Page 28

CALDRIS

Pain seared my insides as I returned from the entrance to the Void, stepping into the front doors of the palace at Tar Mesa. All thoughts of the timing of my meeting with the ferryman forgotten, I staggered sideways and clutched my abdomen with one hand as the other thrust out to catch myself against the wall.

Pulling my hand back to glance down at it, I found it clean of blood. There was no injury on me, no indication that I should be feeling the burning hot pain of being stabbed through the middle.

Estrella.

“No,” I mumbled, striding forward. I pushed through that pain, knowing that it wasn’t responsible for anything wrong within me. The injury was hers without the emotion to accompany it.

I’d felt nothing from Estrella since she’d disappeared into the cove, completely unaware of how much of that silence might have been a result of her slamming the window shut on our bond or how much was a consequence of her location. The very notion that whatever she was suffering through was severe enough to shatter that silence was horrifying. This was more than the emotional connection of our bond—our lives were connected—her body and mine.

Herlifeand mine.

I sent back calming thoughts, drawing in deep lungfuls of air as I tried to soothe her through whatever had happened.

The pain of the unknown was so much worse than witnessing it for myself. It was the greatest pain I could imagine, not knowing if the injury preceded the end of everything that mattered to me, or if she would be able to rally despite it.

I hurried toward the hall that would lead me to the cove, sinking down into the darkness that came with going farther below the surface. I didn’t dare to breathe, hoping that I would find the entrance unguarded by some miracle. The need to reach her was all-consuming, forcing me to ignore the secret entrance to the Void and Tartarus by extension. This was closer.

This would take me directly to my mate if I could get through.

One of Mab’s daemon’s waited in the entrance to the narrow passage that led beneath the palace. I reached for my sword, wincing when I found the sheath strapped across my back empty. I wouldn’t be given my weapons back until I was allowed to leave Tar Mesa on a longer basis.

The daemon turned toward me, taking slow, solid steps toward me as I bolted forward and tried to use my speed to get past it. I slid along the ground as I darted through the gap between his thigh and the stone wall, skinning my knees and wearing down the fabric of my pants as I spun to my feet when I was past him.

Estrella wasn’t healing. Her pain continued to ebb and flow, that agony in her stomach driving my concern higher. Why wasn’t her magic healing her?

I sprinted down the passage, not daring to touch anything as the daemon chased after me. His heavy footfalls came down against the stone beneath our feet, the vibrations echoing through the hall as I raced toward the cove.

I turned the corner, sprinting when I hit the straightaway and I could see the twinkling light of the cove at the other end of the passage.So close.

The light faded from view as something stepped into the opening, blocking my sight entirely and leaving me to attempt to stop quickly. The daemon reached out with two hands, blocking the opening on either side of his wide frame.

My boots slid across the stone. I spun as I approached, unable to stop my momentum and using it to my advantage instead. My boot struck his knee, forcing him to fall down onto one leg. I jumped into the wall, pushing myself off of it and trying to vault myself over him as he fell.

The daemon I’d snuck past grasped the back of my armor, his slimy, thick fingers touching my skin as they sank beneath the leathers. He yanked me back, sending me sprawling across the stone as I gasped for breath and pushed to my feet.

Ice and shadows gathered at my fingertips, preparing to help me with the fight I knew I couldn’t win. Any magic I used, any power I sent toward the daemon, would only end up absorbed. It would only fuel him and weaken me.

One spun to face me as the other got back to his feet, and they moved toward me in a single unit. One mind, one soul. All their thoughts and very being were tied to the woman who had summoned them here from the depths of Tartarus. All they cared for was the orders she’d given them, and a third stepped into the passageway from the cove, resuming the guard that the one I’d kicked vacated as they moved toward me.

One wrapped his heavy hand under my jaw, lifting me by the neck as I glared down at him. If this was how it ended, at least it would be in a moment I’d spent trying to reach Estrella.

At least I would go to the Void knowing I’d tried to get to her, hoping that she lived long enough to make me wait for her to join me.

He slammed the side of my face against the stone wall, the sound of my skull cracking ringing in my ears. Dropping me to the ground when he finished, I watched in horror as the other reached for me, slinging me over his shoulder as it all faded to darkness.

My eyes flitted open, the feeling of my skull healing itself pulling me from a sleep that was tormented by the memory of Estrella’s pain. It had lingered in my dreams, conjuring up all my worst imaginings of what she might have endured. I searched down the bond for the place where her life throbbed, shimmering brightly.

It was there, dimmed, but alive.

I pushed to sit, staring at the cell that surrounded me once again. It seemed I was doomed to spend the last days of my life in this realm trapped in a cell surrounded by iron, forcing me to be unable to help Estrella when she needed me most.

What was the fucking point in being a God if I couldn’t help the one person who mattered the most?

“I thought you were smarter than this. I showed you kindness by letting you roam Tar Mesa after that bitch Opal released you,” Mab said, stepping out from the shadows. She so rarely deigned to bother herself with the prisoners she locked away here, and seeing her standing amidst all the iron only reminded me that shecouldbe weakened.

She could be killed.