Page 114 of May: Bloom & Bane

eden chose him. not therin. not micah. sage.

—THERAEL

She felt like mine.

Those four words are heavy enough to choke me.

Not yet. It is too soon.

Sage stands before me, vines writhing around his legs, his wings trembling in panic.

His mismatched eyes search my face for answers I am physically incapable of giving him.

“Sage.” I force my voice to stay steady even as my mind races. “What exactly did you see?”

I need to know how much. A glimpse? A full flashback? Did he see her face clearly, or just the dark hair? Does he know it was her?

He drags a hand through his hair.

“It started with a migraine. I’ve never felt pain like that before. It was like someone had their fingers pressing into my brain,” he chokes out. “I crawled to the shower from our bed—crawled, Therael. I was so weak I couldn’t stand. I was in and out of consciousness in the shower and then all of a sudden there was this woman, running through the snow.”

This poor child.

“I knew it wasn’t Eden with every fiber of my being, and yet… it felt like she was.”

Lumi.

It is starting.

He is starting to remember the cracks in reality I have been trying so hard to patch.

We knew this would happen, but I thought they would have more time.

“When did this happen?”

“This morning. After—” He stops, a flash of something protective washing over his face.

He does not need to explain. There is not a male of our kind who would not be able to scent what happened here.

“How did you stop the vision? What pulled you out?”

His wings flare wide. “Eden. She⁠—”

Lavásia drips from his fingertips, shimmering as it hits the grass. Tiny sprouts shoot up in response.

“I see,” I murmur. “I am going to get some tinctures for the migraines. And I will see what I can find out about the visions, and maybe your… potency.”

“I’m sorry⁠—”

“Do not apologize, Sage. I remember what it was like with⁠—”

I stop myself before I say her name.

“I will be back before nightfall.”

I can feel his desperation like it is my own. His need for answers. And I am walking away with nothing but cryptic promises and half-truths… just like he said.

Forgive me, Little Reaper. I am trying.