vampire behind me grumbled something under his breath, but I didn’t care.
The object in my hand was softer than I expected and released a sparkling vapor of silvery light mixed with a gentle wisp of aroma. It was so faint, even with my vampire senses I could barely smell it. I pursed my lips and blew, sending the delicate veil cascading down my hand and toward my feet to reveal a beautiful white flower.
“It’s called Astraia,” Robin’s sweet voice whispered beside me. I beamed up at her, completely forgetting the beauty in my hands and savoring the joy of her presence. I wanted to jump into her arms and squeeze my best friend as hard as I could. Her expression softened briefly at my reaction but no smile broke through her grief.
“What does it mean?” I asked, knowing that giving me a history lesson was the one thing that might help her forget her sadness, if even for a moment.
“It means ‘Goddess’ Tear’.” She lifted the flourishing bloom to her nose and inhaled the soft scent.
“From the Moon of Tears?” I was suddenly intrigued with the history of this flower.
Robin glanced up at me surprised, but also amused. “Yes. The flower blooms only at night, and it only glows after the Moon of Tears. The tears of Nyx fall from the sky and the flowers soak up her essence. The essence is then gathered and used for ceremonies like tonight’s, and your Blood Mate ritual. It’s a very rare thing to see. I’ve read about it, but it’s so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”
“It’s a shame it takes such a dreadful act to bring about such a beautiful thing,” Arrick said, stepping up behind me. He held his flower is his palm and placed his other hand on my lower back. The small touch sent warmth spiraling through my body.
“Yeah.” Robin nodded, looking around at the crowd that was gathering. “I should find my mother before the ceremony begins.”
She left without a second glance, and I watched her walk away until she was just another shrouded figure in the crowd. “What do we do now?” I asked Arrick, dropping my weight onto a stone bench that was nestled in the roots of a nearby tree. I deposited the flower onto my lap and watched as the smoky glow traveled down my legs.
Arrick sat down beside me and sighed. He cupped the flower in his hands, and hung his head. “Now we descend into the tomb and place our offerings at the feet of Nyx.” I nodded, but he wasn’t even looking at me to see it.
When the last of the procession received their flowers, they made their way toward the largest tree nearby. The roots jutted out of the ground like pillars, holding the tree above our heads, suspended over the earth. We walked through the web of roots and under the massive trunk that spread well over four meters wide. I stretched a hand out and brushed my fingertips along a root. It was colder than I had expected and I drew my hand back. On the other side of the tree, the roots spilled down into a deep hole in the ground. A stone staircase covered in moss sloped downward into the earth below.
With every step, dropping deeper into the earth, I realized we were lowering ourselves into the entrance of the tomb. Under the earth, moss, and skeletal limbs of the monstrous tree roots was stone. Four stone walls that had long ago been embraced by Mother Nature. Instead of swallowing the tomb, the landscape hugged the structure. The roots clasped the pillars and wrapped around the archway leading to the depths below. Moss grew around chiseled carvings making the sculptures stand out, and the images that much more captivating. Astraia flowers dotted the mossy growth providing a soft light. Several stone benches lay in crumbled mounds, but others still stood, defying the test of time.
At the center of the farthest wall stood the mouth of the tomb nestled between the roots that were draping the doorway like curtains. The procession made its way inside, their Astraia flowers illuminating the