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CHAPTER ONE

CAMBION

Mortal Ruins

“Abedon is awake? How the fuck did that happen?!” Baron snaps.

He paces the floor, causing me to rub my temples in frustration. Though they all may appear civilized, they are far from tame.

Pyre stands as though he’s ready to interfere if the climbing tension gets out of hand. I, too, stand ready to fight beside Baron or Dragan even if Pyre decides to be diplomatic. At least until Theren shakes his head when our gazes meet across the table.

Theren can most likely sense our father now that Elioth is no longer in the Chasm. He leans onto his elbows and folds his hands on the table. “Though I’m not to be as vulgar as Baron, I believe his question is still valid. How exactly has Abedon awakened?”

To my surprise, Variant is the one who speaks. “When Eilish stabbed me with the soul-stealing blade, she did away with the spell Morrigan used to corrupt me. I was able to break free of Morrigan’s control to finally seek retribution against the Midnight Queen.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Dragan snarls through his teeth. He’s still holding his shadow blade at the ready and the look in his eyes is murderous.

Variant doesn’t seem to notice or, if he does, doesn’t appear to care. “It means I killed the Midnight Queen.”

“Is that true?” Dragan says as he faces Silvanus.

“It is,” Silvanus says with a quick nod.

“As if we can trust you or your word,” Baron starts but Variant interrupts.

“Morrigan died by my hand. And that is the truth.” Then he tosses a dagger forged from enchanted ice onto the table. I see Baron flinch and have no doubt he’s reliving the moment of his own death.

“What is this?” Dragan demands.

Variant faces him. “The blade with which I killed Morrigan,” he says.

“No one has responded to the question of why Abedon is awake,” Eilish points out.

Variant looks at her then and something passes between the two of them.

Something I struggle to give words to, but it’s something deep, all the same.

“When I killed Morrigan, her death weakened the spells holding Abedon captive. The only thing holding him within those walls now is Silvanus’s spells. ”

“Abedon has already begun awakening his disciples,” Silvanus ads.

Then he steps in front of Eilish, only to be blocked by Dragan and his gargoyle companion.

The illusive god isn’t fettered by this and speaks to Eilish by simply ignoring their presence.

“What Variant says is true. Morrigan has been slain and the prophecies are obsolete.” Silvanus waves his hand and casts an illusion in the room.

Suddenly we stand at the heart of Variant’s throne room, watching as Variant and Morrigan battle for power.

I look to Variant.

He is my nemesis. He’s the bane of my existence and yet I can’t find the strength to hate him as I once did.

My entire being is shaken to its core. I face my brother and he appears weak, pale to the point of worry.

As the illusion breaks, I push myself beneath Theren’s arm and help him from the room while the others are distracted.

Theren groans in pain as we hobble to his temporary quarters.

None of us have real rooms just yet as the Vindication struggles to find resources.

I lay Theren on his bare bones cot and sit beside him.

My magic probes along his body, searching for wounds or signs of lingering hexes.

Theren shivers. His eyes open and his golden gaze is shocking in the pale light coming through the window.

Theren has the same shade of hair as our father, but his locks are cut short where Elioth wears his in a long braid.

If not for the faint features of our mother, Theren would be the spitting image of the former Unseelie King.

But as Theren shares Elioth’s appearance and aptitude for forbidden magics, I am the one who inherited our father’s pride and temper.

“What’s on your mind, brother?” Theren croaks.

“We once believed the gods were jesting when the courts appointed us to our destined thrones. You were humble and adventurous, always kind in your actions. I often wondered why you hadn’t been given the gift of light, why I’d become the King of Nature when I could hardly stand being in the forest. I much preferred the palace where I could read my books in the library. ”

“And I, the forsaken son of our dark lord, was the one who climbed trees and fell in love with an angel who dwelled in the sacred glade,” my brother chuckles in response. “Though I was the elder, I envied you, Cambion.”

Guilt settles in the gaping wound in my heart.

“I swear I was unaware of what Elioth put you through. You were so good at hiding it. All I saw was naive arrogance and youthful rebellion. You endured the weight of his wrath and protected me at every turn. And, in my ignorance, I tattled to father whenever you snuck out of the castle.”

“Maybe so. But if not for your tattling, I would never have met Eilish.” A smile appears on Theren’s face as I work to heal him. “I took one look at her and felt the pull of fate.”

“I wish I could say it was the same for me,” I reply hesitantly. “When Eilish came to me, in hopes of sparing you the trouble of protecting her family, I was... not myself and I saw her as an opportunity more than a person.”

“Go on.”

“I didn’t treat Eilish with respect. I fucked her under the guise of promises I was unsure I could honor. The blood of her mother and sister are on my hands. I don’t know how she ever forgave me.”

Theren sucks in a mouthful of air as his injuries knits themselves back together. He sighs in exhaustion and collapses against the cot. “You tried to protect them, Cambion. You went back to the Glade to defend it. It’s not your fault you were too late.”

“True, but it is my fault that I took her memories.”

Theren shakes his head. “Eilish knows you took her memory to spare her the pain of such a great loss. Your plan was misguided, but your intentions were pure.”

“Partly. I also took her memories so she wouldn’t realize I was the reason…

why she lost her family.” I sigh deeply.

“I can only hope to make amends with her and the others, but also you,” I reply honestly.

“There are many things in our pasts I can’t make right, but I hope to one day earn your forgiveness. ”

Theren lays flat on the cot, staring up into the rafters.

“You will always have my forgiveness, Cambion. The road ahead will be difficult for us to navigate for obvious reasons.” He grows quiet for a few seconds.

“Elioth carefully bred two sons to ascend the thrones of the fae courts so he would never be without power. Turning against him twice may require everything within me.”

“What happened that day?” I ask, because it was never clear to me what had taken place.

“I am… too weak to delve into it now,” he says. I understand.

“Dragan and Baron seem keen on protecting Eilish as fiercely as I would,” he says suddenly, changing the subject. “I admit it’s… surprising.”

“Why?”

“I’ve loved Eilish for a long time and I never imagined others would live up to my standards of care.”

“We... all love her… though I’m not sure each of us has admitted it,” I say. “For myself, the timing just never seems right.”

“So, you do love her?”

I stand and walk over to the window that overlooks the courtyard. “Yes.”

“I know it isn’t quite in your nature to love. Aima was an exception and you didn’t love again after her… until Eilish.”

“I feel... that you and Silvanus have a claim on Eilish because you were the first to love her. But I fear if you were to ask me to honor that claim and shun my feelings for her, I wouldn’t be able to.

” I turn to look at him then. “Our bond as brothers means the world to me, Theren, but there isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for her. ”

Theren sits up and props his back against the wall as he smiles.

A tendril of hair falls over his brow. For a moment, I see no pain in his eyes, only childlike humor and I’m thrilled for him.

Theren deserves whatever happiness he can find within this darkness.

He shakes his head and shrugs as he says, “Such selfish love she inspires.”

“I believe we’ve earned a bit of selfishness, don’t you?”

“Whether we’ve earned it or not, I intend to bask in hedonistic debauchery.”

***

BARON

Mortal Ruins

The dagger slips between my fingers before I can catch myself. The blade goes right for Variant’s head, but Pyre’s magic stops it midair. I turn to the necromancer with disappointment in my gaze. Whether the others are beginning to accept Variant for killing Morrigan has nothing to do with me.

I want him dead.

I want him on the floor writhing in pain until every fiber of his being screams for it all to end in a bloody surge of violence to rival the wrath of the gods.

But it’s the anger in Eilish’s gaze that clears the red haze in my vision.

“Enough,” she hisses, glaring at me until I return to my seat.

Silvanus stands before us with a surprising amount of composure.

Fuck him.

He’s just as useless to me as Variant. Silvanus gestures for Variant to take a seat as well. The False King does so without taking his eyes off Eilish. I bare my fangs at him in warning. A voice in my head begins to whisper.

If you don’t control yourself, The Veil will become restless.

Pyre... how the fuck are you in my head?!

My gaze flickers over to where he sits beside me and the fucker just smirks.

The bond. I realize.

He nods slowly and I focus on containing my rage against Variant and Silvanus long enough to hear what they have to say.

“When Abedon and Elioth drew on the Chasm and summoned the Singularity, it nearly destroyed the realms and everything in them. They led an army of black riders and creatures of untold darkness into the home of the gods,” Silvanus explains.

“I was there. I watched as Abedon slaughtered them with his power and thirst for vengeance. When Abedon sat on the throne, I heard a prophecy. One that spoke of the rise of a new god, a supreme deity, and I knew he had to be stopped.”

“So you went to Morrigan?” Dragan’s lip curls in disgust.

“Yes, for she had been with me the day of my ascension. Though she loved Abedon, she knew she could never rise to her full potential with him in power.” Silvanus glances around the room, looking at each of us as though he can’t fathom why we’d been chosen.

“I wrote the spells. I crafted the oath that brought you together. Morrigan simply had to choose those who would maintain the balance.”

“She chose wrong,” I say.

Silvanus shakes his head. “No, I don’t believe so.”

Dragan stands with a huff. “Look around you, asshole. The worlds are in ruins because of Morrigan and Variant. At least Theren’s manipulation was a result of him wanting to protect Eilish. Variant went to Morrigan willingly. He sought her council because he thought…”

Variant stands, meeting the furious gargoyle head on.

“I went to Morrigan because I was suspicious. While you, Cambion, and Baron were happy to sit on your thrones and rule your kingdoms, I smelled the wickedness brewing beneath our noses. Morrigan was weakening us and all of you failed to see it.” He looks over at Eilish and slides back into his seat, never once breaking the connection between them.

It infuriates me that there’s a connection between them at all.

“The people were starving,” Variant continues. “Disease spread through the lands, running rampant and killing thousands. Crops died, children were born without heartbeats, and fires burned down the forests. Where is the balance in that? Where is the peace we were promised?”

Silvanus raises his hand to stave off Variant’s rant. “You failed the realms, that much is true. However, when I look at you, I don’t see broken kings of lost realms, I still see warriors willing to fight so evil in these worlds will be contained once more.”

This time it’s Eilish who contradicts him. “Destroyed. When we fight Abedon, we won’t be containing him again. They may have failed as kings, but you failed as a god and Morrigan failed in her duties as a teacher.”

That knocks some of Silvanus’s confidence a little and I couldn’t be more pleased with Eilish.

“I was named Queen by people who strive to live peacefully within these walls, which means the responsibility of keeping them alive falls to my shoulders,” she says with a swell of pride. “There are others within the realms who will also look to me for answers once word spreads.”

Silvanus bows his head. “Then we will follow your order, Queen Eilish.”

“Abedon and Elioth must be destroyed if we’re to have any hope of a prosperous future,” she says, facing each of us in turn.

I reach over and take her hand. Variant eyes the interaction with a look of distaste. Good. I hope it burns him up inside.

“Though I may be the voice of the people, that doesn’t mean I won’t need help. I value all of your opinions and seek the knowledge of your experiences,” she continues.

I press a kiss to her knuckles as Aima sits stiffly beside Variant.

Aima leans against Kolvar to put as much space between her and the false king as possible.

I envy her her anger and a mate who reflects the same anger.

If I want to remain by Eilish’s side, I must at least tolerate Variant.

It will take all of my patience and, even then, I’m not sure I’ll ever be cordial with the man who murdered me.

“I’ve dealt with Elioth before,” Eilish announces. “He’s a cruel and powerful sorcerer.” Eilish squeezes my hand. “Silvanus, you’ve fought Abedon.”

“Yes,” he says with a nod.

“You say Abedon and Elioth will rise, that they’re already reaching out to their followers,” Eilish continues. “How should we prepare?"

Silvanus winces. “It pains me to admit that I do not know.”

I... feel for him. I understand what it feels like to be uncertain, to question oneself to the point of paranoia. Before Pyre, I didn’t trust anyone. Now I even find myself trusting Theren.

Perhaps I’ll prove myself wrong again. Perhaps I’ll pity them and learn to see beyond Silvanus and Variant’s mistakes... or perhaps cows will rain down from the heavens. The latter seems more likely, I must admit.

Interesting visual, Pyre whispers in my mind.

Shut up.