Page 123 of May: Bloom & Bane

“If there was any way that I could make this right for you… I would have done it already.”

“Try again!” I snap. “Tell me anyway. Carve it into my skin. I don’t care how you do it.”

His grip tightens on my shoulders. “Sage–”

“I don’t care what it costs you. Let it burn. Let the words twist. This is Eden we’re talking about!”

“I have,” he says hoarsely. “More times than you can possibly imagine.”

“What does that mean?” Eden breathes.

Therael’s gaze flicks between us. “I’ve told you already,” he continues. “In every way I can manage. Spoken. Written. Implied.” His halo stutters. “And every time… something takes it before it can reach you.”

My stomach twists. “Then what do I do?”

Therael’s jaw clenches. He struggles to form the words. “There’s a —” His throat seizes. He tries again. “The one who—” His mouth continues to move, but no sound comes out. He slams his fist against the wall, and Nook shudders in response. “Someone is interfering,” he finally manages, choosing his words carefully. “Someone with enough power to block even divine speech. To twist fate itself until the⁠—”

“One of your Six?”

“If it were that simple,” he says quietly, “this would already be over.”

A chill crawls up my spine. “How can something be more powerful than a god?”

Therael’s gaze shifts somewhere past me. “When you find out, let me know,” he sighs. “That would mean I could break my own.”

“You’re cursed,” Eden blurts out. “That’s what I could feel the first time we met.”

Therael goes still. He stares at Eden like she’s reached into his chest and pulled out something he never thought anyone would be able to touch.

“What did it do to her?” She presses on. “What did it do to you?”

A low hiss comes from behind Therael’s back.

“I cannot discuss this. I have to go. I will be back.”

He disappears into a tornado of leaves, and in his wake, a cascade of deep pink roses tumbles to the floor, their stems coiled like serpents.

“We have to find him, Sage. Did you see his face? Therael!” she yells as she runs out the back door. “Therael, please don’t leave when you feel like this.”

“Therael, come back!” I shout.

“Sage, I’m really worried about him.”

I scan the perimeter, sending out roots to feel for him. “He’s gone, Eden. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“Did you hear that hiss? And the stems on the roses were serpents? That can’t be a coincidence. Do you think he could be a snake shifter? We’ve never actually seen his other form.”

“Damon mentioned a third eye. I don’t think he’s a snake shifter.”

“Could she be a snake shifter? His mate?”

“I don’t know, mí’aelvára. I know nothing about his mate.”

We’re all trapped in the same web. Therael and his mate. Me and Eden. The Horsemen searching for theirs. All of us are tangled in curses we aren’t even aware of.

Eden’s hand finds mine. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I can’t feel Ashán.” My wings twitch anxiously. “He’s always there, Eden. Even when he’s quiet. I can sense him lurking in my mind. But now there’s nothing.”