Page 45

He caught Larena’s gaze, soft and steady on the table before her. He sensed no shame, no fear. No regret from their post-fuck apocalypse that lingered between them. Everyone had heard it, no doubt there. He hadn’t cared then, and he didn’t care now. Their Bond seemed to equate… a phenomenal weather event. Rare and catastrophic. But necessary.

“Let’s begin,” Raviel said with a finality as he reached inside his burgundy overcoat and drew out a card. Plain and weathered by long possession, he flicked it across the table. It hovered in the air midway.

The atmosphere seemed to adjust around it, gravity making exceptions for the impossible thing as light appeared at its edges — first a faint ember, then a burnished gold.

Something darker laced through the glow. Then a hum followed, moving through his body — bone, breath, blood — deeper than sound.

The card spun slowly, each rotation revealing nothing on either side and yet something… something was coming. Something that caused every breath in the room to slow.

“The Earth King must drink the Queen’s blood and see,” Kross suddenly said.

Krave turned to Josie, and she moved her hair aside, giving him access. He cradled the side of her head with one hand and her jaw with the other. He stared at her neck, her vein a lifeline after he’d been dangling from a cliff for hours.

Josie’s gasp plunged through the air like a dagger as he took his eternal craving with a hunger that caused every muscle in Reuban to tense up. Kaos’s hand closed over Josie’s shoulder, his nails piercing her skin as the card suddenly flared and lightsurged outward in waves. The hum rose, moving across the stone and seeping through skin, mind, and memory.

The revelation arrived as a vision. A place, a symbol. No, a direction. A knowing of a memory long buried, now burned into a place that existed before breath.

Suddenly the air cleared, and the card fell to the table, a blinding white fire burning it up until crystal clear air filled its impossible wake.

Raviel rose and all eyes turned to him, his silver eyes aimed at Krave. “The Bond of The Kings shines too bright. Hell watches. The Savior’s Bond is the only tie that can remain.” He regarded Reuban now. “Kross carries the truth.” He looked at Kaos next. “And holds the burden of it.” Kildare was the last one to get his gaze. “And you must see that it is done.”

He stepped back and the air itself opened like an invisible mouth and swallowed him, leaving them with the wicked thing none of them could ever be ready for.

“What did he mean?” Josie asked quietly to every pair of eyes locked on the horrible thing the archangel had just left them with. “Reuban?” she pressed, when nobody answered. “What did he mean about hell watching? And the Savior’s Bond being the only tie that can remain?”

She looked at Kross. “What truth do you carry?” Then at Kaos. “What burden does he hold?”

“Who is going to tell her?” Larena whispered.

Josie stood now, gasping. “Yes, who is going to tell me? Kildare?” she demanded. “What must you see done?”

“The bonds must be cut, Mother,” Kross said quietly.

She looked at him. “What…which bonds?” She regarded Larena. “Which bonds, Larena?” she pushed, breathless.

“Please tell her,” Larena gasped, wiping the tears from her face.

“Kildare and Kaos can no longer be tied to you the way they are,” Kross said softly.

Josie stared at him then slowly sat, wiping her face. “Tied how?” she asked, the words small and frail.

“Intimately,” Kaos answered, drawing a jagged gasp from her.

“What?” she barely whispered, the word tight. “I don’t…”

“There must be another way,” Kross said, standing so quickly the chair flew back with a clatter.

Kildare finally spoke. “There isn’t.” She looked up at him staring down at the table, gripped in the nightmare. “If we don’t sever the bond, our enemies will find our son,” he breathed, his head shaking. “And we cannot permit that.”

“I can shield,” Kross demanded, pacing now. “I’m stronger than you know. I can protect all of you.”

“You cannot be a shield,” Kaos growled. “I see the purpose for your existence as well as you do, and we must be your covering. If they target you, then our Queen becomes a target. I severed my existence to protect her, and I will not hesitate to sever our bond to ensure she remains protected.”

Josie gasped as she hurried from the room.

“I have her,” Larena whispered, hurrying after her.

Reuban stood and did his own pacing. “Is this temporary?” he demanded, eyeing all of them only to see none of them had the answer to that.