Page 19

Kiara

Today my granddaughter was attacked. When her parents rushed to retrieve supplies to heal her wounds, it was I who held her. I swore she wavered in and out of existence for the briefest moment, her body turning a pale gray. There is only one God I can seek, and I must swallow my pride to save Kiara’s soul.

Entry in Aurora Adair’s Diary, year 40 of the curse

I dreamed I was flying.

On wings the color of night, I soared, weightless and free. A small village rested below, though there weren’t any children laughing or playing in the streets. The few people scurrying about kept their heads down, their too-thin bodies frail and weak.

Asidia was dying a slow and miserable death.

A select few crops had continued to grow after the curse, but over the last decade, the little they managed to cultivate wasn’t enough. Even the air sometimes felt too thick, and Liam—and people with breathing problems like him—were struggling.

I angled higher. I didn’t want to bear witness to such heartache. I’d known misery most of my life, the struggle that came with being trapped inside the confines of a cursed kingdom.

The winds shifted , and I allowed them to guide me, luxuriating in how the breeze ruffled my imaginary feathers.

Far in the distance, encircled by Midnight Blooms, stood a temple rising from the sea of lilac and blue. Marble columns climbed high into the inky sky, limestone fountains and stern-faced statues decorating a neatly manicured patch of flowers. At the apex of the temple, a crescent moon had been carved, three perfectly pointed stars surrounding it.

I dipped lower, drawn by the beauty of the shrine. While I’d never been to any of the gods’ temples before, it was apparent who this one belonged to.

The Moon God, whose true name had been a mystery since the dawning of time. No one could remember it but the people continued to pray, gifting him with their most sacred wishes.

Prayers held power. They were more valuable than gold and material riches. Each wish was tethered to a soul, and when given to the skies, a part of that person would forever live in the heavens.

Swerving downward on a wintry breeze, I landed upon a trickling fountain at the temple’s base, splashes of water sinking through my airy wings. A shiver racked my frame , and I shuddered in delight, stretching out my body and relishing in the gentle spray of water. In this form, there was a spreading numbness that prevented me from feeling pain or the burden of reality.

I never wished to leave.

“Kiara,” a voice rumbled behind me. I craned my neck, finding the last person I ever would’ve expected. The last person I would have wanted to see.

My mind may have been clouded, but he wasn’t a god one easily forgot.

What are you doing here, Arlo ? I thought, suddenly angry. So much for feeling numb.

The man I’d once known as my uncle drifted closer, his simple but luxurious blue robes swishing at his feet. He eyed me warily, stroking his graying beard. It was more unkempt than normal, and there were dark circles below each gray blue eye, making the angular planes of his face more ominous than usual.

“You’re losing yourself, Kiara,” he warned, his voice shaking the ground he stood upon. “The more you dip into the night’s power, the more it uses you.”

I’m fine , I insisted. We’ve got the Godslayer and Jude. All we need now is the talisman Maliah and Lorian spoke of .

We wouldn’t be so easily defeated.

Arlo groaned, annoyance painting his features and twisting them. “I wish time had been on our side so you wouldn’t need to go there.” He looked away. “Once, a long, long time before you were born, there were whisperings among the sun priests and priestesses. They claimed that since a broken heart had caused the curse, only love could mend it. And perhaps such folly might’ve been true… before .”

Before what?

“Your accident changed you, my child. The moment that creature got its claws into you, you became a part of the night. An accident of the Moon God, one of his failed experiments, the shadow beasts were meant to be protectors. But intention is everything, and the god’s intentions were not pure.

“You may hold the final piece of the sun in your soul, but you can’t wield it as you might have. You gave into the night. You Traveled , and that in itself shows me you cannot control the balance.”

I don’t understand , I said, feeling lightheaded. The temple behind Arlo shook, bits of loose stone tumbling from the crevices.

“I must be quick,” he said, impatient as always. “You and Jude could have shared a different destiny. But right now, his love, his touch, is killing you. Your little confession set everything in motion…even if your heart is holding you back from giving all of yourself to him.” I thought of Jude telling me how he loved me, and me professing how far I’d fallen. But Arlo was right—some small part of me held back.

I couldn’t return the words that he’d given me with such care. Three little words that frightened me more than any curse.

“He’s stronger in the mortal realm, more so than he should be,” Arlo added tightly. “His power is only growing, and it’s battling with your darkness, even if you have a piece of Raina. The beast’s magic is just too overpowering. It’s why he hurt you, why you collapsed.”

We’re going to fix that . Once we find a way to break the curse, without me dying, Jude and I—

“You have a merciless god after you, but you’d rather think of love ,” Arlo thundered. “Do you even know if it’s love? Or are you and the commander drawn to each other because of the goddess’s divinity inside of you both, the pieces yearning to be reunited?”

I wanted to deny his words. But …was there some truth to what Arlo insinuated? The pieces, the keys of immortality were begging to come together. Was I merely falling prey to their pull?

No.

I glanced at his face, surprised when I saw genuine concern contorting his face—the God of Earth and Soil was worried about me.

Regardless of what I feel for the commander , I began, my voice quivering with duplicitous doubt, we’re going to the temple, and we’ll succeed, regardless of what you believe possible. You were the one who told me rules could be broken.

He had to be wrong. He had to be.

A pillar plummeted, shattered pieces of marble crashing across the blackened earth. The temple behind us crumbled, a second pillar falling, the roof creaking as it , too, prepared to topple.

“Your enemy has ventured much closer than you could imagine, Kiara,” Arlo said, forcing my attention away from the destruction. “I thought you would’ve learned your lesson with Patrick, but—”

I never heard his final words. The night twisted and blurred, and then my body sank into the vacuum of night, drowning in greedy nothingness.