Briefly closing my eyes, I silenced the voice that wanted to remind me this wasn’t the way to go about things. That it was a really terrible, bad idea.
That voice could shut the fuck up.
I needed a weapon. Pushing to my feet, I turned sharply to the various
chests lining one side of the cage. There’d been a few in the last one, but not like here, nor had they been as lavishly adorned with gold and what looked
like shadowstone trimmings.
Giving the chamber beyond a quick scan, I hurried over to the first trunk. I had no idea when Kolis would return, but he would. He claimed we needed to talk.
Kneeling, I threw open the lid of a chest about two to three feet wide and deep. Books were stacked neatly inside, one on top of another. Running my
fingers over the spines, I wondered how many others had done the same. The
thought left me cold. I knew Aios’s hands, when Kolis had kept her as one of his favorites, had likely touched these very books—not to mention countless other captives.
“No more,” I whispered. “There will be no more favorites after me.”
Because their lives had mattered, too—they still did. And once I got to Ash, and he took the embers, he could stop Kolis.
I quietly closed the chest and opened a slightly larger one on my other side. It was full of sheer, lacy slips used for sleeping. I moved on to the next one—the largest. It held more clothing. All gowns. I rooted through them, making sure I could touch the bottom to see if anything had been hidden there. Most of the garments were transparent enough that even the Mistresses of the Jade would’ve blushed wearing them, and they were all either white or gold, like the nightgowns. A few of them appeared as if they only provided
the most basic level of decency. And there were no undergarments.
Gods.
I moved on to a fourth chest, the hinges creaking when the lid opened. More pale white and glittery gold gowns. Closing it, I scooted over to the smallest trunk. I went to pick it up, surprised to find it had some weight and something clunked around inside—several somethings.
Frowning, I knelt. Flipping up the lid, the hinges moved far smoother than the others. I found several strips of material inside, and just like the gowns, they were all white or gold. I picked one up. What in the world was it used
for? Placing the ribbon back, I reached in farther. My fingers brushed something cool and smooth.
Shoving the material aside, I froze as I revealed what rested at the bottom.
They were glass…sculptures? Some were smooth and straight, cylindrical. Others curved slightly. A few were ribbed at the center. They ranged from six inches or so, and were one to two inches wide, in various shades of blue and red. A few were even wider and longer.
They couldn’t be…
I picked up one made of deep blue glass and suspiciously shaped like…a cock.
All of them were—well, except for the ribbed ones, and that crimson- hued one as wide as my fist that seriously terrified me to even contemplate. But I thought I knew what these were. I’d seen similar ones in pleasure dens. They were glass cocks.
Aios had also told me that Kolis liked to sit with his favorites—talk with them and watch them. I knew that Aios hadn’t told me everything about her time here, but I figured I’d found something Kolis liked to watch.
“Perverted bastard,” I muttered, disgust churning. All of these had clearly been cleaned, but it was unthinkable to imagine how many hands had touched them. How many bodies…
I wanted to break every single one of them, shatter them to pieces. Damn, I wanted to do way worse with them, and at least one of those things involved shoving one of them through Kolis’s eye.
A tight-lipped smile tugged at my lips as I studied the one I held. Likely the strangest weapon I’d ever considered, but it was better than nothing.
Glancing at the closed doors, I got a feel for the weight. It was pretty heavy and sturdy, not easily broken, I would imagine, but I was strong.
Gripping the base, I slammed it onto the edge of the chest. The bang it
made echoed through the cavernous chamber. The impact rattled my arm, and a crack split across half the width. Shifting back, I brought it down on the chest once more. The glass cock broke unevenly, causing the damaged end to be jagged and sharp.
Perfect.
Picking up the other half of the glass, I placed it back into the chest, then shut the lid and rose, the new glass dagger in hand. As close as I was to the
bars, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. They weren’t made of gold. They were painted. I saw that in the mild discoloration. Frowning, I stepped around the chest and reached out, placing my fingers on them—
A sharp, quick bite of pain danced over my fingertips, and a wave of silvery sparks briefly lit up the bars. Gasping, I drew my stinging hand to my chest as I stepped back. “What in the world?”
It had to be some sort of ward—magic fueled by Primal essence. Or something else? Whatever it was, it presented an obvious problem.
Turning from the bars, I faced a golden divan and the thick, white fur rug at its feet. The bed was piled with white and gold pillows and fur blankets and positioned directly at the center of the cage. My head turned to the chamber.
The throne sat directly in front of the bed. Of course, it did.
After all, Kolis would want a perfect view to watch his favorites sleep
or…entertain him.
Lip curling, I glanced over the round table and chair near the front of the cage, to the left of the bed.
Chains lay coiled on the floor, secured to the bedposts. My stomach hollowed as my hand moved from my chest to my throat. Much like the one Ash had broken on me, a golden band glinted in the lamplight. The taste of bile filled my mouth, and I dragged my gaze away. A privacy screen and a white chair were on the other side of the bed.
Having a good idea of what I would find, I crossed the cage and stopped beside the large, tufted chair. Behind the screen was a rather massive bathtub,
a toilet, and a vanity, all secured to the floor.
The chair faced the tub.
“Fucking gods,” I snarled, the embers humming. “Could he be more disgusting if he tried?”
One would hope not, but the answer was probably a resounding yes.
I wondered how mad he’d get if I shoved what used to be a glass cock down his throat.
I turned to the standing shelf filled with towels and numerous glass bottles. There were salts, lotions, and cleansers. My gaze flicked to the vanity. A comb lay on the marble sink, along with a toothbrush.
The sad reality was that the interior of this cage was more luxurious than what I’d had at home in Wayfair Castle.
But it remained a cage, regardless of the comforts within.
I attended to my personal needs and then moved to leave the bathing area. My eyes caught on that cursed chair. Its arms were thickly padded, yet the imprint of fingers was unmistakable.
A chill swept through me as I stared. How many times had Kolis sat in that chair, his fingers pressing into the arms as they had on my hips, leaving marks like that? How many had he watched, denying them even the most basic privacy?
I felt the flames rise in my chest, spreading through my veins like wildfire. My hand trembled as I clutched the broken glass, my knuckles turning white. Holding on to that rage, I stalked past the chair. Tossing the weapon onto the bed, I returned to the chests and opened one, grabbing a white, lacy garment with slits on either side of the skirt.
Quickly, I peeled off my still-damp gown and changed into the other. It was looser, and the sleeves sat off the shoulder, but it left little to the imagination.
It was clear that Kolis liked to dress his favorites for his viewing pleasure, treating them as one would dolls.
Highly sexualized toys.
Grossed out on so many levels, I retrieved my newly fashioned dagger and sat on the floor.
And waited.
Part of me knew how foolhardy it was. I had no real plan beyond finding Ash and escaping, but anything was better than sitting in the cage and waiting for Kolis to return.
Waiting for him to move beyond looking and touching while only the gods knew what was happening to Ash.
I didn’t have to wait long.
Footsteps sounded outside the chamber. Quickly, I lay on my side with my back to the doors. I didn’t like it, but it was the only way to keep the glass dagger hidden beneath my other arm while also allowing me to react quickly with it.
My heart beat fast as I heard the doors open and then the soft click of them closing again. I lay completely still, my grip tight on the glass. I didn’t feel the stir of embers that alerted me when a Primal was near. So, it was either a guard or possibly a Revenant. If it was the latter, they wouldn’t stay dead for long.
The length of my entire back tingled with awareness as the silence stretched. I thought whoever was in the room had moved closer because the faint, sweet-but-stale scent increased, but I couldn’t be sure. Seconds ticked by but I held myself still, half-afraid I’d have to sneeze or—
“Seraphena.” Fuck.
Recognizing the voice belonging to the Revenant, Callum, I closed my
eyes. I would have to do some serious damage to keep him down for any length of time if a dagger thrown by Attes and blasts of eather hadn’t incapacitated him for long.
And why had Attes done that? Simply because Callum annoyed him? Or because the Revenant had continued to push for Kolis to take the embers
while Attes obviously didn’t want that?
Come to think of it, why was Attes so willing to believe that I spoke the truth about Sotoria?
The answer couldn’t be as simple as the Primal God of War and Accord not wanting Kolis to rise to such power because that made no sense. Not when Attes had brought me to Kolis.
But none of that mattered at the moment. I needed to focus.
“Wake up.” He sounded closer, and impatience crept into his tone when I didn’t respond. “Seraphena.”
Picturing all the ways I planned to use the broken glass on him, I remained quiet and still. I needed him to come into the cage.
A moment passed.
Then another.
“Godsdamn it,” he muttered. “How can anyone be such a deep sleeper?”
Why would he think I was asleep on the floor when there was a bed right beside me?
The clink of a lock turning was like a siren’s song to my ears. I forced my aching jaw to loosen and my breathing to slow despite my wildly beating heart.
Callum was in the cage now, but the bastard was quiet. I didn’t even hear his approach until I felt the tip of a foot nudge my leg.
“Shit,” he grumbled, sounding as if he’d knelt behind me. “If you choked on your tongue or something…” His icy hand came down on my arm.
My heart slowed as honed instinct took over. He called my name again, rolling me onto my back.
I reacted without hesitation.
Eyes opening, I shot up. Gripping the front of his white tunic, I swung my arm around and nailed the fucker right in the throat.
A flicker of surprise rippled across his painted features, widening his pale eyes. His lips moved, but the only sound that came out was a gurgle.
Blood trickled from his mouth as I tore the glass free. He smacked a hand over his throat and stumbled back.
I didn’t let him get far.
Aiming low, I kicked him, taking his legs out from under him. He hit the floor with a nice thud, blood seeping between his fingers and running down his arm and chest—dull, red blood that smelled of stale lilacs.
Knowing he’d probably recover quickly, I moved onto my knees and straddled him, lifting the broken glass above my head.
He reached for my arm, his movements slow and weak as I drove the
glass down into his throat. Blood spurted, splattering the front of my gown, the length of my hair, and my cheeks. His body jerked, his blood-soaked
fingers sliding off my skin. I slammed the glass down once more, grunting
when it hit the floor beneath him. What remained of his neck were a few raw, bright pink tendons.
My lip curled in disgust as I rocked back. Callum was dead. For now. I
knew it wouldn’t last, so I figured the more injuries he had to heal, the better it would be for me.
Through the opening in his shirt, I saw no scar left behind from when Attes had thrown the dagger at him. But there hadn’t been any signs on the Revenant called Dyses, either, and Ash had torn his heart free.
With both hands, I drove the glass through Callum’s chest. Flesh tore, and cartilage gave way. The glass sank deep, slicing through muscle. I hit his heart and gave the dagger a nice twist with a savage smile. Then I got him in the groin.
Just because.
Wiping the blood from my face with the back of my hand, I searched his pockets, finding a single golden key. I rose and stepped over the Revenant. Not knowing how long I had before Callum resurrected, I wasted no time.
Blood dripped from the broken glass as I hurried from the cage.
Outside, I gripped the bars of the door. I hissed, fiery pain erupting across my hand when I pushed the door shut. Then, quickly, I shoved the key into
the lock, turning it.
“Fucker.” Sparing one last glance at Callum, I started to turn but then stopped, looking down at the key in my hand.
I moved to the side, in front of the bed, and carefully extended my arm through the bars. I flung the key into the cage, watching it slide deep beneath the bed.
“Just in case,” I told myself as I spun. If I ended up back in the cage, I’d at least have a key.
The shadowstone was cold beneath my feet as I crossed the chamber. My mind quieted when I neared the doors. It was almost like donning the veil of nothingness because I felt nothing. No fear for my life. No fear of failure.
That had been trained out of me, but unlike the times my mother had sent me to deliver her messages, I didn’t feel like a monster.
I felt like vengeance and wrath come to life.
The embers in my chest hummed. Cleaning my hand on my gown, I curled my fingers around the gilded door handle. I doubted these were unguarded.
Opening it, I kept myself hidden and pressed against the wall. A second later, I saw that I’d been right. Through the crack between the door and wall, I saw a guard’s white and gold armor.
I waited, knowing it was likely a god, and there could be more. There should be, but only the one entered.
One?
Kolis only had one guard stationed outside the chamber. Seriously? I was kind of offended.
The moment the guard caught sight of the mess in the cage, he halted. “What the—?” He cursed, gripping the edge of the door and moving to close it.
I struck, pushing off the wall. Gripping the back straps of his chest armor, I thrust the glass into the base of the guard’s skull as I leapt, driving my knee into the center of his back.
The god grunted, staggering forward under my weight and the unexpected blow. He went down on one knee, his hand reaching for the hilt of the short sword at his waist.
“I don’t think so,” I snarled, wrenching the god’s head sharply to the side.
The crack of bone was sickening yet satisfying.
I didn’t think a broken neck would keep a god down for long, but
shadowstone? That would. Leaving the fractured glass cock embedded in the back of the god’s skull, I reached for the sword—
The air charged around me as I unsheathed it. I could feel it dancing across my skin when the god straightened his neck. The cracking of bone turned my stomach as he planted his palm on the floor. Bluish-red blood darkened his brown hair.
“You fucking bitch,” he spat. “What in the fuck is in the back of my head?”
“A cock.” I lifted the sword. “What?” The god froze.
“A glass cock,” I said with a smile, driving the blade down.
The shadowstone cut just below the bulge of glass protruding from the base of his skull, silencing whatever the god was about to say. The blade
cleaved through bone and tissue with little resistance, ending the rapidly building power.
Stepping back, I ignored the warm pulse of the embers—the urge to undo what I’d done. To restore life, not take it.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
Sword in hand, I turned to the door, finding a sunlight-filled hall—a breezeway of sorts. Closing the door behind me, my gaze darted to the leafy palms beyond the rounded archways. Ahead was another door, and to my left, a solid wall made of gold and marble. Fine cracks had formed webs all along the surface.
I didn’t want to go farther inside if this was Cor Palace. But what if Ash was being held somewhere in there? Kolis had ordered Attes to take him to the cells. The House of Haides in the Shadowlands had cells beneath the sprawling structure. So did Wayfair Castle, my home in the mortal realm.
“Shit.”
I probably should’ve attempted to question the guard first. Then again, that wouldn’t have been wise. It would’ve only given the god time to use eather, and that was something I couldn’t fight.
I had a choice to make, and I had to decide quickly. Go into the palm trees and see where that led, or travel farther into the palace.
Ash would not be in the palms.
Grip firming on the sword’s hilt, I stalked forward. A warm breeze wafted through the opening, sending several pale curls speckled with blood across my face. I reached the door at the end of the hall and yanked it open.
It was a chamber—a bedchamber—darkened by drawn, heavy curtains. The smell of stale lilacs was strong here, and I had a sinking suspicion this was Kolis’s room.
Situated against one wall was a large, unmade bed. Clothing lay strewn across the floor. White pants. Tunics. Bowls of fruit sat on a dining table.
Crystal decanters were everywhere: on the nightstand, the table, and the end tables by a large sofa, some half full of amber-hued liquid, others empty.
Did Kolis overindulge to help him forget the atrocities he committed? I snorted. That would mean he actually felt bad about what he did, and from what I’d seen and knew, I didn’t think that was the case.
I headed for the double, gold-plated doors and pushed one side open.
A wider, absurdly long hall greeted me, windows and alcoves lining one side and doors on the other. Either luck or the Fates were on my side today because the hall was empty, and no hot, breathy sounds came from the
alcoves as they had when Ash and I had first come to Dalos.
I went forward, trying each door as I passed. Some were locked. Those that weren’t were either completely empty spaces or contained only narrow beds, barely more than cots. Some rooms held four to five of them.
I didn’t want to even think about what those chambers and beds were for.
I kept going, searching for any door that may lead to a stairwell, all the while afraid that it would be like the House of Haides, where the entrance to the underground level was near the study and close to the throne room.
Well aware that Callum could wake at any moment, I picked up my pace, trying door after door until I found one that opened into a narrower corridor. I entered, scanning the numerous wider openings framed by gold-plated
columns on both sides of the hall. My skin tingled as I picked up on the whispering sound of cloth.
My steps slowed when I neared an opening to my left. I peered around one of the columns and felt the air leave my lungs in an unsteady rush.
I had to be right about being in Cor Palace. Because all I saw was white.
White robes and veils that covered nearly every inch of those inside the
sunny, airy space. There had to be dozens of them. They stood by windows, sat on thick, ivory-and-gold-tasseled cushions. If any of them spoke, they did so quietly.
They were the Chosen, brought to Iliseeum during the Rite to serve the
Primals and their gods. Because they were the third sons and daughters, they had more essence of the gods in their blood than their siblings did, which allowed them to be Ascended into godhood—a tradition revered in the mortal realm and once honored in Iliseeum for the purpose it served. It replenished
the realm of gods with those who remembered what it was like to be mortal.
But none of them Ascended. Not since Eythos ruled.
Now, the Chosen were ushered into a waking nightmare.
Gemma, one of the Chosen Ash had saved, said that many of them went missing. Most didn’t return, but those who did? They didn’t come back the same. They became something cold and starved, moving only in dark spaces. Holland had called them Craven, what I believed the poor seamstress Andreia had been turned into.
Something clicked into place as I watched them lift their veils, only enough to drink from crystal chalices. Could the Revenants have been
Chosen at one time also?
I looked ahead, swallowing. The hall curved and turned as if it had been built while following a serpent. Would the Chosen help me? Could they be of any help? Probably not. The best thing for me to do would be to get past this chamber without being seen. But…
But these were Chosen.
Innocent mortals who were likely being abused. Or worse. And, gods, I thought about Andreia again. There was worse, and I could walk right—
A scream made my heart leap in my chest. My head cut to the chamber. A Chosen stood at the opening, gloved hands lifted to their veiled head.
“It’s okay.” I stepped forward. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
More screams tore through the air as another Chosen spotted me. They rushed forward, grasping the one who stood near the opening and hauling them back from me. Not that I blamed them.
I looked quite…murderous, covered in blood and carrying a sword.
A door within the chamber swung open, and a silver-haired man shuffled out, clothed in gold robes. “What in all that is holy is going—?” Gray brows shot up, causing deeper creases in his skin as he got an eyeful of me. “My
gods,” he uttered.
“I’m not a threat,” I began. “I’m—”
“Guards!” the man shouted, his robes swishing as he twisted around to the door he’d come out of. “Guards!”
“Damn it,” I gasped.
Left with no choice, I took off running as fast as I could. My heart pounded in rhythm with my steps. I flew down the hall and then moved into
another, the chambers on either side a blur. It was only then when it occurred to me that the guards weren’t the only thing I needed to be worried about.
The vicious, flesh-eating dakkais were pets in Dalos. Little too late to worry
about that now.
Shouts erupted from behind me, but I kept running, darting into another hall, a different chamber—
I came to a complete stop. I couldn’t process what I was seeing for a moment, even though I understood the soft, breathy moans and flashes of bare skin. It was all just so very unexpected.
People in all stages of undress were sprawled across the floor in groups of two, three…and, wow. My gaze danced over a woman riding a man, her heavy breasts swaying while another took her from behind, her hands and mouth full. She smiled around one cock as the man groaned…
Goodness, that took talent.
A man had another bent over the arm of a couch, his hips plunging while the other buried his head between a half-dressed woman’s thighs. She had her mouth on another woman who reclined, legs spread. Some were on gold and sapphire silk-draped mattresses. Others on couches. Some merely watched
the festivities, their hands pumping cocks or fingers delving deeply inside
themselves.
Blinking, I shook my head. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen something like this. After all, there were similar spaces back home at The Luxe, but
these weren’t mortals. Instead, the lust-laden eyes here glowed with eather.
This was a chamber full of gods fucking. Fucking gods.
Slowly, I backed out and returned to the hall.
Without a single person seeming to notice me, I was running once more.
Damn it. I didn’t know where to go, and the place was a maze of halls and chambers. I skidded into yet another passageway, my breath coming out in shallow, short pants.
The area I’d entered was darker, with no windows to let any natural light in, and there was a strange smell in the air.
Metallic.
Bloody.
