Bile rose to my throat.

“But it’s like all I remember was amplified. Your smiles are smaller, tighter. Your voice thicker. You are more confident in your speech and quite a bit freer with what you say. You move that way, too. There are more freckles.” His gaze drifted across my chest. “More everything.”

The bile increased.

“I find parts of the new you pleasing,” he said, his stare lifting to my hair, and I had a sinking suspicion that I had been right about Veses already whispering in his ear. Why else would he bring that up? “Other parts, not so much. Despite what I said to Callum, I thought you would look just as I remembered.”

I tensed.

He sighed heavily. “I wish you did.”

I was so fucking glad I didn’t, but that didn’t stop my reaction. My brows lifted in surprise. He’d basically just told me, the one he believed was the love of his life and the person he wanted to start anew with, that he wished I looked like someone else.

Gods, and I thought I was bad when it came to interacting with people.

No one was worse than Kolis.

The skin of his forehead creased as a warm breeze carrying the stale scent of decay lifted the strands of his hair. “I believe I may have insulted you.”

“Uh…”

“I’m not sure why,” he said. “I didn’t say I found you unattractive.”

I looked back at the city. I didn’t have it in me to even begin to explain all that was wrong with what he’d said.

“I’ve upset you.” Kolis shifted closer. “How can I make it up to you?”

Gods, not this again.

“What would you like? New gowns? Books? Jewels? A pet?” He caught a curl that had been tossed across my face. His lips thinned as he tucked it back. Was he offended by the color? “Tell me, and I will get it for you.”

I started to tell him that I wasn’t offended and didn’t need gowns, jewels, books, or a pet—wait.

What kind of pet?

It didn’t matter. It was the other thing he’d offered.

Jewels.

The Star diamond.

My pulse picked up as an idea rapidly formed—a really poorly thought-out idea, but one nonetheless.

I turned back to the railing, placing my palm on the smooth marble. “Do you know why I find the city so beautiful?” My stomach and chest fluttered as I spoke. “It’s the way it glitters. All the different shapes, some smooth, others irregular.” Aware of how intently he was listening and watching, I smiled. “My mother had many jewels, mostly sapphires and rubies. Bright, perfectly polished ones. Completely unflawed—unlike me.”

“How so?”

My mother did have many jewels, but most of what was coming out of my mouth now was completely made up. “The freckles.” I lowered my voice, playing off what he’d said. “She found them to be too many. After all, she preferred smooth, unblemished beauty. Still, she had this one diamond that was rough-edged and irregularly shaped. It always fascinated me—all diamonds do. Is it true they were created from tears of joy?”

“Most of them.”

“I wanted to wear it,” I lied, having absolutely no desire to wear any jewelry. “But she would never let me touch it.”

“I could retrieve it for you now,” Kolis said quickly. “Tell me where it is.”

Oh, shit. “I’m not sure where she keeps it now.”

Determination settled into his jaw. “I can make her tell me.”

Double shit. This was going sideways fast. “I’m not even sure she has it anymore.” I angled my body toward his, desperate enough to get him off the idea that I placed my palm on his chest.

Kolis went completely still.

So did I, but for different reasons, as I did everything not to acknowledge how his skin felt beneath my palm. “You don’t have to go to that kind of trouble, Kolis.” The bile crowding my throat was back, the lump bigger than ever as I drew my fingers over the slab of muscle, stopping at the center of his chest. “Another diamond would suffice.”

Kolis’s chin lowered. He stared at my hand as I wondered if I’d lost my mind.

“Obviously, not one from any of the buildings.” I could feel how fast his heart beat. “I would be sad if they were damaged in any way. But something large and unique would work.”

“Exactly how large?” His voice had roughened. “And unique?”

How big was this Star diamond supposed to be? All I remembered was that it was jagged and what I’d heard about the color. “Well, the size doesn’t matter so much as its uniqueness,” I decided, feigning a sigh. “And that it has a silver sheen. Hers was so very silver and jagged.” I tapped my finger against his skin and then withdrew my hand. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t need anything.” I started to turn away.

“I know of one. It’s large and irregular,” he said. I might’ve stopped. breathing. “I believe it also has a silver sheen. It’s a…rare diamond.”

Slowly, I faced him. “You do?”

“Yes.” He was still staring at my hands.

I returned my palm to his chest. “Can I…can I see it?”

Whirling gold and silver eyes lifted to mine.

I bit my lower lip. “I would like to see it. Hold it.” I made my tone turn breathy, likely sounding ridiculous compared to how Veses naturally spoke. “Touch it.”

The swirling of his eyes went crazy. “Will it make you happy?”

“Yes.” I nodded, withdrawing my hand again. I clasped them at my waist. “It would.”

“Then come. I’ll take you to it.”

My chest and stomach were still wiggling as I followed Kolis back into the sanctuary. Part of me was lost in disbelief. Could he truly be this easy to manipulate? Really?

But Ash hadn’t known about the diamond. Attes had never mentioned it.

Delfai had said it was not to be known to any other than the Fates. Obviously, an Arae had shared the knowledge with Kolis. I’d asked Delfai how a Fate could’ve done that since they weren’t supposed to interfere, and he’d claimed that when Primals started to feel emotion, so did the Arae. Therefore, they could be exploited, too. Who knew? Other Primals could know of its existence and what it was capable of, but there was a good chance it wouldn’t even cross Kolis’s mind that I was asking to see The Star.

That was if he was actually taking me to it.

I began to seriously doubt that when we ended up back outside, Elias trailing behind us on the pathway. When Dyses came into view, my hands fisted.

The door to the chamber opened, and Kolis led me inside. When he passed his throne and unlocked the cage door, my steps slowed.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “I thought you were showing me a diamond.”

“I am.” He stepped inside the cage, waiting for me at the threshold.

Forcing myself forward, I joined him. He didn’t leave much room for me. My body brushed his as I passed him.

The door swung shut as he came to stand behind me. Like right behind me. “Look up.”

Anger simmered as I did what he said. I looked up. “Yes?”

“You see it, don’t you?” Kolis said.

“I don’t see…” My gaze landed on the cluster of diamonds at the center of the cage. “That’s a cluster of diamonds. And the sheen isn’t silver.” It was a strange, streaky, milky color.

Kolis chuckled. “It appears that way now, only because I’ve willed it to be so.” Reaching around me, he lifted an arm and opened his hand. “Vena ta mayah.”

Recognizing the words as the language of the Primals, my lips parted as the cluster of diamonds at the ceiling of the cage started to vibrate, making a high-pitched whirring noise.

They shuddered free of the gold, and I realized that it wasn’t a cluster of several but only one. The shape changed as it floated downward, pulsing with a milky streak of light and silver.

When it reached Kolis’s hand, he held a single diamond the size of his palm, its irregular shape vaguely forming the points of a…

I couldn’t believe it.

The damn diamond had been above me the whole time.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE