All three gods dropped to one knee before Nyktos, their heads bowed in submission. They didn’t hesitate.
“You dare to enter my Court?” Nyktos’ voice boomed through the chamber, shaking the entire palace. I saw Aios stir out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He drifted forward, his wings moving silently. “And touch what is mine?”
“We didn’t have a choice.” Cressa gasped as wind poured through the ceiling, whipping her hair around. She lifted her head. Her skin had turned the shade of bleached bone. “We—”
“We all have a choice,” Nyktos growled.
Cressa was jerked backward and then up into the air. I caught a glimpse of Aios sitting up and scrambling toward Bele as Cressa’s body stiffened. Her mouth stretched wide in a silent scream, and just like with the guards at Wayfair, Nyktos didn’t need to lay a finger on her. Deep, unforgiving cracks appeared in once smooth cheeks. She didn’t crumble slowly. She exploded, shattering into a fine, shimmering dust.
“And you chose wrong,” Nyktos said, his head snapping toward Madis. “Join your sister.”
The god turned, but a shadow came in through the open ceiling—a large, gray-and-black shadow. Nektas. The draken landed on his forelegs, his front talons slamming down on the edge of the dais. His wings swept over the thrones as he stretched his long neck forward. The thick frills around his head vibrated as he opened his mouth. Silver fire poured from it, swallowing Madis within seconds.
When the fire receded, there was nothing where Madis had stood. Not even ash.
Hands touched my arm, startling me. My head jerked around to see Saion crouched there. “Are you okay?” His concerned gaze fell to my throat. “Sera?”
“Yeah,” I said hoarsely, seeing now that Nyktos hadn’t arrived alone. Ector and Rhain were coming through the alcoves, swords in hand. “Bele.” I turned my head to where she and Aios lay on the other side. I felt a flare in my chest, one that turned my skin cold. Bele was on her back, the dagger lying on the floor. Aios was bent over her, clasping the other goddess’s face. Nektas’s rumble of warning snapped my head around. Taric was on his feet, the trace of eather inside him erupting from within, whirling down the bare skin of his biceps and forearm, crackling and spitting silver sparks. The light swirled out from his palm, stretching and solidifying, taking the shape
of a…sword.
A weapon of pure eather. Good gods.
“Really?” Nyktos sounded bored. He descended fast, landing in front of Taric in the span of a heartbeat. His wings tucked back as his hand clamped down on Taric’s wrist. The sword jutted out to the side, spitting and crackling. “You should know better than to try to use eather on me.” His voice was so cold, so full of shadows. “All you’re doing is pissing me off.”
The glow of eather faded from Taric, the sword collapsing into nothing. The god stood there, his skin paler under the shimmer of gold. “Do you even know what you have here?” He started to turn his head toward me.
“Don’t look at her. If you do, you will not like what happens next.” Letting go of Taric’s wrist, he folded his hand around the god’s throat, forcing his head away from me. “And I know exactly what I have.”
“Then you should know that he will stop at nothing to get to her,” Taric sneered, his gaze tipping toward me once more.
“Oh, man, this is going to be bad,” Saion murmured.
“What did I say about looking at her?” Nyktos questioned softly—too softly. A shiver tiptoed down my spine. Taric’s entire body jerked as a hoarse shout parted his lips. Red filled the whites of his eyes. I shrank back against Saion, smacking a hand over my mouth as blood poured from the god’s eyes. Taric let out a high-pitched whine as his eyes…melted, streaming down his cheeks in thick globs.
“Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Nyktos said.
I shuddered, bile crowding my throat. I’d never seen anything like that. I never wanted to see anything like that again.
“Fuck,” Taric rasped, trembling. “Kill me. Go ahead and do it, Blessed One. It won’t matter. He won’t stop. He’ll tear apart both realms. You of all
people should know.” Taric kicked his head back, baring blood-streaked teeth as he laughed. “Kill me. Take my soul. It will be nothing compared to what he does to you because you can’t stop him. Neither could your father. He’ll have her—” Taric howled as his entire body spasmed.
At first, I didn’t know what’d happened, and then I saw Nyktos’ wrist flush against Taric’s navel. His hand…
His hand was inside the god.
He dragged his hand up Taric’s stomach, carving straight through flesh. Shimmery, bluish-red blood spilled down the front of the god’s shirt. The sounds…the sounds he made…
Nyktos leaned in, speaking directly into Taric’s ear. “You underestimate me if you think I can’t do worse to you.” The Primal smiled then, and my skin iced over. “I can smell her blood on your lips. There is nothing that I will not do to you because of that.”
Taric’s body stiffened as Nyktos’ hand sliced straight up the center of his chest, cutting through his heart. Nyktos twisted his hand and then jerked it free. Taric fell forward, hitting the gathering pool of blood with a fleshy smack.
I barely breathed as the Primal turned around. Those all-white eyes landed on me. Our gazes connected. Saion’s grip on my arms tightened and then loosened as Nyktos’ chest rose. The shadows trailing along his legs evaporated as the eather receded from his eyes.
In a heartbeat, Nyktos was kneeling before me. He appeared as I knew him. Flesh a warm, golden bronze, and no wings. Eather still whirled madly through his eyes, and his skin thinned when he took in the throbbing side of my throat. He lifted his hand—his blood-soaked hand. I sucked in an unsteady breath.
Nyktos halted, his fingers inches from my face. His gaze flew to mine.
He lowered his hand. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “Ever.”
I swallowed. “I know.” And I did know that. I always knew that, but the words…they just spilled out of me as I locked stares with him. It was like Saion wasn’t behind me, still holding my arms. “But I was. I—I was terrified. That god. Taric. He did something. He got into my head and saw me. He saw everything, and it—” I sucked in air, feeling pressure clamp down on my chest.
“I know. He went through your memories. Not all gods can do it,” he said. “It’s a brutal way of discovering what you want to know. He didn’t
have to bite you to do it, but it’s always painful regardless.” The lines around his mouth tightened as his gaze searched mine. This time, he lifted his other hand and cupped my cheek. His hand was still warm. “Don’t forget, Sera. You are not afraid. You may feel fear, but you are never afraid.”
Letting out a ragged breath, I nodded and then felt something hard brush my fingers. I looked down to see Nyktos pressing the hilt of the shadowstone dagger into my palm. The one he had given me and then took away. My fingers twitched and then closed over the hilt. I looked up at him. He said nothing as his hand slipped away. Having the weapon in my hand brought forth a sense of calm, easing the tightening in my chest and clearing my thoughts. I knew it said something that he’d given it to me. Not that he trusted me now, but it was as if he knew I needed it. Knew it calmed me. And it meant something that he’d given it back. It meant a lot.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and Nyktos closed his eyes. His features tensed—
“Nyktos,” Rhain called, his voice sounding as if it were full of gravel.
Opening his eyes, Nyktos looked over his shoulder. “What…?” He trailed off, rising slowly. “No.”
I saw Ector first. He was pale, eyes strangely glassy in the starlight. Then I noticed Aios, rocking back and forth, her cheeks damp. The pulse. I’d felt it. Slowly, I lowered my gaze to Bele. She was too still, too pale. My heart clenched as I pitched forward.
“No,” Nyktos repeated, walking stiffly toward them.
“The dagger was in her too long. Or it hit her heart when they moved us,” Aios said, her voice shaking. “She was fighting it. I saw her fighting it. She didn’t—” A ragged sound silenced the rest of her words.
Nyktos lowered himself beside Bele. He said nothing as he touched her cheek. His chest rose. There was no breath and no words, but the pain was etched into his features, brutal and heartbreaking.
A soft trilling sound drew my gaze to Nektas. He remained on the dais, lowering his head between his front talons. Red eyes met mine.
“I…I can help her,” I said, my heart speeding up.
Nyktos shook his head. “You have an ember of life in you. That is not enough to bring back a god.”
I rose, swaying slightly. Saion was there, his hands still on my arms. “I can try.”
The Primal shook his head.
“Can’t she try?” Aios said, her breath catching in a shudder. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t. And if there’s a ripple of power, we can be prepared. We have to try.”
My steps were unsteady, weak, but I felt the ember warming in my chest, throbbing. “I want to try.” I lowered myself beside Nyktos. Only then did Saion let go. “I need to try. They came for me. She died because of me.” Nyktos’ head snapped in my direction. “She did not die because of you.
Do not take that on yourself,” he ordered. A moment passed, and then his gaze flicked beyond me to others I hadn’t known were in the chamber. “Make sure the guards on the Rise are ready for…well, for anything.” He looked to Nektas.
The draken lifted his head, calling out. That staggered, high-pitched sound echoed throughout the chamber and was then answered. A shadow fell over the opening in the ceiling, and then another as nearby draken took flight.
“Try,” Nyktos said.
Drawing in a deep breath, I set the dagger on the floor beside me and placed my hands on Bele’s arm. Her skin had turned shockingly cold. I didn’t know if that had anything to do with her being a god, but it felt strange under my fingers. The hum of the eather coursed through my blood, hitting my skin. A soft glow stretched out from under the sleeves of my sweater to cover my hands. Live, I thought. Live. I wanted it to work. I wasn’t sure that Bele even liked me, but she had tried to defend me. She hadn’t stepped aside and let the gods take me. She didn’t deserve to die like this, and…
And Ash didn’t deserve to have another drop of blood inked into his skin.
Live.
The silvery light washed over Bele and then seeped into her skin, lighting her veins until I could no longer see her underneath the glow. Nothing happened. Aios lowered her head, shoulders shaking, because nothing had—
The glow flared and then expanded, rolling out from Bele in a wave, an intense, powerful aura that became a shockwave. Wind roared around us, tugging at my clothing and hair. The floor shook—everything rattled as a
bolt of light streaked across the sky above the open ceiling. Lightning. I’d never seen lightning here.
The aura faded. The wind and shaking ceased.
Nektas made that soft trilling sound again, and Bele’s chest rose deeply as if she were drawing in a deep breath. I lifted my hands, too afraid that I was seeing things. But her eyes twitched. Lashes fluttered up, revealing eyes the color of starlight, bright and silver.
“Holy shit,” Rhain whispered.
Nyktos jerked, placing a hand on the crown of her head. “Bele?” Her throat worked on a swallow. “Nyktos?” she whispered hoarsely. It worked.
Thank the gods, it had worked.
A shudder of relief went through the Primal and me and then the entire chamber. Aios snapped forward, picking up Bele’s hand, holding it tightly between hers.
“How are you feeling?” Nyktos asked, his voice rough.
“Tired? Really tired. But okay, I think.” Confusion filled her voice as she looked over at me. “Did you…did you try to stab that bastard with a butter knife?”
“Yes,” I said, the word coming out as a laugh. “Didn’t work too well.” “Crazy,” she whispered, swallowing again. “I…saw it.”
“Saw what?” He smoothed a hand over her forehead.
Her eyes closed. “Light,” she whispered. “Intense light and…Arcadia. I saw Arcadia.”
I clasped both of my hands together, holding them to my chest as Bele’s muscles relaxed, and her breathing deepened.
“Bele?” Nyktos called, taking his hand from her cheek. There was no answer.
“Is she all right?” Aios asked.
“She sleeps,” Nyktos replied, staring down at the goddess. Several long moments passed. “That is all.”
“That is all?” echoed Ector. His laugh was abrupt. “That is not all.” He was on his knees, the eather pulsing intently behind his pupils as he focused on me—as he stared at me with a mixture of awe and fear.
Slowly, Nyktos faced me. “What you did is impossible. An ember of life shouldn’t have been enough for what you did,” he breathed, searching my
features as if he were looking for something. “You didn’t just bring her back. You…you Ascended her.”
