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I started to answer, but then I saw the woman wrapped in a blanket—first, the thin, limp arm and then the delicate blood-smeared fingers and broken nails.
Good gods.
Bile climbed up my throat as the warmth in my chest pulsed once more. Her face was a mass of swollen, blood-streaked skin—flesh split open over the cheeks and forehead. The lips were torn, the nose pushed to an angle, obviously broken. “Who…who is that?”
“Gemma,” Ector bit out through a clenched jaw.
I was frozen in sickening horror. Ector strode past me, a muscle flexing in his jaw as he crossed under one of the staircases. I turned to see Aios step out into the courtyard. She jerked to a stop, clasping a hand over her throat. “Is that…?” Her gaze shot to Rhahar. “Was it Shades?”
“Looks like it,” Rhahar answered.
Aios snapped into motion. “I’ll grab some towels and supplies. You’re taking her to the side chamber?”
“Yes.” Ector looked over his shoulder at Rhahar as Aios wheeled around, quickly darting back under another staircase. “Get Nyktos.”
“On it.” The god rushed off.
“Sera,” Ector said as he passed me, heading toward the door two armored men held open. “You need to return to your chambers.”
I should.
I definitely should, especially since that warmth was spreading across my chest, invading my blood much like it had when I spotted the wounded silver hawk, but stronger and more intense. Whatever instinct had been given life inside me along with this gift warned me that Gemma…this Chosen, was dying. I could feel my gift sparking. I needed to be as far away as possible.
But I followed Ector as we entered a narrow hall, Jadis’s talons tightening on my shoulder, Reaver flying ahead. I followed because this wasn’t fair. I didn’t know this woman, but I knew that she had spent her life behind a veil, caged and groomed. And for what? To be handed over to gods who would abuse her? It wasn’t fair.
A door opened, and a light came on, casting a harsh glow over walls where several bundles of herbs hung, drying. Ector laid Gemma on the table, his movements careful, but she groaned.
“Sorry,” he said softly, easing his arm out from under her as he brushed away several strands of blood-soaked hair that could’ve been a strawberry color or lighter when clean. The blanket parted, and I sucked in a sharp breath, seeing that the front of her blouse was drenched with blood—from the ragged wounds along her throat, her chest…
Ector’s head jerked up, his swirling silver eyes fixing on me. “You really shouldn’t be in here.”
I stepped back and Jadis chirped softly. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t find words as I stared at her. A keening sense of…purpose filled me as Reaver stood in the corner of the chamber, tucking his wings back.
“Good gods,” a hoarse voice interrupted. I looked over to see the goddess Lailah entering through a different door, her black braids swept back in a knot. She took a step back, a grayish pallor settling into her rich brown skin. “Fucking Shades.”
“Yeah,” Ector growled as Lailah’s brother appeared.
Theon stopped, his nostrils flaring as his features hardened, locking down…and the center of my chest exploded with heat, much like it did when—
I sucked in a sharp breath as my gaze swiveled back to Gemma. “She…she’s dead.”
“You don’t know that,” Ector shot back. “There is no—” His words cut off sharply as he looked down at her. His arms fell to the sides.
I was right. Even though nothing about her appeared to have changed, I knew in my bones that she had passed, just as I’d known that the hawk had only been injured. The warmth in my chest was a powerful hum, invading my blood. Jadis trilled, louder this time, her wings lifting and brushing the back of my neck and head. Reaver lifted his head, calling from his corner and drawing the twins’ attention.
“What is going on with them?” Theon asked.
“I…I don’t know.” Slowly, Ector pulled his gaze from the draken to where Jadis did the same from my shoulder. “I’ve never seen them do this.”
Rhain was the first to arrive from court, his curse lost in the draken’s sound. The vibrating heat…it was striking against an…an instinct. One I’d never felt this powerfully before. My stomach dipped with unease as Jadis nudged her head against the back of mine. Reaver called to the female draken, and in the back of my mind, I wondered if they’d somehow sensed whatever was building inside me. If they could feel it.
Jadis started to climb down, and I had enough presence to stop her from jumping. I caught hold of her squirming body, lowering her to the floor. She rushed over to Reaver, pressing against his side and under one wing.
I had to do something. It would expose my gift, and I didn’t know what kind of consequences that would bring. But I’d stood by and let her die when I could have stopped that. I could’ve healed her. I couldn’t stand by now.
Rhain was speaking, saying something about Ash and Saion seemingly appeared out of nowhere, going to the table. He stared down at Gemma, shaking his head as I walked forward. I went to the table, feeling my senses opening and stretching. Closer to the woman, I could now see through the blood and mangled skin that she couldn’t be much older than me.
“You…you’re glowing,” Ector rasped, and Saion’s head jerked up. The twins turned to me.
A faint, silvery-white glow had seeped out from the sleeves of my gown to lap at my hands.
“What in the actual fuck?” Theon whispered.
I inhaled deeply—taking in the scent of lilacs. Freshly bloomed lilacs. And that smell…it was coming from me. Someone spoke, but I didn’t know who or what they said. Couldn’t hear them over the humming in my ears and the urge…this calling that sank deep into my muscles, overriding any thought. I was aware of Lailah and Theon stepping back, of Saion and Ector staring in stu
“Sera,” Ash’s voice cracked through the hum.
I looked up. He stood in the doorway, Rhahar behind him. The Primal’s eyes were wide, a brilliant shade of silver, and the tendrils of eather swirling through the irises were bright—as luminous as the glow radiating from my hands.
He appeared frozen in disbelief like the others, rooted to where he stood as the humming warmth continued spreading through me.
My heart started to trip over itself. I couldn’t pull it back—push it down or turn away as I’d been able to do in the past. “I can’t stand by and do nothing,” I whispered, even though he had no idea what I was talking about. He didn’t know about this. I’d never told him. And maybe I should’ve, but it was too late now.
Reaver cried again, the sound staggered in the otherwise silent room. Ector swore under his breath as the silvery-white eather swirled around my fingers. Throat dry and pulse racing, I placed my trembling hand on Gemma’s arm.
“Holy shit,” Saion whispered as he bumped into the wall. Herbs swayed above him. “You feel that, right? We all feel this.”
I didn’t know what Saion was talking about. And I also didn’t wish for anything. I didn’t have the clarity to do so in the whirling storm that was my thoughts.
The shimmering light flowed from my fingers and settled over Gemma in a bright, intense wave. My breath caught as the eather seeped into her skin, filling her veins until they became visible, a spidery network coming alive along her too-pale flesh and across the bruised, torn skin.
“What the…?” Aios entered the room, holding a basin of water to her chest. She jerked to a halt, slowly lowering the bowl.
The silvery light flared as intensely as sunlight on a summer’s day all along Gemma’s skin. Her chest rose with a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to roll through her entire body. I lifted my hand. The glow throbbed and then softened, slowly fading until…
Underneath the blood, her skin had smoothed and stitched itself back together across cheeks now pink with color. The tear along her forehead had healed, leaving only a rosy line behind. The wound at her throat had sealed, leaving only a ridged scar of puncture marks. Gemma’s eyes fluttered open. Brown. She looked straight at me, and then her eyes closed. Her chest now rose and fell slowly, her breathing deep as she slept, healed lips parted with another steady exhale.
“You,” Ash whispered, his deep voice hoarse. I looked over at him, and I…I’d never seen him so stu