Onyx Blood [True North series book 2/3]

I had barely made it halfway down the stairs before I ran into Thoridor. He grabbed me, and pulled me into his chest, nuzzling his face into my braids and breathing me in.

“You’re okay,” he growled, and straightened his arms so he could look at me.

“I’m okay,” I confirmed, and took his face into my hands. I looked at him for a long moment, taking in his striking beauty.

“You’re very handsome,” I mumbled, stroking his bearded jaw with my thumbs, “I’m pretty lucky I get to have you as a mate, am I not?”

I focussed on the way saying those words made me feel. My mate. He truly was handsome — easily the most handsome male I had ever seen. Everyone here was beautiful, but none of them quite like Thoridor. My Thoridor. Could he be mine? Was that what I truly wanted?

Thoridor chuckled. “I’m the lucky one, Serin,” he said earnestly, and leaned in to kiss my neck.

A delightful buzz spread through me, and I couldn’t help but reciprocate his kiss — pulling him closer, right there on those narrow, winding stairs. Thoridor turned us around and pushed me into the wall, grinding himself into me as he deepened the kiss.

I broke away from our kiss and tilted my head back, closing my eyes as Thoridor’s lips latched onto the side of my neck again. I knew. I knew it was him. Mate or not — it was him. I had made the right choice.

My eyes flew open in shock. Blood ties, but so does love. I gasped and pushed Thoridor off me.

“It wasn’t about you!” I breathed, “it wasn’t about Warrian either!”

I grabbed Thoridor’s hand and pulled him with me as I flew down the stairs. I sat down on the bottom step, and took my necklace and held it out in front of me.

“This was my mother’s,” I explained to Thoridor, who was obviously having a hard time connecting the dots. “What if that’s not Jorinia? What if I was never biologically hers? What if this necklace was a gift from my biological mother?”

I gasped again as I began putting more and more pieces together in my mind. “My parents hand just two children — Tophyn and I,” Nys had said.

“You made Nysander forget me, right?” I asked Thoridor, barely able to contain myself.

“Yes,” Thoridor grunted defeatedly, “and I’m so, so—”

“I know, I know,” I cut him off, “this isn’t about that. Nysander said our parents only had two children — Tophyn and him. What if that was true, though? What if they never had a daughter?”

I grabbed Thoridor’s hands, mostly to calm my own racing heart. “I think my mother may not have been human,” I whispered, and looked up to gauge Thoridor’s reaction.

He had kneeled before me, concern clouding his face. “I agree,” he finally said, “and I think she wasn’t human either. You’ve never smelled human to me — that could be it.”

I bit my bottom lip as I wrecked my brain for answers. “Often, to get answers, you have to know exactly what questions to ask, and how to ask them,” Aeloria had said. I looked at the pendant in the palm of my hand, and hovered my hand over it. Black blood.

I picked up the tiny vial, and unscrewed the top. Then, I tipped it over, pouring the black liquid into my palm. I half-expected it to burn me, or to turn into smoke, but nothing happened.

I put down the vial, and hovered my hand over the blood again, making slow, stirring motions. The blood began to swirl in my hand, mimicking the movements I was making.

“Show me what happened,” I whispered, and suddenly, everything went black.

“Just one more push, Caiora, she’s nearly here,” Jorinia said, squeezing my knee.

I took a deep breath and bore down with all my might, and then, she finally slid out of me. A perfect little youngling, wet, pink, and warm. Jorinia placed her on my chest, and began rubbing her back with a cloth. The newborn took a gurgling breath, and began crying. High-pitched little cries, but she sounded strong. She would make it — she would thrive.

“A girl,” Jorinia said, as smile lines formed around her kind, blue eyes, “just like you said.” She tied off the umbilical cord, and cut it.

“Do you have children of your own?” I asked, trying to catch her gaze again.

Jorinia’s smile had been replaced by concern. “You’re losing a lot of blood,” she mumbled, “I need you to deliver the afterbirth. Push again, Caiora.”

I waved my hand, and the bleeding stopped. “Any children?” I pressed.

Jorinia looked at me with a gobsmacked expression on her face. “Eh…no,” she stammered.

“Never wished for any?” I asked, as I wrapped the newborn in the toweling cloth.

“I… I can’t,” Jorinia said stiffly, “now please push.”

I put my chin on my chest, and pushed until it was out. The afterbirth seemed like just that — an afterthought. The child was out. I had delivered her safely.

“I need you to take her,” I said, and I tried to ignore the gut-wrenching pain inside my chest, “I need you to keep her safe.”

“What?!” Jorinia gasped, “what do you mean?”

“Take her,” I said, pushing the bundle into her hands. I needed to get this over with, before I could change my mind.

“You’ll make sure she has a good life, won’t you? She’ll be special. She’ll heal you. Hold her to your womb — she’ll make it right. She’s your daughter now.”

I took off my necklace, and pierced my thumb with my canine. A bright red drop of blood beaded onto my fingertip. I let it fall into the tiny crystal vial, and squeezed out some more. I waited until the vial was full, and sealed it. Jorinia was clutching my newborn in her arms with a mortified look on her face.

“Give this to her,” I said, handing her the necklace. “It will explain everything, once it’s time.”

“Caiora,” Jorinia protested, “this is your child! You cannot leave her!”

“You will give her a life I never could,” I said, taking Jorinia’s hand. I shakily got up, and pressed a kiss to the newborn’s forehead.

“This is my gift to you, sweet child,” I said, and then pressed my forehead to Jorinia’s.

“Thank you,” I said, closing my eyes to keep my tears from falling. Then, I opened a gateway, and stepped through.

I opened my eyes, which had gone wet with tears. Thoridor was holding on to my hand as if he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go.

“I just—” I began, not knowing how to explain what I had just experienced.

“I know, love,” Thoridor said, pulling me into a soothing embrace, “you showed me. You took me along. I know.”

I wielded the blood back into the vial, and screwed it shut. “I need to get some air,” I said, and pulled Thoridor to his feet.