Page 179

“Back then, when the world was young, before everything came into existence, I reigned supreme.”

It comes to me then, where I heard the name Euribios. Janus had mentioned it in reference to some artwork.

He’d been the primordial god of darkness.

Fucking Methuselah.The Thief isn’tjusta god; he’s one of the big ones.

“I will reign again,” he continues. “Kingdom by kingdom, I will vanquish this world until nothing is left—no life, no afterlife. I will tear down the sun and consume the land.”

My very bones quake at the thought.

What he’s speaking of is annihilation.

“But don’t fear, mortal, Iwillstretch the end out, for once this world is gone, there will be nothing to entertain me again.”

We must end him. This is no longer about revenge. It’s about preservation.

“That first evening of Solstice,” Euribios says, “do you remember what Mara said?”

As he speaks, he continues to grow, his form expanding until his head touches the ceiling, his body becoming one with the darkness.

“‘Deep from the womb of the night we were born, and deep into the night do our spirits return when the body has died and the flesh has cooled.’”

With those words, the room goes dark.

Euribios and I and everything else in this underworld are swallowed up by the void he’s created.

“I am the beginning and the end,” he continues. “I am death and darkness, but I am infinitely more. I am what came before, and I am unending.”

I feel … I feel as though I’m losing myself. The shadows are swallowing everything up. My body, my mind, mybond.

Not losing that.

The impasse is over. My patience is spent.

I reach for the blade stashed in my thigh holster and another strapped to my calf, the ones the Thief was too cocky to remove.

I stride toward that terrible darkness, weapons raised, my wings unfurling behind me. I can’t see Euribios, but I sense him, his body the epicenter of his magic.

My wings beat, and with a leap, I rise into the air.

Blinded by the darkness, I use my other senses to close in on Euribios. Smell, sound, and my ability to sense magic.

I draw close to him, my blades poised.

In the instant before I strike, I feel my connection to Des stir, then …awaken.

Des.

It almost makes me pause. I want to believe that Des is responsible for the sensation, but it’s Euribios who’s the puppet master, Euribios who holds our bond hostage, Euribios who’s now taunting me with everything I have to lose.

And with this one act I might lose it all.

Don’t be frightened of yourself, cherub. You are exactly as you should be.

With a single powerful stroke, I sink the blades into that terrible darkness. They hitsomething; I can feel the resistance. It’s not flesh, but it’s not just air either.

I withdraw my weapons. Sink them into strange flesh again. My body glows the entire time, and I smile viciously, my siren filling me up.