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One of the males hurried forward, grabbing the woman who had the same markings as he by the hands and pulling her out of the fray. They blended back in with the crowd, coming closer to us as he ran frantic hands over her face—her arms—searching for injuries.

At the front of the throne room, a woman screamed.

My eyes flashed toward it just in time to watch as Malachi swung his sword. The male’s head fell from his shoulders, dropping to the floor and rolling to the Fae female’s feet. She howled again, the shrill sound of her voice splitting the air in two.

The agony in it was too familiar. The same as that day the Veil fell.

I turned, burying my face into Caldris’s chest. I couldn’t bear to watch as the male pleaded for his mate’s life, but I forced myself to watch, anyway.

To remember.

The remaining woman turned terrified eyes toward the same male she’d probably feared before coming to Alfheimr. The desperation in them stole my breath away, time seeming to slow as her lips parted to speak.

Malachi’s blade cut through her neck in one swift swing. Her body hit the ground as silence reigned.

Her Fae mate didn’t scream. He didn’t cry as he picked up her severed head and approached her body. There was nothing left in him as he knelt by her side, hanging his face forward and grasping her corpse. He pulled it to his chest, holding the mate he’d never been allowed to touch in life.

It was with his face turned toward Mab that he raised the iron dagger from his side, looking for all purposes like he might attack the Queen of Air and Darkness herself. She raised a brow, unimpressed with the male who would be her murderer.

Caldris guided us forward, moving to the side so that we could see more fully. Rheaghan and Soren followed with us—until I watched from the sidelines as the male turned his blade toward himself.

“No,” I gasped, only Caldris’s arm across my chest keeping me still as the male pushed the blade forward.

And stabbed himself through the heart.

35

Estrella

The walk down the halls was overshadowed by the deaths in the throne room.

Caldris had pulled my stunned body away from the carnage as the Llaidhe dealt with the three bodies. The female Fae who was left without a mate had needed to be dragged away from his remains as she wept and screamed. I didn’t want to think of what would happen to her now. How many years would she have to wait before he reincarnated if that hadn’t been his final life?

“Where are we going?” I asked, hating that she’d taken a rare moment of happiness and ruined it. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to dance again, not knowing what she’d begun when I’d been too preoccupied to notice.

“The Cove,” Caldris answered, his hand at my waist guiding me forward. Gods and Fae alike shuffled forward along with us, paired off into couples that didn’t bode well for the evening’s events. “You have to snap out of it for this, my star.”

I nodded, glancing toward the crystal waters of the Cove as it came into view. That same voice whispered in my head, the shimmer drawing me forward as I clutched Caldris’s hand tighter in mine. I didn’t let on how drawn to the water I was, forcing myself away as we followed the group toward the path through the trees.

The burning embers from the holly tree rained ash down upon the forest, but it somehow never caught flame.I immediately wondered about the creatures that called the Cove home, finding their sanctuary within the woods that no longer seemed safe. Where would they go if they couldn’t stay here?

The walk through the forest was blissfully short, bringing us to the clearing as the group of thirteen Gods that had been selected spread out. They lingered beneath the canopy of the burning tree, turning to the Fae they’d brought with them.

Mab took up her place with Malachi at her side. “We will all participate in the ritual,” she said, her gaze sliding around the tree to look at each of us. She and Malachi stepped forward, and they each pressed a palm to the tree trunk.

We took up our place closest to Rheaghan and his partner on one side, with Kahlo and his on the other. Twyla was as far from Caldris as possible, lingering near Mab even though she hated her.

I swallowed, not wanting to think about what the ritual entailed if family members were spreading themselves out.

Caldris took my hand in his, curling his front against my back as we approached the tree. He waited until the others had all laid their hands upon the trunk to press our joined hands into the bark.

A rush of warmth flooded my back as golden embers left the tree, fluttering down to us. Caldris’s hand glowed golden where it covered mine, the light spreading up through his arm as I turned to look at him over my shoulder. His Fae Marks pulsed with golden light where they peeked out from his tunic, and his eyes were lost to gold as his hair warmed beneath the magic surging through him.

“What the fuck?” I asked, flinching back from the expression that didn’t seem like his. His head tilted to the side, and he lookedmore like a God in those moments than ever before. “Caelum.”

I lifted my hand off the tree, jumping in shock when a branch slithered around my wrist and pulled me back. It wrapped around me, grabbing my other hand with another branch and keeping my hands trapped against the bark.

“It won’t hurt you. Don’t fight it,” Caldris said, his voice still his own as he ran his nose up the back of my neck. Those golden hands swept the hair off my neck as he breathed me in, and something within me settled for the briefest of moments.