Page 34 of The Legacy of Ophelia
Damien continued, words dripping with intention, “But I will not deny, that at times, my decisions have haunted me.”
Then, he beat his wings roughly, stirring a wind around the balcony, leaves and flower petals from the planters circling the stone floor. And he flew off, his ominous words leaving me struck silent and my vengeful heart hollow.
Malakai still wasn’tin my suite when I finished bathing and toweling off my wings. The feathers were a nuisance, but with all the dust collected while training, they required thorough washing.
After the fight with Damien, I was feeling both stronger and weaker than ever. His words lingered in my head as I crawled into bed. A haunted warning, some kind of threat, but I didn’t know what of.
I had just enough energy to pull out the shell and send a message to Rina—as I did every night.
Okay?I spelled out with the code she’d taught me.
She sent back one pulse for yes. Every night.
I hoped it was the truth, and not something to placate Malakai and me while we were stuck here.
My decisions have haunted me.
Would that be my future, too?
Echnid has a reason. He had to have reasons for everything, and I needed more time to unravel them.
You can trust him, that voice in my head said again, cool mist permeating my concerns and lulling me to lay back against the pillows.
Still, Damien’s words echoed as I held the shell in my hand and debated asking Santorina more. About Tolek or how she promised to keep him away from here after I sensed him and Sapphire flying near Damenal recently. But if there really was a threat, they were all safer away from here.
Setting the shell aside, I scratched at my Curse mark.
Sleep, my seraph.
And with that voice in my head, I did.
“Wake up, Ophelia,”a distant voice commanded.
My body ached from training, but I stirred, slowly blinking my eyes open and relishing in the work I’d put in to strengthen my muscles. As the room swam into clarity, I stretched my wings, beating them gently. They sent a wave of control through my body, steadying me instead of feeling heavy and useless.
“Wake up,” that voice said again, and this time, I jolted upright. It wasn’t Malakai as I’d expected.
Echnid stood at the foot of my bed, his snow-white hair gleaming and his cheeks tinged pink with…excitement?
“What are you doing?” I asked. The fog across my mind curled in anticipation as I tried to gather my thoughts. Moonlight streaked through the cracked glass in my bedchamber, and I realized that I’d fallen asleep much earlier than normal. “We didn’t have our meeting tonight.” Sadness twirled through me at the reminder.
Some part of me had come to rely on those meetings with Echnid; perhaps because they were a source of information, but more likely because of the soothing feeling I always left the Rapture Chamber with.
Echnid nodded. “Correct. We did not. I have another task for you.”
“What kind of task?” I asked, perking up. Almost subconsciously, my light pushed outward, wanting to dance with the god’s mist. Echnid tracked the control with a nod of approval.
He waved a hand, and a gold gown appeared on the back of my door. “Put that on, and meet me in the foyer.”
With a dip of his chin, Echnid blinked out of the room, giving me the illusion of privacy. Clutching my robe, I approached the door. The god’s power thrummed from the other side as I dragged a finger over the dress, comfort settling around me.
Glittering, light-weight skirts cascaded to the ground—long enough to trail feet behind me, but the bodice…
It was less a dress and morearmor. My eyes widened as I took it in. Gold sheer fabric wrapped around the torso, but over it, gilded metal plates lined the ribs. They curved upward, forming shoulder caps that flared like feathered wings, and over the breasts, another pair of wings fanned out.
A thick belt cinched the waist above the skirt, and as I slipped the gown over my body, I felt like I was truly stepping into my power.
This was not only a dress, it was a shield and a sword. A facade and my own gleaming weapon, molded after the wings at my back and the light in my veins. This signified all the strength I’d been honing.
