Page 148 of Between Wrath and Mercy

When I finally found it, I read it three times, certain I wasn’t reading the right thing. Rain, feeling my shock and confusion, leaned around me and pulled the book a bit closer to him so he could see and read it out loud.

The Beloved and the Accursed: two sides of one coin,

Blessed by the gods, lives forever adjoined.

Both touched by the light and the dark,

With wrath’s caress and fecundity’s mark;

Bloom, blood, and bone are the ties which bind

The betrayer, body, and bane to their future descried.

One will wrest peace from the grips of such blight,

While the other will do naught but turn from the light;

In each hand, they hold the death of another

And the fate of the kingdoms bound by lovers.

I felt his shock mirror my own, and my breaths quickened. I started to jump up, but Rain wrapped his arms tightly around me, holding me in his lap. The pressure of his arms on me might have made me feel trapped in any other situation, but the tight grasp he had on me grounded me. The Beloved wasn’t only blessed by Aonara, but by all four of the gods. I knew Rhia had given me Elora, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing Ciarden or Hanwen in a vision as I’d seen the goddesses. Maybe I wasn’t the Beloved. Maybe the Beloved didn’t even exist—yet. Something like relief coursed through my veins, but the mention of an Accursed made it fall flat. The prophecy spoke of two individuals. If I was interpreting it correctly, both the Belovedandthe Accursed were blessed by all four of the gods. And as for the part about bones and blood, I had no idea what any of that meant.

Was the Supreme guarding the prophecy as a secret? What we’d just read was not what had been taught. Is that why he had been unwilling to show it to us? Did the Masters and Mistresses know too? If they did, why did they ever think Lucia was the Beloved? Lucia might have been blessed by Aonara, but none of the other gods, that was certain. The questions and confusion ran rampant and untethered through my mind. I could feel Rain’s worry and confusion as well. He held me close, and I focused on his heartbeat, counting the beats as I’d done so many times before.

“I’m not the Beloved,” I whispered, my voice flat.

“You still could be, Em. At the absolute least, you’re blessed by the goddesses.” Rain’s tone surprised me. I couldn’t quite place it, and the emotion I felt from the bond wasn’t helping me. If I had to guess, he was optimistic.

“We don’t want me to be the Beloved, right? Rain, I don’t want anything to do with being a harbinger of war or involving myself in the Accursed turning from the light.”

“Right. We don’t want you involved in that if we can help it.”

“What aren’t you saying, Rain?”

“The last set of twin flames was recorded a millennium ago, before the Great War. I looked it up. What are the odds we are twin flames,andyou’ve been blessed by the goddesses, and that’s all there is to it?” I wanted to argue with him, but he held up his hand, cutting me off. “Even if you’re not the Beloved, you are more important than many other conduits alive today. When it comes down to it, if there were a war, you’d be involved. Besides, it’s possible you could become the Beloved one day. We always were taught it was from birth, but clearly, some of the things we learned were wrong.”

I watched him quietly, unease coursing through me as he spoke.

“All I’m getting at is, don’t get too comfortable with the idea you aren’t the Beloved. I’m not certain. And if you are? If this prophecy is correct? You need to be prepared. We all do.”

Chapter 47

Wedidn’triftbackto the palace but instead went to Rain’s home. Our home. It wasn’t an easy thing, training my mind to view the place as mine as well. I supposed I’d need to retrieve my belongings from my home in Brambleton and bring them here after Elora decided if she wanted to stay or not. I couldn’t imagine a situation where she’d prefer to go to Ravemont after how she reacted during our last meeting, but it was possible. Knowing she wasn’t the Beloved made things better for her. I would relieve her of the belief as soon as possible and hoped it would help lessen the weight of my omissions. I was uncertain, though, of how to break the news to her that Rain was her father. And how would we tell Lavenia and Shivani? Would they even believe me? There wasn’tthatmuch resemblance between the two of them, and it was certainly possible Faxon was her father, or else I wouldn’t have believed it all these years. It was going to be a shock. And, of course, the news would have to be shared with the citizens of Vesta eventually. Though I’d been called a whore often enough I was relatively nonplussed, being viewed as such by the public was a bit different. I would be their queen one day. As I collapsed on the sofa in the living room, I felt Rain’s worry through the bond.

“You’re thinking awfully loud, Em.”

“Life has changed a lot in the last day, and I’m just trying to keep up.” I gave him a soft smile when he lifted my legs and sat down under them. I’d slipped my shoes off before I sat, not some sort of heathen to put my filthy boots up on the fine cream sofa, and Rain took the opportunity to rub my feet. It had been a long day. I’d grown more and more confident in my rifting throughout our travels, and I was shocked I’d been able to pick it up so quickly. But now, my head had a slight ache, and the chandelier felt extra bright. When we arrived, Sterling had already retired to his rooms, and I didn’t even know how late it was anymore. When Rain’s strong thumbs pushed against the arches of my feet, I felt my eyes roll back as I nestled further into the comfortable pillows beneath me. I felt warmth down the bond and peeked one eye open to look at Rain.

“I’ll never get used to this. Feeling your love for me this way. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“How would I have known?”

“I figured Lavenia and Dewalt would have said something.” He studied me for a moment, his hands stilling.

“This isn’t . . . normal. I assumed it had something to do with being twin flames. Maybe the font helped expand the connection?”

“Oh. I thought—well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. Huh.” I was surprised, expecting this sort of connection to be present between all bonded conduits. It was rather convenient. I supposed it only made sense that we’d have something special about our bond. Still, it was a bit overwhelming to feel so unique. I laid there, letting his hands relax me, and I sank into his touch, my eyes growing heavy.

---