Page 110 of Daughter of Garnet

And that makes me the most dangerous of us all.

CHAPTER 52

Zoe

A hand squeezes my shoulder and shakes me awake. It takes my eyes a moment to focus, and when they do, I see a woman with golden eyes and flame-red hair leaning over me. She's beautiful in the way fire is, a quiet danger that you know will never be tamed but could work with you if you treat it right.

"We don't have much time."

The words spill out of her, the voice familiar and tickling the back of my battered mind.

Why does my body hurt so much?

I try to sit up, but I cannot move, and I try to beg for help, but my mouth won't open. My heart rate kicks up, panic setting in.

What is wrong with me?

"You're paralyzed. The drugs they put in you haven't worn off. I need you to listen, okay? I know you're scared. I know you're angry at me."

It hits me where I recognize the voice from, why this woman seems vaguely familiar. It's Ilota. The Goddess's likeness was perfectly captured in the painting I found in the chapel, but it couldn't convey the otherworldly glow that surrounds her.

"I couldn't stop your shift. I tried, but I'm not strong enough. I'm surprised I was able to make it to you at all."

I try to speak to her in my mind.

"Where is here?"

She kneels next to me and grabs my hand. "Fetoria. Or, what Fetoria was, when I still walked amongst my people."

"Why do you not walk with us anymore?"

"Outside of me being too weak, it's not safe for us. Everyone loves their Gods until they realize what we're capable of. We are better tolerated when our flaws cannot be seen." She peers down at me with eyes full of nostalgic love. "You look just like her. It's why I chose you."

"Like who?"

"My most devout. Her name was Essie. She's your grandmother many, many generations back. The council killed her." She wipes away a few errant tears. "And then they hunted my Blessed, until all that was left was her daughter, Iva. She kept my secret, kept my garnet." The Goddess looks at the place on my throat where my garnet used to rest. I lost it in the shift. "I knew it was too dangerous to keep Blessing my children. They were being slaughtered, and I refused to see another die. I had hoped someone would come by that could fix things, but I was losing faith. Until you."

Until me.

What makes me so special?

"My siblings had Blessed beautiful, strong Alphas that were untethered, without an Omega partner waiting for them. I saw the opportunity for what it was and chose you in the hope that my siblings would see you as worthy of their children. And they did."

"But you don't trust Dominic."

She shrugs. "I hardly trust Kashmyre. But having Dominic by your side, if he puts you first, may be the key to ousting this corrupt council and revealing what they have done. What they're still doing."

"How have you managed to bring me here? You've barely spoken to me."

Her eyes grow wistful, a pleasant smile stretching her cheeks and revealing dimples on either side of her mouth. "Your pack. Viv. Your mother. All are praying to me, right now. Viv is…" She winces and puts a hand to her temple. "Particularly fervent. And the Hierophant." She laughs now, and the sound is the most lovely music I have ever heard. "He's furious. But he has a right to be."

I feel pressure starting behind my eyes, and my hands and feet feel like they're being stabbed with needles. I try to wiggle my fingers, and one lifts just off the ground.

Ilota notices and takes my face in her hands. "You're waking up. I need you to stay strong, Zoe. Things will get worse before they get better. You are not alone, and you are not forgotten. Do not let them break you. Remember whose daughter you are."

There is so much I want to ask her, so many things I want to say, but I feel my Goddess fading around me, and pain fills my body.

My back arches as I try to escape the bone-shattering pain, but I go nowhere, strapped tightly to a table.