Page 14 of The Immortal’s Trick (Bound to the Immortals)

Singing.

I hear singing .

My legs move before I can think, and I run out the back door and sprint around the clay walls of our home, rocks scraping my soles. I stumble, almost fall, but I don’t stop. I won’t miss this. I can’t .

Mama rarely sings.

I round the corner and crouch behind a cart, heart thudding. There she is, arms full of wet linen, lifting them onto a sunlit line one by one. Her voice dances through the air like chimes. The words are Greek.

My breath catches.

Since the scandal, she stopped using her lover’s tongue. It became a dead language in our house. Nebet and I still whisper Greek when no one’s listening, keeping the language alive in secret. But hearing it like this—from mama’s musical lips—it sounds heavenly.

I close my eyes and let the song carry me.

The melody is unfamiliar, yet something inside me aches with recognition. I can understand the words, but I don’t know this song. It presses against my heart like a memory I’ve never lived.

Wait.

I freeze.

That voice… it isn’t hers anymore. It’s deeper. Masculine. The words blur and twist, no longer lyrical. They scratch at the inside of my skull.

The world around me unravels.

I bolt upright, gasping.

I’m in a bed. Silks cling to my skin, the smooth fabric brushing my limbs like a gentle caress. A canopy stretches above me, delicate and ornate.

The wedding. Lome’s home. The ceremony.

Everything comes back in a rush—the cloaked figure, the chanting, the pressure in my lungs. The moment I slipped under. And then Lome, his worried face hovering above me as I woke. His relief. His reassurances.

I groan and flop back onto the pillow, covering my face with trembling hands.

The ceremony is complete. I’m immortal now.

I swing out of bed and cross to the window. My newly sharpened vision scans the distant hills. A goat scrambles up a steep rock face, clear as day. It feels impossibly close.

Voices drift through the air. Male voices.

I pause, listening. One of them is Lome.

I grab a silk robe and wrap it tightly around me, tying the sash. My fingers smooth my hair, taming the sleep from my appearance. I move silently down the corridor, following the sounds through winding halls. At last, I stop at a door left slightly ajar.

Just as I raise my hand to knock, I hear my name.

“ Eshe is beautiful and has a good soul. I hope you two are happy.”

Des .

Lome lifts a glass. "Thank you. I am very fortunate to have found her."

"I’m more surprised you managed to convince her to marry you," Thane says dryly.

"Eshe is cautious," Lome replies, sipping his drink before adding, "She didn’t know what to make of me."

That hasn’t changed.

Des asks, “Do you believe she recognized your connection?”

Lome’s voice softens. “Yes. I felt when she sensed it, but she resisted its pull almost every time we spoke.”

I press my hand to my chest, where that same pull tugs at my heart as they speak.

“You were lucky her family needed help,” Thane mutters. “Otherwise, you’d still be chasing her.”

Lome scoffs. "Luck had nothing to do with it."

Silence falls.

My pulse hammers.

“What do you mean?” Des asks the question burning the tip of my tongue.

Lome swirls his glass, a frown tugs at his lips. “Theshan Akil was desperate, but not desperate enough to push Eshe to accept any proposal I would offer. So… I pushed things along.”

My hand falls to my side. What in the Gods does that mean?

Thane’s voice sharpens. "Explain, Lome. What did you do?"

“Don’t look at me like that,” my husband snaps back. “You both demanded that I act. You urged me to secure the match before anything went wrong. Before she ended up like?—”

“Ambrosia,” Des finishes, voice hollow.

“Exactly,” Lome takes another swig of his drink. “You both convinced me waiting was a risk, so I took action.”

Thane grunts, “You still haven’t explained exactly what you did.”

“I stole Theshan’s latest harvest.” Lome shrugs. “With no food to sell, he had to secure Nebet’s marriage to Benipe, but when I came along with a better offer, he accepted me for Eshe instead.”

The world spins.

He stole the crops.

Lome, my husband , stole from my family?

The horror strikes like lightning, burning every inch of my body. Smoke fills my lungs. I can’t breathe.

“You manipulated Eshe,” Des says, voice brittle with disgust. “You knew she’d sacrifice herself to save her sister.”

“She did what I hoped she would,” Lome says.

My vision darkens at the edges. A sharp gust of wind barrels down the corridor from behind me, and the door slams open.

Did that come from me?

All three men whip around. Silence crashes into the room like thunder.

I stand in the doorway, unable to speak, glaring at Lome.

His expression shifts from shock to remorse, but not regret. He is sorry I found out the truth, but he is not sorry for what he did.

And it’s not a guess. I see his emotions… I feel them as a thread of our eternal bond carries his thoughts into my mind.

Lome is not ashamed of his trickery or his deceit.

I laugh once, dry, bitter. Then, I turn and flee.

Back in my room, I slam the door and twist the lock. It’s a meaningless gesture, but one that fills me with satisfaction nonetheless.

How could I be so stupid ? I gave up everything . My home, my family, Ani?—

Ani.

His face blooms in my memory, and the last time we spoke.

“Please,” Ani says, voice cracking. “Do not do it.”

He stands in my father’s doorway, eyes red.

“Lome is a good man,” I say evenly, hiding how my heart breaks in two at seeing his sadness. “He offered to help me save Nebet.”

“But I love you, Eshe,” Ani declares. The words feel like a stab to the heart. “I’ve always loved you. Marry me, instead.”

Gods, if I only could.

But I am engaged to an immortal god. There is no going back on that.

I shake my head and latch onto the one excuse he will certainly understand, “Your father would never allow it.”

He drops to his knees. “I’ll find a way to convince him. Just… don’t choose him .”

But I did choose Lome.

And now, I sink to the floor, cold silk bunching beneath me, betrayal tearing my soul to pieces.

On the other side of the door, Lome knocks. “Please, Eshe,” he begs through the fine wood. “Let me explain.”

I close my eyes. No explanation can fix what he did.

He stole our harvest. He gambled with Nebet’s life for me . He claimed to care about me—but caring for someone doesn’t mean you use them. You don’t trap them.

Minutes stretch—maybe hours—until Lome’s voice finally fades into silence. The weight of what’s been taken from me presses down on me, crushing my lungs.

I force myself to the window, eyes fixed on the sky bleeding red and gold. The horizon flames with fire and farewell to my previous life.

Maybe Nebet watches this sunset too. Maybe Ani does.

My throat tightens with a thousand silent screams.

I don’t regret my sacrifice. Not for my sister. Not for my brothers. I’d choose this path again—blindly, fiercely—to keep them safe.

But I will never forgive Lome for stealing my choice. For twisting my heart and fate into a weapon to wield. For turning me into the kind of woman who falls for empty promises and becomes a pawn in a selfish game.

He made me my worst fear… He made me my mother’s daughter.

A single tear slips free—bitter, defiant—and I vow: it will be the first and last I ever shed for him .