We took off down the drive.Colten didn’t attempt to make small talk and I caught myself wondering what he thought about everything.
I kept stealing glances at him, his rugged features set in a somber expression like something was on his mind.
“Are you alright?"I finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
My insistence earned me a glance from the big blonde.“Positive.”
We’d gone about a mile further when he said, “Thank you.”
The corners of my mouth turned down.“For what?”
“Asking if I was alright.”
Colten signaled to turn and eased us onto a gravel road.“It’s been a long time since anyone’s asked.”
I knew the feeling.
“It’ll be nice having a Luna who gives a shit.”
“Oh, I’m not—”
“We’re here.”He pointed to the right.
The cabin belonged to another time, its weathered timber walls witnessing multiple generations of the Livingston family’s lives.
“Colten?”
He was already out his door and opening mine.“I’ll walk you up.”
We stopped at the door and Colten knocked.
"Enter," came Theia's calm voice from within.
The door to Theia's cabin creaked open with an ominous groan.Colten gave my back a light nudge and I stepped across the threshold.
The scent of dried herbs filled my nostrils.The Seer sat in a wooden chair by the large stone fireplace, her cloudy eyes reflecting the fire's glow.
"Hello, Ivy," she greeted warmly, her voice resonating with an otherworldly echo.“Come, sit with me.Ask your questions.”
I hesitated.My shoes suddenly filled with lead.
“Ivy, I’ll wait out here.”Colten closed the door and I found myself in the chair across from Theia.
“You want to know if he gave you the truth?”she asked.
“I …” I didn’t think he lied.“I think maybe I need to hear it from the source.”
Theia tsked.“True.All of it.Whomever he mated would fall with child.The mother of the first was the one marked for death.I can’t say why.Such a thing isn’t for me to know.”
"And there was no way to prevent it?"Distress laced my words.
"None.”
The finality of her words wrapped around my neck, a noose of inevitability.His choice saved me and knowingly damned another.