Page 14 of Make Me
“You were young,” she continues, voice butter-soft but heavy with certainty. “Desperate and afraid. None of that was your fault. Our people…” Her mouth twists faintly. “They can be merciless. And you didn’t deserve what happened. Especially not from your own mother.”
My breath stutters in my chest. I’m still stuck on her previous words. I want to ask what she means bysacrificed, but the thought won’t vocalize. It’s stuck like thorns in my throat. Thankfully—or maybe not—Vaelora continues.
“When you went to that witch for help,” she says smoothly, “you thought you were sealing the beast away. A clean cut. No harm done. But magic like that doesn’t work on good intentions.” She steps fully into the light now, and her silver eyes gleam like storm-lit mirrors. “It runs on payment. She took a piece of you. I know because she took one from me, too. Different spell. Same debt.”
Something inside me twists. I can’t tell if she’s warning me or testing me.
Either way, I’m done.
I push away from the window in one sudden movement, my mind already halfway to the front door. “Well, it’s a good thing I already paid that price. And guess what? I’ve survived just fine since then.”
Vaelora doesn’t flinch. But her eyes cool.
“Is that all you want for yourself, Kamishola?” she asks, voice deceptively soft. “Tosurvive?”
My name on her tongue makes me cringe.
Her lips press into something between disappointment and pity. “I thought you were different,” she murmurs. “But maybe I was wrong.”
She doesn’t try to stop me nor does she chase. That alone makes my steps falter.
I turn back toward her, reluctant and defensive. Still clinging to the instinct to run.
“What aren’t you saying?” I ask, warily.
Vaelora glances behind me. I can hear the faint sound of what I believe to be drums, but when she ignores them, so do I.
“When you asked that witch to bind your wolf spirit,” she says, slower now, like she’s choosing every word with precision, “she didn’t just cage the beast. She stole her essence. The core of who you were meant to be.”
Her gaze changes, not in condescension, but in something resembling sorrow.
“That’s why you don’t feel the bond as Talon does.”
My mouth opens, but no sound escapes. My heartthunders in my chest, ice rushing through my veins. How the hell does she know what I only just found out?
Vaelora watches me quietly for a beat longer before delivering the next blow. “Yes,” she says gently. “He’s actually your mate.”
I feel like I’ve been punched.
“But I can’t have him.” My voice is weak. I don’t want to believe this is real, yet my instincts tell me she’s not lying.
She moves toward me, slow and deliberate. Then, to my surprise, she rests a warm hand on my shoulder. Her touch is grounding and comforting in a way I’m still hesitant to trust, even though it doesn’t seem like I have a choice.
She squeezes gently, her tone dipping into something like kindness. “Youcanhave him. Or you wouldn’t be standing here. But to claim that future, you’ll have to seek out another witch. One with the power to undo the curse you welcomed into your body. You must reclaim every part of yourself—the beast, the girl, and the warrior fae.” She steps back. “Only then can you have what you most desire.”
Gods, am I stupid for wanting to believe her? To allow myself to open my heart and let that fragile, reckless hope crawl back in? It might be the most dangerous thing of all, and I’m not sure I can.
“Why should I trust you?” I ask, forcing my voice to be steady. “And how do you know all this?”
This time she smirks. “Because you know I’m not lying, and I know because of my own secret. One I’ve never told anyone else. But I’m willing to share it nowbecause under all that razor-edged armor you wear, there’s a woman worth knowing.” Her gaze sharpens, full of quiet conviction. “And I’d like you to trust me, Kasha. Even if it means I have to offer up some of my own faith first.”
Silence stretches between us. Not cold, but not quite warm. Just long enough for the cracks in my walls to start showing. Tiny fractures spidering out behind my ribs, impossible to ignore.
“Fine,” I mutter, the word pulled from somewhere weary but real. “Share your secret, and I’ll find a way to believe everything else you’ve already said.”
Vaelora’s chuckle echoes gently through the corridor. “One day, you’ll be free of this pain,” she says. “But until then I hope this helps.”
Her eyes hold mine, steadfast and unblinking, and gods, I want to look away. But I don’t. I can’t.
