Page 15 of Third Offense

No hint of chastisement or hurt.

Simply acceptance and a touch of happiness because I’d told her that I approved of my new room.

We fell into a strange sort of silence, both of us admiring the view, and just existing beside each other.

It felt… right. Like I belonged here.

I inhaled deeply again, the scents warming my blood and making me feel at peace. It was a moment I absorbed and clung to, needing my mind to still, just for another few minutes.

But all too soon that nagging little voice in my head started whispering,Is she really our mother? What about Anais?I’d always loved my mom growing up, despite our time together often being brief and to the point.

However, was it all a ruse? A way to keep me in line? A lie meant to groom me for a future beneath King Sefid’s wing?

I knew the answer deep down wasyes. But that didn’t make it any easier to stomach.

However, I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward Queen Gaia. There was something about her aura that I couldn’t quite describe. Some sort of divine authority that called to my inner spirit, demanding I recognize my place by her side.

Her blue eyes met mine, her smile still touched with a hint of sadness as she murmured, “This all must be overwhelming.” She glanced at the balcony. “Perhaps we should entertain a flying lesson later.”

“It is overwhelming.” I couldn’t deny that. “But…” I swallowed, thinking through what I wanted to say. “But I think I would still like that lesson.”

It would give me more time to get to know her, something my heart wanted more than anything. Because if she really was my mom—which I believed more and more with each passing second—then I didn’t want to waste anymore time.

And on a practical level, it would also tell me how to battle this elixir.

However, it was more so the desire toknowmy mother that inspired me to grab her arm. “Please,” I added as a sweep of energy ran up my limbs as a result of my touching her.

I inhaled sharply, the electricity sizzling through me and bringing with it a sense of calmness that had my shoulders instantly relaxing.Oh.I liked that.

And her expression told me she’d felt it, too.

I wasn’t sure if it was simply us touching that had evoked such energy, or if it came from her. But I was definitely starting to believe everything Kyril had told me about the truth of the Noir.

My mother was a goddess.

Which makes me one, too.

My throat went dry with the thought, my need for a distraction mounting by the second. I released my mother and stepped through the open glass doors in the bedroom and onto the balcony. There were no rails, granting me a sense of freedom that had me longing to spread my wings.

Alas, the elixir kept them hidden.

Yet I sensed them behind me like a mirage.

Gaia’s words earlier words had me recalling my first flight.

The anticipation.

The terror.

The excitement.

Except, this time I was in a different world. The ocean that spanned out before me sparkled under a bright sunlight with a sky that held a different tone of blue than I was used to.

Because this wasn’t my world. This one belonged to humans.

“Are you sure it’s safe to practice? In regard to being spotted by the locals, I mean?” I asked.

We’d been given the elixir for a reason. However, the guards freely wore their wings. Of course, I’d mostly only seen them inside the palace walls where they wouldn’t be spotted.