Page 4 of Gods of Prey (Parallel Prey #3)

“Dance with me,” Iris says, tugging me toward the center of the courtyard where spirits twirl in elaborate patterns.

I allow her to lead me, falling into the familiar steps of an ancient dance that mimics the cycle of seasons. Around us, nature spirits and divine beings clap and sing, their voices harmonizing in ways impossible for mortal throats.

For a moment, I lose myself in it—the music, the movement, the adoration in Iris’s color-shifting eyes. This is what Sebastian left behind. This perfect, beautiful realm where he is worshipped and loved. Where everything responds to his touch, where he belongs.

Why would he not return?

The dance ends, and I find myself surrounded by admirers. Lyra has joined the group, her jealousy forgotten as she laughs at something I’ve said. Iris still clings to my arm, while a wood nymph named Echo offers me fruits from her own branches.

I am charming. I am desired. I am completely empty inside.

“My lord,” a new voice interrupts. A messenger spirit hovers at the edge of our circle, his transparent wings fluttering anxiously.

“Yes?” I release myself from Iris’s grasp.

“News from the boundary wardens,” he says quietly. “A disruption at the eastern gates. They request your presence immediately.”

I nod, relieved for the excuse to leave. “Ladies, you must excuse me. Duty calls.”

They pout and protest, but I am already following the messenger, my borrowed power flowing through me as I move swiftly through the palace grounds.

The eastern gates mark one of the boundaries between realms. Not quite Umbraeth, but a threshold space where the Duskvein Rivers stretch and life begins to fade toward death. The wardens there monitor the flow of energy, ensuring nothing crosses that shouldn’t.

When I arrive, I find several wardens—tall, ancient beings with bark-like skin and eyes like wells of sap—gathered around a disturbance in the air. A sort of ripple, as if reality itself is being bent.

“Lord Revel.” The chief warden bows. “It began an hour ago. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

I approach the distortion cautiously. “Has anything come through?”

“No, my lord. But something is attempting to.”

I reach out with my senses, extending tendrils of life energy toward the ripple. Immediately, I feel it—a familiar presence, but twisted somehow. Changed.

“Sebastian,” I whisper.

But it’s not quite him. The energy signature is similar yet altered, as if viewed through murky water. And there’s something else with it. Another presence, warm and bright, but definitely mortal.

He’s not alone. And he’s not himself.

“My lord?” The chief warden looks concerned.

I withdraw my senses, mind racing. “Maintain your positions. Allow nothing through without my direct authorization.”

“And if Lord Sebastian returns?” asks one of the younger wardens.

If it were truly Sebastian in his divine form, he wouldn’t need to create a ripple. He would simply be here, stepping back into his realm as easily as breathing.

This is something else. Sebastian attempting to access his divine power while still in mortal form? Or something worse?

“Especially then,” I say firmly. “Notify me immediately.”

I turn away from the gate, decisions forming rapidly in my mind. I need information. I need to understand what’s happened to my friend.

I need Siennara.

The thought comes unbidden, and I almost dismiss it immediately. She and I have never been close. As Sebastian’s twin and the Goddess of Death, she represents everything opposite to what I stand for. Our encounters over the millennia have been brief and often antagonistic.

She is the embodiment of everything opposite of what we stand for in Aurelys.

Ruthless. Cunning. Hostile toward other gods.

And the divine beings that reside in Umbraeth are the same.

No one really knows how she keeps order over them, but there are rumors of things Sebastian and I would find unimaginable.

It’s a wonder how any soul could choose to retire there for the rest of eternity, though they don’t have much of a choice.

I don’t want to need her.

But she’s returned from their shared mortal life. She knows what happened to Sebastian. And if anyone cares for him as much as I do, it’s her.

“Bring me a messenger who can cross to Umbraeth,” I command.

Minutes later, a small liminal spirit with wings like smoke stands before me. These rare beings can travel between Life and Death without harm. Messengers used only in the most dire circumstances.

“Go to the realm of Umbraeth,” I tell him. “Find the goddess Siennara. Tell her...” I pause, considering my words carefully. “Tell her Revel seeks an audience regarding her brother. Tell her it’s urgent.”

The liminal spirit bows and dissolves into mist, slipping through the barriers between realms.

I return to my private chambers, dismissing the servants who rush to attend me and remove the tight crown of vines, placing it on a pedestal where it immediately begins to wilt without Sebastian’s or my power sustaining it.

My feet move me to the balcony overlooking all of Aurelys without realizing. From here, I can see the endless gardens, the forests of impossible trees, the rivers of pure light. All of it glowing, perfect, beautiful.

All of it empty without its true ruler.

“What have you done, old friend?” I whisper to the golden horizon. “And what will it cost us all?”

I think of Siennara—fierce, cold, imposing in her terrible power. The opposite of me and her brother in every way. Where Sebastian gives, she takes. Where he creates, she ends.

I’ve never trusted her. Never particularly liked her. She has an influence over my friend that I’ve never appreciated.

But now, she may be the only one who can help me find our missing God of Life.

As night never truly falls in Aurelys, I watch the light shift to a softer gold, the closest this realm comes to darkness. In the gardens below, the celebration continues without me. Music drifts up, along with laughter and singing.

They don’t know yet. Don’t understand that their god has abandoned them. That something is terribly wrong with the balance between Life and Death. What will they do when they realize?

I close my eyes, feeling the weight of responsibility settle more firmly on my shoulders. The crown may sit on its pedestal across from me, but its burden remains.

Behind me, a familiar voice calls my name. Lyra has found her way to my chambers after all, her light dimmed to a gentle glow as she approaches.

“You seemed troubled at the celebration,” she says softly. “I thought you might desire company.”

Turning to face her, I see the genuine concern beneath the desire in her luminous eyes. It would be so easy to lose myself in her light, to pretend for a few hours that I’m truly the god they all treat me as. To forget the problems waiting for me with the brighter gold of morning.

Instead, I take her hand gently and kiss it. “Not tonight, Lyra. But thank you.”

Something shifts behind her. Dark, swirling shadows appear out of nowhere, slithering around like serpents ready to strike. My stomach drops, and Lyra hops against my chest with a squeal. Within seconds, the swirling ends and a mischievous smile appears inside the shadows as moths scatter around.

“Such a shame,” that familiar, smoky voice chortles. “She looks like the perfect little distraction.”

Siennara appears before us, the Goddess of Death in all her glory.

The shadows that transported her here disappear into her dress—so black, it absorbs all light like liquid night—in tiny wisps.

A corset intricately inlaid with polished bone fragments wraps around her torso.

A crown of silver spires sits atop her head, piercing the air.

Her light hair flows across her shoulders beneath it, glowing like moonlight against porcelain skin.

And her wings. They don’t quite match Sebastian’s in width, but they exude every bit as much power in their own foreboding, majestic way. Dark feathers dissolve into shadow at the edges, trailing wisps of darkness that coil and dance around her.

She’s the true embodiment of Death and every horrible thing that comes with it. Lyra trembles in my arms at the sight.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” I mutter quietly into her ear, ignoring the taunting grin spread across Siennara’s face.

Disappointment flickers across Lyra’s features, but she nods and withdraws, leaving me alone with the goddess who I’ve avoided for centuries.

Somewhere in the mortal realm, Sebastian is alive when he should be here. This is a necessary evil to get him back.

“Thank you for coming, Goddess,” I greet with a low bow.

She releases a bitter chuckle, making no moves to greet me with the same respect.

“Please, Revel. You know you can call me Sienna. And let’s not waste any time pretending to be friends. Tell me everything you know about my brother’s absence.”