Page 114

“Are you okay?” Hadima asked, ignoring Iryana’s statement.

Before Iryana could answer, Misha snapped, “She’s obviously not okay.”

“I thought it was a good place to start!” Hadima argued.

Iryana opened her mouth, and while nothing came out, she realized she wanted to tell them. Desperately. She didn’t want to be alone in this, but was that selfish?

“I understand if you can’t tell us,” Hadima said quickly. “But if we can help, if we can make things easier for you…”

“It would be easier for you if you didn’t know,” Iryana admitted.

Her sisters exchanged a look. Hadima answered first, “Not knowing doesn’t make it go away.”

“And we’ll have to know eventually, right?” Misha added.

“It’s up to you,” Hadima finished.

She hoped they didn’t regret it.

Slowly, Iryana revealed the glowing golden lines Thelbiz had given her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Her sister’s eyes grew wider the longer they stared at the golden mark beneath Iryana’s left collarbone.

“How did—” Hadima gasped. “Is that a champions’ mark? How did you... Where…”

Iryana swallowed. “Thelbiz said it didn’t make me his champion.”

“But the gods…”

“They’re back.” Iryana couldn’t say it without wincing.

“That’s ridiculous,” Misha snapped. “They can’t be back.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Hadima added, still staring at the mark.

Iryana grabbed Hadima’s hand and held it against the golden mark. Let her feel the magic emanating from it.

“Then how do you explain this?” Iryana said, the words barely coming out. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this.”

Her older sister just stared, blinked, and stared some more. Misha wasn’t looking at Hadima’s hand over the mark, but at Hadima’s face. As if all the truths she was looking for would be found there.

“This… this is good, right?” Hadima squeaked. “They can stop the dakii and—”

“Thelbiz created the dakii.”

Hadima’s jaw dropped as Misha grabbed her arm.

“I don’t understand.” Hadima’s hands were squeezing her skirts, her face falling so quickly that Iryana worried her sister was about to burst into tears.

“Why would they do that?” Misha asked.

Iryana took a deep breath. She didn’t know how to break the truth to them gently. She just needed to get it all out.

“They were sleeping, recovering from their last battle, and now they’re waking up. The gods’ war is starting again. The dakii—Thelbiz is creating them as an army,” she rushed the words out, so she couldn’t choke on her fear. “He gave me this mark as proof.”

Misha shook her head violently. “No, that’s… I don’t—”