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A thought prompting her to seek him out among the faces watching them through the flames.

He was gone.

Naia’s breath hitched, flicking her eyes around in search of him. Theon and Avi were no longer there. As well as the other members of the Blood Heretics. Only lifeless bodies sprawled out on the ground remained.

Marina’s grip on Naia’s wrist loosened, subsiding in an unsettling state of stillness. “I’ll make you suffer for this.”

Solaris took a step. “Marina,” he warned slowly. “Don’t.”

“Mother will never be free because of you.” Her sister kept her chin tucked to her chest, her curtain of hair blocking the view of her face.

Naia’s throat tightened, her fight-or-flight thrumming in her bloodstream, preparing to run.

A mass of shadows formed over her head, a dense, black mist twisting and writhing.

The High God of Marriage was gone.

Solaris took another step. “Marina, we will figure out another?—”

Marina lifted her head, and Solaris was thrown back with the movement.

Her murderous eyes flashed to Naia. The darkness, thick and suffocating, enveloped them in a fog. Naia could no longer make out the warehouse or the brewery. Her breath locked in her diaphragm as she stepped back. Her eyes strained through the veil of onyx, keeping a close watch for her sister’s presence.

A set of arms enclosed around her waist, and she yelped, rearing her elbow back.

A familiar hand, chilled to the touch, caught her by the arm. “It’s me,” Ronin whispered in her ear.

She let out her breath, relaxing her body into his.

A flash of white hair appeared at her side.

Theon’s hand rose, and a towering barricade of ice emerged from the ground. The force of Marina’s hit dulled against the impenetrable glass wall.

She threw herself into it from the other side like a feral animal. “There’s no escaping me, Naia! Do you hear me?”

Avi stood at Naia’s other side, his suit tattered and stained with Ronin’s blood, tightly holding onto a vial full of a vivid blue serum.

“Wherever you go, I will find you, drag you back to Kaimana, and make you suffer eternally for what you have done to Mother!” The deranged pitch of Marina’s voice disturbed Naia. In all of their centuries, Marina had never bared such emotion.

“Theon, now!” Ronin ordered, his hand planting on the god’s shoulder.

Avi reached over Naia, grabbing onto Theon’s arm.

And the universe heaved against her.

29

THE BLOOD OF A DEMIGOD

Solid ground settled beneath her feet. Saltwater and the sweetness of palm trees rushed up her nose. The sloshing water against the metal of boats in their slips and the wooden pillars of the marina surrounded her. Harsh rays of lamplight glared down upon them.

None of it came into focus, though.

Naia held herself hunched over on her knees, breathing rapid intakes of air. Her heartbeat skipped with Marina’s threat trapped in her head.

“Gods.” Avi squatted, his hands in his hair, eyes round, rocking back and forth. “Shit. Shit! I need to go back and make sure everyone is okay. Vi… She—” His voice cracked.

“Go.” Ronin ordered. “The barrier is secure around the warehouse. Make sure everyone is safe. Collect all the bodies. We’ll give them a proper burial. Theon, take?—”