like this? Asleep on his stomach, one arm tucked under the pillow. Just a faceless man in a room she didn’t know but was desperate to get back to. Aurora pulled Thane’s shirt on and padded across the bedroom floor.

Manere had woken from its slumber. The night jasmine closed her petals while the morning glory opened hers. The sky faded from gray to lilac. It was a quiet and gentle awakening. Unlike Ella’s life that had been a mess of morning meals and dirty dishes. And now poor Ella was trapped between two lives. Hers and Aurora’s .

“Well, it looks like you were wrong. You did ask for his kiss.” Moon’s pale gown shimmered in the dim starlight.

“Did you come all this way to say that?” Aurora wasn’t surprised to see her mother. She was more surprised it took her this long.

“No, I came because there is a whispering that you made a deal with Death . Please tell me that is not true, daughter.”

“Alright.” This way she didn’t have to wish to tell a lie.

“Aurora.” Moon grabbed Aurora and tugged her further onto the terrace. “ What have you done? Do you realize the power you have given Death ?”

“He has to win first. I have one soul left and the curse will be broken, and Death loses.”

Moon pulled back. “ How did I raise such a stupid child? No one has ever beaten Death . He is the only constant.”

“For mortals, yes. For gods, no. We have all beaten death.” Aurora stepped away.

Moon’s laughter was sharp. “ No , pet, we have only delayed it. Your father will never let Death keep you. He will wage a war. And a war between gods is a terrible thing.”

“Death will not win.” Aurora turned away. The fear slowly crept in. The last name would be the hardest. What if it was Clara or Lillian ? Worse , Sissy or Mrs . A ? Those mortals were loved greatly. The hearts of an entire village would break for them.

“What did you bargain with?” Moon pressed. “ No , don’t tell me.”

“Gods below, Mother , make up your mind.” Aurora ran her hand over the rough stone of the wall. The lavender swayed in the breeze.

“What was it?” Moon stepped closer to Aurora , eyes narrowed, searching Aurora’s face. “ No .” Moon threw back her head. “ Which one, the sea or the stars?”

“The stars.” She looked at her hands, wondering which secret was written on each finger. The stars had many. They were older than the gods. She wondered how it would feel to have them ripped from her fingers and ribs. And would Thane feel it?

Moon stepped away, pressing her hand to her stomach. “ They are written on your bones for a reason. Do you know what that means?”

“Yes, Mother , I am well aware of that, which is why I cannot lose.” Aurora blinked away the tears. She prayed to whatever god was listening the soul she needed to collect wasn’t anyone Ella had loved.

“If he knows the secrets, he controls the stars. What if he wishes for a plague or to start a war?” Moon raged on.

That was her mother’s fear, not the pain her only child would suffer. “ That is your fear? Plague is married to one of Sorrow’s daughters. And War is not a god who can be summoned by silly wishes.” Her mother was such a dramatic god.

“Silly wishes?” Moon lifted a pale brow. “ Would you find it silly if he wishes away the heavens? Or worse, that you cannot set foot in Manere or the underworld? Or that Thane never existed?”

“Because he cannot wish a god into nonexistence, and if he could, I would unwish it,” Aurora said.

“How will you when you no longer command the stars?” Moon bit out. Moon rubbed her brow, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before looking at Aurora . “ You are a young god, so I’ll excuse your lack of understanding of the power the stars hold. That you hold. But Death knows the power those secrets hold, and he will use it. How could you be so careless?”

“Careless?” Aurora cried. “ What other choice did I have? The curse was slowly killing me.”

“You. And what of the rest of us? You have put us all in danger because of Thane ,” Moon snapped.

“Because of love, Mother . You were warned that I would have a love so great it would break me. Fate told you I was destined to break each day, and yet what did you do? Nothing .”

“I had no control over the strings Fate had already tied. You were to break, not all of us.” Moon turned from Aurora . Her shoulders fell. “ And I did try to protect you. I thought if your father banished Thane from the heavens, it would never happen.”

“What?” Aurora grabbed her mother. “ Banish him? Thane was never of the heavens.”

“His mother is Sorrow . He is like you, my pet. A god of both the heavens and the underworld. How do you think he can move between both so easily?”

Aurora had thought she was the one bringing him to her. Only gods born of both the heavens and the underworld could move freely between them. “ I thought… and what does that matter?”

“It doesn’t. Only that Fate promised Sorrow a son that would one day control the stars and the heavens. I already knew you would command the stars. Fortune told me. Which meant that Sorrow’s son would have to take them from you. When I told this to your father, he banished Sorrow to the underworld.” Moon turned to face Aurora . “ But that is what Fate wanted. With Sorrow in the underworld, she would be vulnerable to Death . It’s Fate who is really to blame. We are all his toys to play with.”

Aurora looked out across the garden. “ Did you not think that Thane would command those things through me? That he would gain those things because he loved me.” She looked at her mother. “ Did you think I would be so unlovable? Or weak that I would allow a god with a pretty face to just take them?”

“You need to ask? Death did exactly that. He used Thane’s beauty against you. Thane was created with everything you would desire.” Moon sighed and looked out across the garden. “ And no, I didn’t think you unlovable. Love is not an easy thing, pet, even for a god. It was not you I doubted. It was Thane . Men , both mortal and immortal, are very bad at love. They are more suited for starting wars. Burning cities to the ground. Destroying things. Your father may create life, but he does nothing to foster it. Because neither he nor Death understand the burden of love.”

Aurora thought of Thane and all that they had been through. The way he had treated Ella . How Ella’s life had felt so empty without love and how dim her future felt with the wrong love. “ Love is not a burden, Mother . And your words will not change how I feel for Thane . I lived without love for a mortal year, and it almost killed me. If love was given to us, it’s only because we were strong enough to bear it.”

“To bear it, yes. But not to break for it. Do you think Thane would do the same for you?” Moon demanded.

“Yes.” Thane stood in the doorway, his pants hanging low on his hips.

Moon’s laughter filled the space. “ There isn’t a god in the heavens or underworld that believes that.” Moon stepped closer to Thane . “ It’s written in the sharpness of your cheeks and in the darkness of your eyes. All things created to break my daughter. You take that which is not given freely to you.”

“He took nothing that was not given to him,” Aurora reminded her mother.

Moon ignored Aurora . “ Tell me, Thane , why does my daughter have to risk her life to break the curse? Why was it not you? It’s yours. You are the reason for it.”

“You want to know?” Thane asked, pushing off the door and stepping onto the balcony. “ Because I’m a coward. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I was afraid that she would leave me?” Thane would not look at Aurora .

“No. I want to hear you will not let your father destroy her. That you’ll love, honor, and forsake all others, even Death , for her.” Moon turned dark with her anger. “ But you can’t, can you?”

“Mother, enough,” Aurora shouted. She could feel the heartbreak starting. The anger brewing in her for Thane not trusting in her love. “ This is not your concern. I want you to leave. Now .”

“Fine. But remember this, my dearest. What Death does to you, your father will do to him.” Moon looked Thane up and down. “ And when there is nothing left of your precious darkness, don’t come crying to me.” Moon faded into the darkness.

Neither of them said anything as her mother’s scent of moonflower hung between them. The tension had returned in Thane . The muscles in his back were taut with the truth. And the truth left a bittersweet taste on her tongue.

“Aurora, what did you?—”

“Don’t, please.” Aurora wasn’t ready to lose him yet. She didn’t want to fight before she had to end the life of someone dear to her. “ Can I have this last moment, please?”

“We can’t keep ignoring this.” Thane walked over to the railing.

“I know.” Aurora looked out at the garden. It was a little like its creator—half finished. It wasn’t maintained like the gardens of the heavens. Tall grasses that were sharp enough to cut mixed with delicate moon flowers and winter roses. It was a place to get lost in. Like Thane . “ We can talk about it after the curse is broken. I fear if we talk about it now, we’ll end right back where we started.”

Thane stepped closer to her, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. “ In bed? Or in that field?”

Aurora turned to face him, studying the stardust that shimmered on his lip and throat. The dark lashes that rested against his cheek. “ Would you change that day? Would you have found another to love?”

“Not for all the stars in the sky.” Thane studied the last bracelet around her wrist. “ You know this one will be the hardest, right?”

Aurora looked down at the last one. “ Do you know who it is?”

“No.” Thane moved to the railing.

“I fear it will be one of Ella’s friends, someone she loved.” It was easier for Aurora to think of them as Ella’s friends. To put that part of her life to the back of her mind. To let it get lost with all the other useless information she had gathered. Like how much a soul weighs.

“Then don’t do it.” Thane inhaled.

“I don’t have a choice.” She paused, grappling with the new emotions her time as Ella had left her with. Regret the biggest. Longing and loss next. “ You and I have so many lifetimes together.” Aurora turned and looked out across the garden. Just past the horizon and after the Between was the mortal world. It changed so quickly Aurora marveled at how mortals accepted change. Gods were slow to embrace it. “ They have one.”

“Aurora—”

“Thane, please, the bargain has been made. Now I must finish it or pay the price.” She turned back to the garden. The moon was setting in Manere . And soon her father would be leaving the mortal world. Those moments in between day and night had been Ella’s favorites and now Aurora knew why. Because it meant the god standing next to her would be in the heavens.

“What was the deal you made with my father?” Thane didn’t look at her.

“That’s not important.” Aurora pushed off from the railing. “ We should go before it’s too late and no one remembers Ella . She should say her goodbyes.” She owed them that much. She owed poor Ella that much. The girl with no memory would soon have one. Aurora took one last look before turning to leave.

Thane grabbed her arm. “ It does matter; tell me.”

Aurora looked at the black ball gown lying on the floor. The one that Ella thought proved she was worth missing. And it did. Just not in the way Ella had thought. She looked at Thane , who stood very still. His chest barely rose with each breath. All of Manere seemed to hold its breath, waiting for her next words.

“Me.” She looked at him. The tears in her eyes blurred the world around her. “ Your father will get the secrets of the stars.”

Thane looked at his hand on her arm, then to her fingers and then back to her face. “ But those are written on your…”

“On my bones.” Thane let go of her, stepping away. “ And as my mother pointed out, my father will never let that happen. So again Life and Death will wage a war. It seems we were both wrong. It’s not us your father wants to destroy; it’s my father. We are just the means to an end.”

“Why would you do something so foolish?” Thane kept backing away from her. “ Why ?” He breathed out, shaking his head.

“You have to ask? For love!” she cried. The tears fell, leaving their glittery residue on everything. “ For your love.” It was happening again. She could feel the break, his anger, his fear. They had not made it a night before the curse took root.

“God’s teeth, Aurora , this has to stop. Why can’t you just leave well enough alone?” Thane paced a couple steps. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair, the stardust clinging to the muscles of his back and shoulders. He looked so much like a god right now.

“Leave well enough alone? What part of this is well enough? I wished my life away because of this stupid curse. A whole year away from you and the heavens. It’s not just yours. It’s mine too.”

“No.” Thane pointed at her. “ I never agreed to that.”

Aurora laughed. “ That’s not how this works. If I love you, then?—”

“Then stop.” Thane recoiled at his words. They hung in the air between them. Sharp like a knife ready to cut them and let them bleed out. “ I can’t do this.” Thane brushed by her.

“Where are you going?” Aurora watched as he dressed. He had pulled all his emotions in.

“I need some time to think about this. I need…”

Aurora knew what he was not saying. He needed to be away from her. “ How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled on his pants and a shirt. “ I think it best you stay away from me for a while.”

“Why?” She watched him finish dressing.

Thane said nothing as he tugged on his boots.

“Thane.” She stepped closer. She stopped when he stepped away. “ Why are you doing this?’

“Me,” he yelled. “ You made a deal for something that you cannot give up without it destroying you. I would rather rip the flesh from my bones than watch you suffer.” He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. “ I can’t do this right now. I can’t sit here and pretend that I am okay with this. With you.”

Aurora recoiled, fighting back all the words she wanted to say to him. Sometimes the curse would cause them to scream at each other and other times were like this one. It was a quiet goodbye. “ Please don’t go.”

Thane looked at the bed and the tangled sheets. “ I should’ve stayed away.”

Those were the last words he spoke to her.

All Manere let the breath out it was holding.