CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

 

When Aryiah woke back in her apartment, she didn't need to look at Damarius to see he was extremely frustrated. She could feel the emotion radiating off him like heat from the desert sand.

"Damarius, please calm down. Everything will be alright."

"What, do you know what's going on too? Is leaving me in the dark the way things are going to be now?"

Feeling the intensity of his emotions caused Aryiah to pull her legs up to her chest as she sunk into the couch. After pacing and huffing like a raging bull for a few seconds more, Damarius stopped and looked down at her with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I can feel that you're just as confused as I am, but hopefully, when we meet with the Goddess tonight, all will be revealed like she said."

Aryiah pushed off the couch, finding her voice again. "I hope so, because I want to know what's happening to me. Why am I so different than any other Witch you've trained? And what the hell is this theory Diana mentioned, and does it have anything to do with Gage trying to kill me?"

Plagued with more questions than answers, she made her way to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She was quickly working herself into a frantic state, so she tilted the glass to her lips and let the calming liquid flow down her throat, then she closed her eyes and focused on Damarius' voice.

"I have no idea what the Goddess is referring to, as obviously she's chosen not to share her theory with me. But whatever it is, it seems to bring her pleasure, so I hope that it will be happy news for us both."

Aryiah sat the half-empty glass on the counter and walked back to her mate. She put her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him, hoping it would calm her frayed nerves.

"I hope so, Damarius. Because finding out that I'm mated to a werewolf, getting ready to willingly die, and will be living in a completely different world...I hope it's good news, because if it's not, I'm fucking out of here."

She tried to layer her words with humor, but couldn't quite pull it off since this was truly how she was feeling at the moment. But in reality, she knew as well as he did that there was no turning back from this path. Vampire assassins, forgetting spells, and whatever other hiccups they met along the way, Aryiah knew this was truly where she belonged. All the strange occurrences she'd faced over the years, and the feelings of being something...more, had finally made sense the day Damarius entered her life.

 

* * * * *

 

Upon returning to her castle in Upper World, Diana headed straight for her altar. Revealing herself to Aryiah in Lower World only confirmed her suspicions, and now she needed to prepare for her arrival tonight.

"Her power is strong, but she still claims to not know where her magick comes from."

The ancient tome resting on the carved wooden lectern began to pulse under Diana's hands.

Give her the test and she will see, memories of her past will set her free.

Diana absorbed the book's words, then left to prepare for tonight's meeting with a smile on her face.