Declan gave me a half-hearted smile. It was fake and pained and tried to shove aside whatever had happened between him and Lorne.

I turned away. That fight had been about me, and I didn’t like it. Not even a little bit. I wasn’t something to be fought over.

I stared at the fountain for the first time.

There was an ornate statue in the center. A woman stood tall. Her hands held two short batons. The water seemed to move and swirl as it flowed around her. Almost like the water was forming people. Like there was a fight going on in the fountain with water-formed men.

When I got to her face, it felt as if the ground disappeared beneath my bare feet.

It was me.

What the hell was a statue of me doing in the gardens?

I looked back toward the house. Lorne was almost to the turn in the path, but he seemed to sense my gaze and glanced back at me. “She’s your destiny,” he yelled. “As am I.”

I spun back to the fountain and watched the water crashing around her.

I had a destiny?

I stumbled back until the bench pressed against me and sat before my legs gave out.

“You okay?” Declan asked.

He settled down beside me, and I felt the stirrings of panic.

I needed my memory back. I needed to figure out what being Aunare was. And I needed to figure out how I fit into this world. Because, like it or not, I was here. “What am I going to do?”

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll figure it out.” Declan nudged my shoulder with his. “You’re going to be fine.”

For a second, I believed him. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“There you go. See? It’ll be okay.”

But as I sat there, staring at that stupid fountain, I stopped believing it.

It was so easy for Declan to say everything will be fine. That I’d be okay. That I’d figure it out. But he wasn’t the one who had to do the work.

How? How was I supposed to be okay? That’s what I needed to know.

But all I knew was how to be Maité Martinez—a waitress, ABQ Crew member, and martial arts instructor.

I’d been on the run for most of my life, forced to make choices based on survival. That was over. I was supposed to be able to live my life how I chose now, but I was slowly realizing that my life might never be that easy. Especially when I was supposed to become the Aunare Queen.

How was I supposed to figure that out?