Birthright (The Stone Legacy Series Book 5) by Theresa Dalayne

Heart-of-Sky would be complete. She would be stripped of her crown. She would become mortal.’”
    “Whoa. Talk about generous,” Zanya said. “That’s a big sacrifice in the name of being noble.”
    He stepped back. “I don’t understand how any of this can help.” He dropped his gaze. “Maybe she was giving me false hope.”
    “There’s one more tablet.” She nudged him playfully. “Come on.” She took his hand and pulled him aside. “We came all this way. We can’t stop now.”
    He followed, and lingered in front of the final tablet before he continued reading. “‘Star conceded to their condition. Her crown was torn from her head. She fell from the heavens, landing in the sea. Many days she lived hungry, cold, and afraid.’”
    “A good deed never goes unpunished,” Zanya mumbled. When he looked at her, she bit her lip. “Sorry. Keep going.”
    “‘But Star was clever. There was a quality to being mortal she did not have as part of Heart-of-Sky. Now, as woman, she could become…’” Arwan tilted his head. “‘ Pregnant .’” The word slipped from his lips as the heat in his body spiked. “My gods,” he whispered. He continued reading. “‘Star walked day and night to a dark corner of the earth. There she found Yaxche, and journeyed to the underworld.’”
    “So she gave up her place as a creation goddess, all to be cold and hungry, and then go down to hell? For what? And how, if she wasn’t underworld herself?”
    “She must have had help…”
    “Help?” Zanya paused. “But…why?”
    The darkness inside of him clawed at his chest, reminding him who he was. Though his legs began to feel weak, he forced himself to read on. “‘The king of the underworld gazed upon Star’s beauty. She…’” He blinked, his voice quivering as he read on. “‘She seduced him and…lay with him.’” He swallowed the sick heat collecting under his tongue. “‘She gave her body to the king, and in that union…became pregnant.’” A single tear streaked down his face. “‘The child was born under a full moon, unaware his creation was a union of heaven and hell. The son…’” He gulped in a breath. His legs quivered. “‘The son of both Star and beast, a bloodline of royalty weaving together two realms, uniting powers of good and evil.’”
    With a rush of nausea, he turned and dropped to his knees, then vomited on the stone floor.
    “Arwan!” Zanya knelt beside him, her hands set on his back. “My god. You’re shaking.”
    “This can’t be—” The beast inside plowed into his heart, forcing him to collapse onto the cold ground. Heat drained from his face and the tips of his fingers chilled. Sweat slicked his skin.
    “What’s wrong?” She ran her hands over his body. “I can’t sense anything.”
    He couldn’t find the breath to respond.
    “Come on, sit up. You have to sit up.” She hooked her arms around him and hauled him upright, propping his back against the wall. She knelt in front of him, panic streaking her features. “I can heal you if you just tell me what’s wrong. I don’t know how to sense illnesses yet. I…” She cupped his face in her hands and searched his eyes. “ Please .”
    He blinked, streaking a tear down his cheek. “Don’t you see? How can you not see?”
    “See what?” She ran her hands around his ribs as if searching for a wound. “I don’t see anything.”
    He seized her hand, holding it tight. Too tight. “ I am that boy.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Twelve
     
     
    Zanya
     
    “‘That boy?’” Zanya sat back on the cold stone floor. “As in, you’re the son of Star and the underworld king? Like, some kind of half—” She choked on the word, and then parted her lips. “Oh my…” That must have been what Cualli had meant. He was special. A miracle, even.
    And Cualli knew the whole time.
    Her stone buzzed wildly against her skin, sending her into full-on alarm. She tightened her jaw and turned, searching