Page 10

Magelav's spell dropped us into the living room of our home.

The house was empty, bland without the bustle of our brothers and Aaliyah to give it life. There were marks of struggle that I hadn't seen before, signs of a fight that I'd ignored in our rush to go after her, like the demolished furniture and white hairs that were strewn across a black floor.

It was too much to look at.

"What did you need to get?" Nero asked, his eyes downcast.

It was so strange seeing him again. I'd memorized his picture and swore the nuances of his voice into the deepest parts of my mind, but there were subtleties about him that I hadn't realized had been lost to time.

The quirk of his eyebrow, and the shadow of freckles that spread over his high cheekbones. The flaring grit in his voice that was buried under a haughty tone. So many things I swore I'd never forget, yet I had.

There was a glow on the moss yard, a hint of a rising morning sun. A reminder of what could be lost if we failed. The knock of Adrian's hand against the cabinets as he cooked, the crinkle of chocolate candies in Fallon's pockets, the steady rasp to Eirik's voice when his beast came out. Would I lose those small things, those moments that made them them? I tried not to think of it.

"A potion of High Fae Mana, in case we're not back before the Eternium. I wanted to get it in advance," I said, and Nero nodded.

Kri'Valta's Gala was tonight, which meant we had barely a week before the official start of the Eternium. The bringing of the New Year, two hundred and fifty years since the last gathering.

Coming back home should have been feasible, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

His gaze traveled around the room, taking in the space the same as I was. The trace of another intruder that lay sizzling in the air. There had been a press against our wards, someone coming to see us. The lingering smell of gold gave Archon away.

"Seems like someone was here," Nero mused, voicing my silent thoughts as he ran his hand across our kitchen table, his fingers stalling on the claw mark Kali had left there.

"Archon sent men to collect me. I sensed the push against the ward on the way to Ascension." The words came easily but felt like poison. I didn't even recognize myself in them, so shallow and numb.

They hadn't gotten through, not until I let them. I'd felt the moment they'd touched the barrier, so why had Sebek been able to slide past?

The numbness was the only thing holding me together. It was the only thing that kept me focusing on what mattered, on getting as many of us to safety as possible.

When the air lit and dark magic swelled, even Magelav paused next to us, their head tilting to the side as the scent of sulfur hit. I almost ignored it, convinced it was a play on my tired mind as I struggled to keep my magic in check.

It didn't fade, and rage bubbled up.

Not now. Why now? I was on a thread, barely keeping everything contained, and yet she was here.

Kali.

"Well—" was all she got out, materializing in front of me, before I had her pinned to the wall. My magic, the one I'd forced down into the bowels of my soul, built, starting in my stomach, growing like a fire that had just been fed dry tinder until it raged hot under my skin. It pushed against Kali's, breaking hers down until I couldn't feel it anymore. Only then could I breathe. "What a welcome."

I snarled, my hand tightening. I knew I should step back; we didn't need another Eternal down our throats, and Darius would not take kindly to my harming of Kali. I'd endured her constant presence for that one simple fact. Even after all she'd done, after I'd watched Adrian and Fallon crumble under her corrupt magic … and faced the onslaught of her cruel words.

I'd done everything to make sure I didn't ruin this Eternium for us before it even began. So, why? " What are you doing here?"

That got her attention, and even with my hand at her throat, cutting off her airway, she didn't look scared. She tipped her head, blond hair spilling around us as the ivory bone that had been keeping it up fell loose and clattered to the ground.

"You were supposed to be at the Eternium by now, my reckless little pet. Kneeling at Darius's feet and begging for forgiveness." That furious tint to her words didn't hide the crack in her voice nearly as effectively as she was hoping. Her eyes dilated, her throat constricting under the press of my palm. "Do you have any idea what he's going to do to us now?"

Us? Us?

"He'll do nothing to me!" I screamed it in her face, and she went red.

Her magic shattered again, snapping against my skin as she brought her hand up to my wrist. Her claws bit in, but the pain was nothing compared to the sickness I felt at the touch of more of her skin.

"Nothing? He's angry, Osiris! More so than I've seen in centuries." Panic. I wasn't used to seeing it on her face, but she was damned near manic with it. Her nose bled, and she thrashed in my grip. "He's waited long enough for you to come back to us. You've had your fun. I've gotten rid of your distraction, and now there's nothing else holding you here. Come home . Please."

Her words were met with silence, the begged nature paired so sweetly with the hint of violence. They were so pointed and driven, I almost missed it.

My ward had been breached again, allowing Sebek to pass through. It had been done effortlessly, cleanly, after I'd spent hours fortifying their defenses. Only one Sorceri would have been able to slip past them that quietly … because she'd taught me all I knew.

Because she'd done it before.

Clarity came swiftly. Kali hadn't left my wards in tatters this time, because she hadn't broken them, just invited herself in. The hole, the pinprick opening, that was just enough to allow someone inside before it sealed shut. My eyes bled red. "What did you do?"

The words were quiet, a breath, like a soft question in a dark room. I dropped her, like fiery coals, trying to process and keep my rage in check.

"I—" She stumbled, and my human gifts, the press of Echomancy, destroyed the peace around us. It was a violent wave, every bit of magic that I knew swarming inside of me. The heating of my blood as it flexed, as if waiting to join a fight. The walls creaking as the atoms inside of them struggled to reach me. The crackle in the air as the oxygen burst into micro flames.

"What did you do? " I pressed, and she stood.

It hit every inch of the house, keeping her pinned against the wall and snuffing out her power. I was stronger than her, much stronger, more than ever with the blood of the Butcher in my veins.

"I got Sebek inside, of course," she said, waving her hand like she hadn't just dropped the ax aimed at her own neck. My fingers dug into my palms. "Got him to the door through your ward, just long enough so you wouldn't have time to deal with it. Though I will say I was impressed. Had I been anyone else, I wouldn't have managed it."

The chime of the clock above the table was all I could focus on. Someone called my name, a hand on my shoulder that left me recoiling.

"Why?" I asked. "Why would you do this?"

"Because that little thing you had stowed away was a distraction, Osiris. One that's ruining you, all of you. I was taking care of it," she hissed. "You have more pressing matters than a mortal to deal with. She was going to get you killed."

Any semblance of control I had devolved into nothing more than ash. Careful years of reining in the thunderous instincts that came with being what I was. A moral code that I'd lived by so I would never become like the monster that turned me. A monster that had slipped past my defenses and stolen the one thing that had stood between me and a rope after I'd resigned myself to death.

Kali let Sebek in.

"You'll be punished for these bruises. You know Darius doesn't like them on me," Kali mumbled, rubbing her neck.

I took a step forward, brushing off the hand that had found my shoulder until I was a breath away from her.

She threatened Aaliyah before, when she'd first come to our home. I, foolishly, thought I'd sent her away. My misguided attempts to form a better version of myself. One that pulled away from the monster I'd been before.

A fool's path. She'd meant for Sebek to kill Aaliyah.

Kali let Sebek in .

"Osiris?" Kali asked, and I caught the first real hint of fear in her eyes. Too little, too late.

She didn't get another word out as I lifted my hand, just inches from her face, stepping back from her in the same instant.

She'd meant to kill my light, and I'd almost let her.

I snapped my fingers.

Blood exploded around her, so hot it charred the wood at her back. It spilled from her nose, ears, and eyes, as surprise was swallowed by an agonized scream. I did what she had done before to my brothers, to me , and boiled it inside of her. I didn't let go as she had, didn't feel any compulsion to show her any mercy she didn't deserve, adding to the waves that battered her. The Flame blended with my human magic, morphing until the fire lit blue. Her scream was swallowed only by the next snap.

And another.

"Stop!" a voice yelled, but I was too far gone. The heat of my power torched my clothes, dragging deep fissures into the ground around me as the fire arced into the wooden floor.

Another snap, another burst of blood as she slumped to the ground, her veins growing against her skin before breaking open. My own blood fought in my veins to do the same, a trail sliding down over my top lip.

"Osiris—"

Another. Another. Until she'd long stopped screaming.

"Fuck, Osiris!" someone screamed, and I suddenly realized where I was again, with a bloody mess of a body at my feet. The flames died instantly, and shame flooded me at the sight of our house, of the damage I'd caused. "She's dead, Osiris. You can stop now."

Kali … was a mess of smoldering bones and blood, gone so quickly it was almost like she hadn't been here to begin with. I waited for her to get up, to punish me again.

Such a bad pet.

She didn't stir, and what I'd done truly crashed around me. I'd killed Kali, an Eternal, a close ally to Darius the Great. We were already going to be facing backlash for Kri'Valta; this would damn us.

What had I done?

"Hey, whatever you're thinking, stop. She had that shit coming," Nero said, somehow getting in front of me, pushing me away from the carnage I'd created. I tried to center myself, to breathe as I realized my heart thundered like hellfire in my chest. "But that look? Brother, you need to focus."

"What look?" I muttered, and Nero shook his head.

He clapped both hands on my shoulders. A show of support as much as it was an anchoring force.

"Like you don't care, like life doesn't mean anything. I may not remember much, but I remember that look," he said, the words striking like a blow I couldn't get away from as he grimaced. "You look like Sebek, brother."

I froze, suddenly stumbling away from him, but I couldn't deny his words as I stared at the body on the ground, which was still smoking. I wasn't sad about it, not her life. If anything, I wanted to bring her back just to do it again.

That wasn't what we stood for, not now. Vivas, our namesake, meant to live . I might have just killed us.

"This was not in the cards," Magelav mumbled, looking at the body like they might try to dissect it. The second Rourovic didn't seem fazed, more interested in the patterns the blood made than whose it was. Still, they were a threat, a wild card, and more likely an enemy than an ally.

"Do you intend to avenge your sister?" I asked.

Magelav shook their head, brushing their hands on their clothes.

"Mags lost their sister long ago. Before you were a thought. Before the fates called on me. But blood knows blood," Magelav hummed, as though speaking of the weather. "Kali was of no importance, little more than sand. Your other sins weigh much heavier. You will pay for them before the end."

Their eyes, frosted like a winter storm, caught mine. It was like watching the clouds clear, the haze falling away for the first time since I'd seen them, showing the beast beneath the banter. They searched for something they wouldn't find, remorse for a death I was no sorrier about than Kali's.

This fight had been centuries in the making, a feud that had been bubbling beneath the surface since I'd learned of their name.

"Our quarrels are long buried, Magelav. I've tolerated much, and I'm willing to put them aside for this," I said, stilted words freezing the rest of the room as magic flooded it. I was on edge. My instincts and emotions ran raw. Vengeful pride threatened to rip the words out of my throat, the Flame clinging to them much like the Charm I held back. "Do not mistake my hospitality."

Magelav's lips pulled back in a snarl. "Oh, scared I am of the Kingslayer. A boy made rotten. Again and again, you take . I will follow, because it is demanded. Because I am owed . I will watch you fight and fall to the depths, like the boy you are, because Bronimir didn't deserve to die for his tie to me. Your debt is alive until the day you stop breathing."

Magelav's words were full of the pain I'd felt when I'd lost Nero, their eyes shadowed with the grief of loss. My eyes blew red, and my lips pulled back to expose fangs. Magelav's old lover had been a thorn in my side for centuries before his death. Haughty and full of an ego that he did not have the power to back.

"I didn't kill Bronimir because of who you were, Magelav. Not once have I ever held your relation to that monster against you. Bronimir tried for my life and almost killed Eirik. I did what I must to protect my brother."

"Pitiful excuses. Not even an apology," Magelav hissed. "Own your wicked thoughts, or drown in them?—"

My hands flexed, the air turning to cinders as a burst of lightning shot across it. "An apology? Never . Bronimir died because he was a fool, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Sickening calmness, like the gentle breeze before a devastating storm as the magic that lingered on my tongue turned molten.

"Such hatred in your eyes. That folly is what will fail us, monster . That emotion, that panicking, writhing thing, will be the end of us. Kali—" Magelav pushed and pushed and pushed .

I'd seen the edge of my breaking point before. I'd had many over the years since my release from that hell, but that name … even on someone else's lips? Her corpse was smoldering at my feet, and still she haunted me.

Every touch, every breath. The barbarous tilt to her lips and the savage cruelty that still clung to my life now. I struggled to breathe, the room collapsing around me until I was locked away in my own mind. In another room, another hell.

Another bed. Bound and bloodied, touched by hands that I couldn't get rid of even now.

"Kali raped me!" I screamed it, a broken cord, a shot to my heart that would linger there as my voice cracked and the dam burst. "I was stuck in the hell that was Darius's harem for years. Kali used me like a doll and broke me until I was nothing but a shell. There are bits of myself I'm still finding centuries after the last time she took what she had no right to. Hate ?"

I could barely breathe.

" Yes , I hate her more than anything in this world save for Darius himself and the monsters that harmed my light. Had I killed Bronimir because of your relation to Kali, I wouldn't have been so kind as to give him a quick death."

I tried to conceal the frantic weight of my breaths as sweat pooled on my brow. My lips trembled, hands flexing, as my eyes grew unfocused.

"His death is still on your hands. You hold your resentment close; it will be your downfall?—"

" Enough! " Nero butted in, his face a mask of simmering rage as he bared his teeth. Fangs had fallen, his eyes shimmering silver before they flushed red. "Mags, you say one more fucking word, and I'll gut you and leave your body next to Kali's. Consequences be damned."

Magelav took a deep breath, another flush of magic brushing against us, against their will. For the first time, it wasn't craze I saw in their eyes. Pain, loss, and a knowing that their fate was as locked as the rest of ours.

"If you despise me so much, then leave, Magelav. We will fight this without you," I said, staring down at the withered person that deflated in front of us.

"Mags is not here for you, Osiris Vivas. I am here because it is written for me to be," Magelav grumbled, shaking their head viciously. "I am here, because I am owed. My help is not free, and it is not optional."

"Then what's your price?" I mocked as Magelav sneered.

"It is not for you to know." They made a pointed look at Nero, and he narrowed his eyes, like it wasn't the first he'd heard of it as well.

The three of us stood in silence, understanding that one way or another, this was the only way forward. There was no other reason they'd suffer my company, and I was feeling the same.

"Consequences are many, and threats are petty and small. No longer are our plans unfrayed. Though … benefits may also come. I will take Kali's place." Magelav shook their head, bony fingers caked in blood as they ran them across their aged face. "And I will speak no more of Bronimir."

It was an olive branch, the only one we'd have. For Aaliyah, I accepted it, even as more fire caught in the back of my throat.

Without even a further glance, Magelav turned away. "We can dally here no longer. I prepare the spells, you prepare. "

I struggled to come to terms with that statement, but I also knew I didn't have a choice. Something nagged at the back of my brain, further damning me.

Nero took up a spot at my side, an unwavering sentinel. He didn't speak, but he rarely had to. He searched my eyes, taking the brunt of my own sins long enough for me to breathe.

"Come on, Osiris. Sun's rising," Nero said as he grimaced, looking at the door. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

I reached for my wrist, an action that had become second nature over the years, but it wasn't Darius's mark that I ached to cover. It was Aaliyah's. I ran my fingers over the Hallen Bond , admiring the lavender that stood starkly against the black ink of my brand. It hummed under the attention, as if it were her own hand I touched.

"Have faith, Nero. We are Vivas," I managed.

Come hell or high water, we'd make it through this alive.