“Yes.”
“But…” My lips turn down. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Why the hell am I trapped here if that’s the case?
“Doesn’t it?” a new voice, musical and accented, cuts through the conversation. I turn to see Eshe walks toward us, her steps light but purposeful, the soft click of her sandals echoing against the quiet gallery walls.
"No," I say, my voice finally wavering, unable to hide my growing unease. "It doesn't."
Why would the Immortals insist that I’m Des’sOneif he already found her?
“Come on, Darcie.” Eshe prompts. “You're smarter than this. Think about what Bella said… think about what thebrothershave said.”
I bite my lip and wrack my brain, trying to figure out what she means.
Then, it hits me.
“The likeness is notable, don’t you think?”
“I feel a connection to her.”
“The resemblance is uncanny.”
My breath catches in my throat.
The pieces fall into place with sickening clarity, and the weight of realization hits me hard. The signs have been infront of me all along. I just didn’t want to see them… I didn’t want to understand what the Immortals were implying.
My gaze snaps between Bella and Eshe, and my head spins. Bella’s expression is apologetic, while Eshe looks resolute and stands tall.
There’s a chance I’m wrong; there’s a chance that what I’m thinking is so far off base that the Immortals will laugh at me. But I can’t keep this question to myself. I have to know the truth.
I lift my chin, trying to sound confident even as dread coils in my gut. “Are you telling me that the brothers have more than one soulmate?”
The world is a big place. The odds of the Immortals only having one soulmate,ever, would make the chances of accessing the other half of their powers incredibly low. After everything they’ve shared, I doubt the Creator intended that for them.
Every muscle in my body tenses as I wait for one of them to say anything to put me out of my misery and answer me.
A heavy sigh leaves Bella’s lips. She glances at Eshe before saying, “Not exactly…”
“I don’t understand,” I choke out, the words thick. “Then what are you trying to tell me?”
Eshe, once again, does me the service of ripping off the metaphorical Band-Aid and tells me the truth. “The brothers don’t have multiple soulmates. They only have one.”
“But that’s not what?—”
“They only have one,” she cuts me off, her voice heavy with meaning. “But that one soulmate is born time and time again. They live, die, and are reborn—until they finally meet the brother they’re meant to bond with… the one who will give them immortality.”
The ground falls out from under me. I sway and stumble, my shoulder colliding with the wall. My pulse roars in my ears, my thoughts scattered, chaotic.
I stare at Eshe in disbelief as everything I thought I understood about life and death crumbles before me.
“W-what are you saying?” I lick my dry lips. I need her to spell this out for me. I need her to say the words that I’m thinking… the ones that fill me with dread. “H-how does this relate to Des meeting his soulmate in London?”
Eshe doesn’t hesitate, her voice steady as she delivers the final blow, though her eyes flicker with the slightest hint of regret. “Des has met hisOnemany times over the years. And you, Darcie… are just another reincarnation.”
23
“Eshe,”Bella snaps, her voice cutting through the air. The sweet Immortal looks genuinely angry for the first time since I’ve met her. “How could you?”