Page 21

M ayhem carefully arranged her skirts on a settee in Death’s castle. To the casual observer, it might look like she was overly concerned about how the layered red dress she’d designed for herself flowed over her seat, but her movements were purposeful. With her new friends, Mayhem was preparing to watch the graduation ceremony for the Order of the Fallen Knights. The large viewing screen on the wall showed the entire Daray family settling into seats.

But what the other goddesses in the room didn’t know was that Mayhem had a small mirror she carried around with her. It showed mostly a static image and one far from the planet where the uniformed men and women were walking onto the stage to celebrate their accomplishments. However, it was magical, and like the large screen, it was for spying.

Since Mayhem didn’t want to explain to any of the goddesses surrounding her that she was eavesdropping on the small house on the main palace grounds she’d constructed as her own home, she kept the mirror hidden. She planned to tell them if she saw anything of note, but Mayhem wanted the opportunity to fully assess the situation first. After all, the person Mayhem hoped to catch unawares was her twin.

“Excellent job convincing Chander not to use the version of the resurrection spell that allows for shifting sentinels or fallen knights again,” Death complimented Justice.

“It was easy; Chander doesn’t enjoy causing anyone pain,” Justice replied. “And although Phillip is well now, his journey was not without peril.”

“Thanks to the mates I gave him, he is doing great,” Fate boasted with a toss of her red waves off her shoulder. “Soon he’ll have his first dragon flight and will cement his bond fully with his dragon.”

“He still has not bound his soul to Keegan and Victor,” Eternity pointed out.

“It will happen. Give the man time,” Fate insisted. “We all know it’s inevitable. They love each other.”

“Those words have not been uttered,” Life stated. “I checked.”

“Well, look in their damn hearts. It’s right there to see. They’ll tell each other,” Fate retorted.

“Or their relationship could fall apart and Phillip’s dragon will rip his human body apart,” Mayhem suggested mischievously.

Fate narrowed her blue gaze. “Even if that happened—which it won’t—he’s a sentinel. His bone and flesh will mend. He cannot die.”

“I love the uniforms Larissa designed for the Cinder Lords,” Courage said. “The damask sash in black and gray is handsome.”

“You forgot about the sparkly piping and fringe on that sash to honor Victor,” Fate said. “She thought of everything, including giving Keegan a black jacket and boots so no one forgets he’s a fallen knight.”

“She also put the head of Phillip’s dragon on the sleeve as she did with Samson’s uniform,” Eternity added. “That woman is so talented.”

“What did her mate Madeline do for the rings of rank?” Justice asked.

“Modeled them after the Skeleton Seven,” Death revealed. “The face of them has a skull—in this case, Phillip’s dragon—and on the left side is the coat of arms for the Order of the Fallen Knights for Keegan. On the right, she put a tiara for Victor. He may not work for the Sentinel Brotherhood, but Keegan and Phillip will take a piece of their mate with them wherever they go. And his will sparkle on his own finger too.”

“Our D’Vaires never miss a beat,” Fate said. “I can’t wait for the matebond ceremony at the D’Vaire mansion; it will be so beautiful.”

“If it happens,” Mayhem teased.

Fate glared, and Mayhem nearly opened her mouth to say something else outrageous when movement from her pocket mirror got her full attention. To her shock, Chaos appeared. Mayhem hadn’t seen her in many centuries. Her appearance had changed little, which was no surprise. Few goddesses altered themselves.

Chaos had twisted her essence so Mayhem could not find her. This was why she’d started the stakeout on her home—to hopefully find out if Chaos would appear so Mayhem could question her about whether she was part of Folly’s team. Using her magic to switch her focus from the house to her twin, Mayhem forgot the rest of the world existed as her sister rushed into the bedroom she hadn’t used in forever.

Mayhem had combed through the room numerous times to search for any clues as to where to locate Chaos, so she knew that her sister had left little behind in the space. Chaos dug through drawers and shifted things around, but judging by her frown, she couldn’t find what she sought. It was impossible to add any volume without alerting her sisters to what she was up to, so whatever Chaos was muttering to herself was a mystery.

Mayhem wondered how obvious it would be to shimmer away as the graduation ceremony on the screen finally started. She sat up straight when Chaos teleported to Earth. What was her sister up to? Goddesses rarely traveled to the realms where their creations lived. Mayhem’s heart sank. Had Folly truly corrupted Chaos? What could Mayhem do if she had?

“Mayhem, what is wrong?” Eternity asked, shaking her shoulder slightly.

Glancing up into Eternity’s silver eyes, Mayhem swallowed heavily as she debated her limited choices.

Death rose and stalked close to Mayhem. Her sister’s black stare was intimidating. “What are you hiding?” Death asked without preamble.

Since Mayhem didn’t know what Chaos was up to and she was determined to find out, she tossed the small mirror at Death. “I found Chaos,” Mayhem confided, then shimmered out of Death’s castle to the alley where Chaos was standing.

Chaos turned and swore. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that…?” Mayhem licked her suddenly dry lips as she lifted a hand to point at the ground. “Is that a body?”

“Chaos!” Justice shouted. She grabbed Mayhem’s twin by the arm. “What have you done?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Chaos shouted, her pale blue eyes narrowed as she fought against Justice’s hold. Courage wrapped her fingers around Chaos’s other bicep and held her in place.

“The soul has already lifted,” Death stated. “We cannot save him.”

“Nor would you want to, given the chance,” Chaos protested. “Use your damn powers, Death. Tell them who it is.”

Death pursed her lips as she studied Chaos. “He is a human.”

“His name, Death. Give them his name.”

“Reginald Bradley,” Death revealed.

“The fuckhead who killed human Grant?” Fate screeched.

“He is now Venerable Knight Grant Valerius, yes,” Death answered calmly. “This is his fuckhead of an ex-boyfriend who murdered him.”

“While no one here will mourn his death, we cannot go around killing humans vigilante style,” Justice stated unequivocally.

“Yes, so much better to take a man who has murdered more than his fair share of people and turn him into a rare shifter, then put him and his family on a remote island no one can see but them,” Chaos retorted.

“She did what?” Mayhem asked.

“Oh, that,” Fate said with a forced chuckle. “That was ages ago.”

“Am I the only one with no clue what goes on around our palace?” Mayhem demanded.

“Until rather recently, no one told me anything either,” Death drawled as she snapped her long skirt so it wasn’t touching the dead body of the man who’d wrapped his bare hands around Grant’s throat to choke the life out of him. Reginald had covered his tracks so well he’d faced no mortal repercussions for his actions. Until apparently Chaos had decided he’d lived long enough.

“The important thing right now is to stay focused on Chaos and her actions,” Justice said through gritted teeth.

“Will you please listen to me before you drag me to the Tier’llomen ?” Chaos asked.

“Yes, but do not ask us to free you,” Courage stated.

“Do not let her go,” Mayhem agreed. “I could not track her until she appeared at our house again. She is a master at confusing my ability to find her, and our bond as twins should have allowed me to locate her with ease.”

“Mayhem, you do not want to get involved in what I have uncovered,” Chaos insisted. “You may not believe me, but I killed Reginald because it was too late for him.”

“Obviously, since we are standing over his corpse,” Death drawled.

“This is going to seem crazy, but many millennia ago Folly came to me to tell me about how she wanted to spread chaos,” Mayhem’s twin confided. “Of course she would come to me for that. At first, it was fun. I would steal some weapons. Or make loud noises to awake an entire village. I led some elves to find a chest or two. I enjoyed myself, and Folly did not make these requests close together. Months or years passed between them, so it took me a while to understand what I had done.”

“What did you do?” Mayhem asked.

“I just told you,” Chaos retorted. “It was not until many years later that I used a viewing mirror to figure out why she wanted those things. I realized far too late I was stealing weapons to allow entire villages to be destroyed thanks to an invading army or a group of marauders. Or to wake a tribe or race so they would kill their aggressors.”

“The chests,” Justice commented.

Tears slid down Chaos’s cheeks, and she bowed her head. “I do not know how Folly found them. But she knew where they were. So, I did not see the danger of letting some elves dig them up. With a wave of my magic, they were led to a remote spot and had a sudden urge to find out what was buried in the ground. They were poor. I assumed it was a lark. A folly. Perhaps trunks full of gold concealed by a forgotten people so they could buy fruits and vegetables to feed themselves.”

“What was in the trunks, Chaos?” Death asked.

“The rocks the Cwylld used to murder all those warlocks,” Chaos confided as she wept. “It was not until Life resurrected Scythe Lord Masse Daray that I put the pieces together. I did not know what I had done. Or what my chaos created. I wasn’t there when they were opened. The warlocks were long dead before questions popped into my head and I searched a mirror for answers.”

Mayhem wanted to believe her sister, but having been shunned so long, she didn’t know who to trust. The only exceptions were the other goddesses in the alley. They had allowed Mayhem to get friendly with them after many millennia of being ostracized. But everyone else was a mystery to Mayhem.

Folly had help. But who those goddesses were, and how long they had aided her, was yet to be uncovered. Was Chaos telling the truth, or was she working for Folly? She was impulsive. Folly could easily ask her to do silly things, and Chaos would rush in to use her magic. Or Chaos could’ve been horribly corrupted already.

“What does that have to do with Reginald Bradley?” Justice asked.

“Rumors had abounded for years about Folly’s actions,” Chaos responded. “I had already long ago learned to blur my essence to escape her.”

“And me,” Mayhem replied.

“Oh, I did not consider that you couldn’t find me. That would explain why an age has passed since we last spoke.”

“I told you she does not think before she does something,” Mayhem said, annoyed and hurt that her idiot twin had never thought about how blurring her essence would block her from every goddess.

“Focus,” Courage insisted. “Reginald, remember. The corpse at our feet.”

“I am getting to it,” Chaos insisted. “While I was hiding at the palace, someone entered the prisons and started freeing everyone.”

“You were hiding in the prison?” Mayhem asked.

“A perfect place to hide, no one ever came there,” Chaos defended. “Anyway, Sorrow was letting everyone out. Folly disappeared so damn quick I couldn’t follow her. I chased after a few other escapees, but they’re everywhere. Different realms. Someone is even in that disgustingly bright realm Fate created for her angels. Damn, Fate, that place makes my eyes hurt; why did you design it with so much white?”

Fate gasped. “Who is there?”

“Everything happened so fast. Who was it? I remember white…and not much else. Maybe it was Sorrow. It would be hard for her to blend in though, given her penchant for dressing like Death. Why does she do that? She copies everything about the style. Does she lack creativity? Did you see my dress?” Chaos asked, twirling in her pink-and-white creation. It was a chaotic mixture of patterns that made Mayhem slightly dizzy. Every outfit Chaos had ever designed had had the same effect on Mayhem.

“I told you guys she is unhinged,” Mayhem said. “Has been since the day we were created. She cannot keep a straight thought in her head for more than a few minutes.”

“No, it couldn’t have been Sorrow. I found her. She disappeared, but then she used a wizard and sucked their sorrow to fill her power. It was so weird. He is kin to a Council wizard, but he is part of the Consilium. That was how I discovered her. She was asking to get caught. Sorrow convinced the wizard to recruit Reginald here to do something nefarious,” Chaos confided.

“To do what?” Death asked.

“I told you…something nefarious.”

Death rolled her eyes. “I heard you. What was the nefarious thing he was going to do?”

“I have no idea, but why would a sorcerer need a human lawyer with no principles unless it was for something nefarious? And why would else would Sorrow be involved? She is evil and works for Folly. So, I killed the wizard and Reginald to keep Sorrow from putting the plan into action. They both deserved it—especially this one. Reginald killed Grant.”

Glancing at Mayhem, Death gave her a nod. “Unhinged. I see it now. Who is the Consilium wizard? What is his name?”

“I don’t know. I did not ask. His eyes were mean; he was no stranger to trouble,” Chaos said. “I wonder how he met Sorrow.”

“Can you take us to his body?” Eternity asked.

Chaos shrugged. “I burned it so no one would find it. Maybe I could find it again? I don’t know, it was a few Earth days ago. I have visited many places. Oh! I heard Sorrow tell the wizard she would banish him to a twisted realm if he displeased her. He scoffed, but she swore it was just like Earth and wizards lived there too. She told him he’d hate it because it was currently frozen in time and he’d be horribly alone. Sorrow vowed the moment the goddesses unlocked it, he’d likely die by dragon fire. I was trying to find the twisted realm. No luck so far.”

“While I agree that justice was served for Reginald and probably for this wizard, we have rules, and they must be obeyed,” Justice stated, her lips pursed with displeasure. “Stop looking for the realm; we know where it is. We will watch it to ensure no one shows up or is harmed. How did Sorrow discover our twisted realm?”

“How does a twisted realm exist?” Mayhem asked.

“It belongs to us,” Death said. “We can explain later.”

Relieved that they would not exclude her and hadn’t dismissed her question, Mayhem nodded, then refocused on her twin’s guilty face.

“I am prepared to pay the price for my actions. It is the least I can do for what I did to help Folly,” Chaos commented. “You may not believe me, but I didn’t mean to help her. Not in an evil way. Just a little chaos. That is my entire purpose.”

“Did you unblur your essence and kill Reginald because you wanted Sorrow’s plot foiled or because you wanted to be found so you could be punished for the things you did for Folly?” Courage asked.

“Both,” Chaos said. Her blue gaze collided with Mayhem’s. “Plus, it is good to see my twin again.”

“I want to trust you, Chaos,” Mayhem replied, sadness filling her at how Chaos had been duped by Folly. “I believe your words. But once your punishment is finished, stay away from Folly, Sorrow, and anyone else involved in their plots.”

“At least we know now that Sorrow is involved. Folly may be adept at alluding us, but I bet Sorrow will be much easier to locate,” Death suggested.

“I agree. We need to get Chaos to the Tier’llomen ,” Justice said.

“What about Reginald?” Mayhem asked.

“Leave his body to rot like he did to Grant,” Life growled.

With a nod, Mayhem lifted her skirts and teleported back to Death’s castle. She would not be summoned to the Tier’llomen given her close connection to Chaos, but her sisters would fill her in on the assigned punishment and the realm her twin couldn’t find. After Chaos paid her debt, Mayhem would have to discover if it was worth allowing her into her life again or if they were better separated. At least Mayhem now knew Chaos wasn’t involved with Folly and her ever-growing list of crimes.

Overwhelming relief settled into her soul.