Page 80 of Thief of Hearts

I was essentially holding court, as if I were a queen and these were my new subjects. It was what I’d imagined I wanted. Everybody here thought I was enough. They were impressed by me. Praising me.

But this wasn’t what I wanted right now. I glanced at the doors, wondering how many more hours I’d have to stay here until I could leave.

If I truly wanted to lead, then I should have been treating this like a trial run. Getting a feel for what it was like when everyone wanted my attention. But if this was leading . . . I wasn’t sure that I wanted it.

Perhaps it would feel different if I were surrounded by Thracians and my loved ones.

Or maybe it wouldn’t.

My future suddenly felt a bit unsure. A nagging, negative sensation tugged at my soul, whispering that I wasn’t meant to become my clan’s leader.

That there was something else out there for me. Maybe I needed to find out what it was. Map out a different future for myself. Yes, I still felt like I was meant to lead, but it didn’t have to be in Thrace.

I decided to bring the diviner stone back to my mother. She led our nation—I was sure she had much bigger and far more pressing questions that she needed answers to than I did.

I would find my own path.

That decision lightened my spirit, as if a large weight had been lifted. Like I was making the right choice.

One of the officials told me that I would be able to pick up my prizes in the morning. He gave me directions to the bank and said he’d see me there tomorrow. I thanked him.

Right as he left, three men stepped forward and introduced themselves. I nodded at them, and then the shortest of the three said, “You are about to come into a very large sum of money.”

Had they overheard my last conversation?

“I wanted to offer you the opportunity to invest that money in something that will bring you many, many returns. I am going to create a water passage from here to the sea.”

“Not this again,” the man in the middle said loudly, rolling his eyes. “It will never happen and you will never make money from it. Stop trying to get people to give you their money!”

“It will work,” the first man insisted.

“Even if the god of wealth himself told me in a dream to invest in your scheme, I still wouldn’t do it. It is a bad investment!”

The three men began to argue among themselves and I realized that no one else was waiting to talk to me. I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed but it had been far too long and I wanted to find Zain. I had thought he might show up at the party but he never did.

As I made my way to the door, I thought about what the last man had said. About gods appearing in dreams.

Why was Invara appearing to me? And why was Eramis there?

There was no one that I could ask about this.

Except for Lia, a voice whispered.

She had regular dreams about her goddess. And she called on her goddess’s power. What if Lia had been right and I had a similar ability?

It seemed extremely far-fetched that I could wield magic, but Invara had been appearing to me and speaking.

I found an empty room and closed the door, locking it behind me. I didn’t want anyone to see what I was about to do. Especially since Lia and her sisters had shared how, when they’d first used their magic, it would drain them to the point that they would pass out. If I was going to lose consciousness, I wanted to be alone.

I felt a bit foolish making that preparation when I was convinced it wouldn’t even work.

Of Invara’s two aspects, I chose the one that seemed less dangerous.

“Invara Pothos,” I said.

Desire.

And instantly everything changed. My mind cleared and quieted, and my body took over. I ached as I had never ached before. Desperation combined with frantic need clawed its way up my chest. A raging inferno had come to life inside me and I instinctively knew that there was only one way to quench it.