“That’s a symbol of Acaeja,” he said.
Acaeja—the Goddess of the Unknown and Weaver of Fates.
Realization rolled over me as I thought of what Septimus had said about my father. That he’d searched for the god blood. That he’d used seers to help him do it.
Sun fucking take me.
My eyes snapped to Raihn, and he raised his brows in silent confirmation that he’d had the same thought I did.
“What did she do for him?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I—I wish I knew. Months of searching, and this is all I have.”
He sounded frustrated with himself, embarrassed to be offering me so little. And yet, I felt downright gluttonous with all I’d just been given.
I had a name. Goddess, I had a face.
And I had a million questions and a million possibilities.
I picked up the first parchment again—the drawing. My fingertips traced the old ink lines.
He drew this. He drew her.
Why, Vincent?
Did you love her? Did you kidnap her?
Both?
But I heard no voice in my head. Why would I even be able to conjure a fake version of him that was anything but secretive, when that was all he had ever given me in life?
Or maybe his voice had left me, because he knew I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.
My eyes stung, my throat tight. My thumb caressed that parchment, back and forth. Raihn’s presence beside me felt far too close and yet not close enough.
“She looks like you,” he murmured.
Something about the way he said that hurt. With such admiration. Like there was no greater compliment.
I traced the cascade of dark hair over her shoulder, the straight angle of her nose, the eerily familiar thoughtful downturned slope of her mouth.
“I wish I could give you more,” he said softly. “More than a name. More than a few scraps of paper.”
“Why?” I choked out. “Why did you do this?”
I knew. In my heart, I already knew.
Raihn drew in a long breath, and loosed it slowly. “Because you deserve so much more than what this world has given you. And I know—I know I was a part of that. I took away your ability to get those answers. This isn’t enough. I know it isn’t. But…”
His voice trailed off, a little hopelessly, like he was reaching for words but couldn’t find any. I couldn’t find any, either, past the painful gratefulness that swelled in my chest, pulling tight. Yes, Raihn was right. He had taken away my ability to look Vincent in the eye and demand answers.
But even this, mere scraps of a past, was more than my father had ever given me. It meant something. It meant more than I wished it did.
I could feel Raihn’s stare, even though I kept my gaze dutifully to the bedspread, ashamed of what he might see within it.
“There’s something else,” he said.
A faint rustling sound as he reached into his pocket. Then he placed a velvet pouch on my lap. It was heavy for its size, a faint metallic jangle ringing from within as it settled.
Money.
My eyes shot up to meet his. A mistake, because the sadness on his face was so bare, so open, that it startled me.
“What—” I started.
“Gold,” he said. “The material matters more than the currency. Anyone in any of the human nations will take it from you. It’s enough to last you. I was going to send more if you ever needed it, but—”
I stood abruptly, pushing the paper and the pouch off my lap and onto the bed.
“I don’t—”
“Just let me fucking talk, Oraya.” Then, more softly, “Just… please. Please let me say this to you.”
I wanted to look away from him, now, but I couldn’t. Those rustred eyes, glistening a little too much beneath the lantern light, held me captive.
“At the mouth of the Lituro, near the outskirts of the human districts, a man is waiting for you right now. He has a boat. He’ll take you to the trading islands off the coast. There, you can get on a ship going anywhere in the world.”
My lips parted.
It had all been prepared. A man waiting for me. The money. This notebook, wrapped and ready, waiting for me.
Raihn had never intended to make my freedom dependent upon the support of the House of Shadow.
He was always going to let me go.
“I—” I choked out, but he stood, barely wincing at his injuries, unblinking eyes never leaving mine.
“Go,” he breathed. “Go somewhere far away. Go to the human nations. Go learn about your magic. I’d tell you to go become something fucking incredible, Oraya, but you already are, and this place doesn’t deserve you. It never has. And I sure as fuck don’t.”