Page 35 of The Immortal's Trick
The melody is unfamiliar, yet something inside me aches with recognition. I can understand the words, but I don’t knowthis song. It presses against my heart like a memory I’ve never lived.
Wait.
I freeze.
That voice… it isn’t hers anymore. It’s deeper. Masculine. The words blur and twist, no longer lyrical. They scratch at the inside of my skull.
The world around me unravels.
I bolt upright, gasping.
I’m in a bed. Silks cling to my skin, the smooth fabric brushing my limbs like a gentle caress. A canopy stretches above me, delicate and ornate.
The wedding. Lome’s home. The ceremony.
Everything comes back in a rush—the cloaked figure, the chanting, the pressure in my lungs. The moment I slipped under. And then Lome, his worried face hovering above me as I woke. His relief. His reassurances.
I groan and flop back onto the pillow, covering my face with trembling hands.
The ceremony is complete. I’m immortal now.
I swing out of bed and cross to the window. My newly sharpened vision scans the distant hills. A goat scrambles up a steep rock face, clear as day. It feels impossibly close.
Voices drift through the air. Male voices.
I pause, listening. One of them is Lome.
I grab a silk robe and wrap it tightly around me, tying the sash. My fingers smooth my hair, taming the sleep from my appearance. I move silently down the corridor, following the sounds through winding halls. At last, I stop at a door left slightly ajar.
Just as I raise my hand to knock, I hear my name.
“ Eshe is beautiful and has a good soul. I hope you two are happy.”
Des.
Lome lifts a glass. "Thank you. I am very fortunate to have found her."
"I’m more surprised you managed to convince her to marry you," Thane says dryly.
"Eshe is cautious," Lome replies, sipping his drink before adding, "She didn’t know what to make of me."
That hasn’t changed.
Des asks, “Do you believe she recognized your connection?”
Lome’s voice softens. “Yes. I felt when she sensed it, but she resisted its pull almost every time we spoke.”
I press my hand to my chest, where that same pull tugs at my heart as they speak.
“You were lucky her family needed help,” Thane mutters. “Otherwise, you’d still be chasing her.”
Lome scoffs. "Luck had nothing to do with it."
Silence falls.
My pulse hammers.
“What do you mean?” Des asks the question burning the tip of my tongue.
