"Yes, I saw it," I admit. "I know what happened to you–what the Blood God did to you."
She bites her lip to keep from crying out loud. I get up from the circle and hug her tightly as I hear her whimper from the pain of having her body ravished by a god.
When her body relaxes against me, I pull back to look into her face again. She is afraid to speak, so she closes her eyes and buries her face into my shoulder.
"So, this is how you saved me," she whispers. "The day you saved all of us."
I swallow hard while her body shivers with emotions of regret and sadness.
"I'm so sorry, Inanna. I didn't know," I whisper. "I could have helped you sooner. But I am not your savior. I am as weak as everyone else."
She pulls back to look at me with a quivering lips and tears in her eyes. "It's supposed to happen in the future. I don't blame you for that."
I cup her cheeks and look into her eyes. "The Blood God mentioned the reaping. Do you know about that?"
She nods. "Yes, it means the Moon Goddess is about to descend into your body."
"How soon is a god's soon?"
"Around a year, maybe."
"A year from now?" I gasp in horror. I focus on Theo. He is looking worried at us from outside the circle. "That's too soon."
"Yes," she agrees quietly with me. "But this time, we will ensure we have more time."
It took me a while before I understood what she meant. "You are going to...?"
"If you choose not to be a vessel, we will help you."
"We are going against a goddess. It will risk your life."
"Yes, it will be risky. But we are also vessels. We have the same fate as you do."
"But yours is still in the distant future," I mutter.
"It can give us more time to prepare," she answers.
"Are you done with the ritual?" Theo interjects. I shift my attention to him. "Because I can't sense Kaiya's emotions anymore," he adds.

***************
Back from the cleansing ritual, I sit on the edge of my bed while Theo hovers around me. A healer is looking at my wound and placing a bandage around it.
"Try to get some rest and let your body recover on its own. Don't move too much, and if you experience a fever or chills, come back for more medicine," the healer instructs before leaving the room, leaving Theo to sit with me.
He takes my hand in his and squeezes them.
"What's wrong?" I ask after hearing him sigh, his gaze away from me.
"I can't feel your emotions anymore. I feel blind." He releases my hand and asks, "You and Inanna? You seem weird after the ritual. Are you okay?"
I smile. "Yes. Although, the wound in my palm still aches."
He glances at my wound and then at my face. "I am weak in anything spiritual, so I am not sure how to help you. But if that ritual affected you in any way... will you tell me?"
"Yes," I reply softly, maybe once we are back from Owusu, we can talk a lot more.
Inanna also mentioned that other than Bryer, she'd like to visit the Owusu stronghold, too. There is a massive library underneath that comprises all the knowledge that Klevon's clan had amassed over the past centuries. It is an extensive collection of ancient wisdom from all kinds of places in the world.
"Are you really sure?" he asks again.
My smile widens. I straighten my back to place a quick kiss on his lips. My own gesture also surprises me because it takes a couple of seconds before I can say, "Sorry, I just thought I needed to do that to remove your anxiety. Especially now that you can't sense my emotions anymore."
He blushes as he replies, "It's okay."
"So," I start again, "I hope I can already go to Owusu with the three vampires?"
"Yes, but you have to heal first." He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before he answers me again, "And I want to go, too."
"You know you can't."
"I can't, but I still wish I can go with you," he replies without a fight in his voice. "When will you heal?"
I stare at my wound that is wrapped with the bandage. "In three days to one week, I think."
"Want a massage?" Theo abruptly asks as he takes my other hand and presses on it. "I am not good with my hands, but I can try."
"Okay."
"Then turn around. I will massage your back instead of your hands." He takes a deep breath before he continues, "I will like it if you lie down on your chest."
"I hope you are not planning anything lewd," I say.
He chuckles softly, leans closer and kisses my neck before he replies, "No, nothing like that. Besides, I always think of something lewd when I am with you."
Sharply, I suck my breath in and shiver at his words. I turn around and am about to obey when he suddenly takes off my shirt. "Hey!" I complain as I cover my chest.
His eyes scour my body, and I swallow hard when he touches my bare shoulder. "Lie on your chest now, Kaiya. It's already hard for me, so I don't want to lose control now."
I obey and lie down. However, my body is so tense that I am sure Theo will sense it even without my mark on him. When his fingers rub my shoulders, I cover my mouth to stifle a moan.
"You are so beautiful, Kaiya," he whispers in my ears as his fingers continue their job.
However, as his fingers knead my muscles, I forget my wound for a moment. My body relaxes as he massages my back until all the tension in my body disappears.
He massages my legs and kneads the back of my knee. Then, his fingers move back and forth along the back of my neck and down my spine again. I can't help but moan when his fingers reach my hips and start rubbing and massaging my thighs and calves.
He moves higher again and massages my hip bones with his fingers. I hide my face in the pillow to stifle another moan. His fingers slowly making their way toward my groin until he cups my mound with his hand and strokes it softly.
I am startled by his sudden action. Desire almost consumes, but thankfully, I still have the presence of mind to grab his wrist when he touches me with his other hand.
"What are you doing?!" I exclaim while pulling his hands away from my body.
"You seem to enjoy my massage."
I frown at him and ask, "Are you planning to do something else?!"
He chuckles again. I am about to get up when he gently pushes my body down onto my bed. "Maybe I just want to know how you like it when I touch you."
When I realize that my breathing is heavy, he moves closer to me and rubs my back with his fingers. "Kaiya, my dear Kaiya," he whispers and then kisses my shoulder. "What do you feel? What do you want me to do?"
Instead of moving away, I take a deep breath as he kisses down my back to the curve of my waist. My breathing becomes heavier until he withdraws his hand from me. "What do you want?" he murmurs.
I hit my head on the pillow to take a hold of my emotions. And softly, I whisper, "I want you to stop."
"Okay," he responds.
And he did. He lies beside me and gazes at me while I lie on my chest. We both lay there without moving for a while.
Then I feel the bed shift. He places his hands on my stomach and starts caressing it slowly. "Kaiya. Do you think it is still possible for us to be together? Those days with you are heaven. I miss it."
I didn't answer him. Instead, I move towards him and embrace him. "Right now, I just want to sleep with you every night like this before we leave for Owusu."
"No lovemaking?" he asks.
"None."
He drapes his arms around my shoulders and pulls me closer to his body. "I think you just want to punish me," he says.
And yet, when he presses his lips on the top of my head, I close my eyes to sleep.