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Chapter 29

Osiris

Q uiet halls were a guilty pleasure in a place like this.

I trailed my hand along the wall, testing the give of the magic that held it together. I'd never thought to assess the limits of the Eternium before, to see if I could feel what bound each brick together. Unsurprisingly, it was hardy, a power well so deep no amount of searching would find the end to it, which meant there were no cracks to dig into, no pieces that I might exploit and no way into The Pits that didn't involve me being sent there.

I struggled to keep my hand up, to dig into the magic I'd kept locked down for so long. It was like reaching out for something that was no longer mine, for a gift that had long ago been stolen from me. It made me sick, still squeezing my lungs, stealing my ability to breathe.

I let my hand fall, the hall morphing in minute shifts that I could hear in the air and feel in the magic of the mountain. The Eternium was an astonishing piece of architecture and art, one that glowed like the finest of gems as it walked me to where I needed to be. I didn't move with any destination in mind, only intent on getting Drakon before heading back to the others.

"Osiris."

The voice broke me free from my thoughts, sealing the air in my lungs as my breath stopped. All semblances of life fled from me, my eyes narrowing, my hands shaking at my sides. I knew it, ingrained in every part of me he'd molded to his liking. I knew that voice like I knew the darkest parts of myself. The same parts that had killed Kali, that were still strapped to his bed, begging him to leave me be as another hand trailed across unwilling skin.

I turned slowly, not sure if I'd actually heard him speak, but when he came into view, I nearly puked.

Darius the Great, in all his glory. Seeing him was bound to happen. Even at the other Eterniums, it had been a surety. I'd hoped it'd be later, in a place where others were, when I had time to prepare. Instead, it was in the middle of an empty hall, with only air between us.

He wasn't flashy or larger than life … he wasn't different from any other man I might see in these halls or walking down a dreary city street. From dark black hair that seemed dull in the lighting to his soulless brown eyes that leered at me, touching like his hands used to. A powerful build hid behind the glamor of the gem-lined and billowing golden robe he'd worn religiously for as long as I'd known him. He stood several inches shorter than me, and even with the heels he had tucked in his boots, he wasn't able to look eye to eye. It was enraging how startlingly boring he was.

And it was an embarrassment that I still felt small under his furious gaze.

"Don't just stand there. Explain yourself. You were supposed to be here ages ago with Kali. Where is she?" he demanded, his voice a curse.

My heart thundered, my ears suddenly ringing as I turned to face him entirely.

Suddenly, I wasn't me again, like when I'd first come face to face with Kali. He'd always been worse. His hands, his voice, his touch . The way he moved.

The brand on my wrist burned, and I covered it on instinct, recoiling when he glowered at my hiding of his mark.

"I don't know where your wretched witch is," I whispered.

His face burned red, and I saw the flash of the Griffon beneath his skin. Darius had been the Mythic Eternal for eons, longer than I'd been alive, and seeing the flash of the beast that had shredded the skin off my bones more than once was enough to send me spiraling into fight-or-flight. Long ago, I would have turned tail and run, exactly like he wanted, so he could let his beast out to play.

"She came to collect me. I turned her down. I haven't seen her since."

I wasn't the same man that had cowered under his and Kali's palm like a little ant, dancing in hopes it would please him enough to be lenient. I was more. I had more, and I'd never take that for granted again. I might not be the perfect protector I'd fought so hard to be, but I'd do anything I could to keep my family safe. I might drop, but I would do it fighting.

"Tell me where she is, Osiris. I won't ask again." Chilled words and the thick push of a rageful aura would have been enough to make a weaker me bow, but I wasn't the same as I was the last time we'd met. A part of me was rebuilt now, stronger, loved . He couldn't hurt me here, and that I could use. "You know better than to cross me like this. I've been lenient. Do you intend to make me regret that?"

A shiver followed the Flame across my skin as my eyes went red, and my fangs ached to drop. It flashed against my skin, burning into me like an open flame over paper.

"You do not own me, not anymore, Darius," I said, searing every word into him. I wanted to rush forward, my body begging for his blood, but the Eternium stopped me, literally holding me in place as it felt my murderous intent. I pushed it so hard the veins on my forehead popped, but still, I didn't move. "You should do better keeping your hounds in check. They're not my problem."

There was no give, and I didn't want to see his sickening face anymore. Every time I looked at it, I just remembered that room, remembered the hands and the words that had stolen my soul for centuries.

I flipped around, Darius talking after me but not following, quiet, calm. "You may be safe here, but the Eternium only lasts so long. This will not stand."

Kali wouldn't be there, and there was a steady calm to Darius's voice telling me he already knew that, too. I couldn't find it in me to be remorseful. Kali was gone, and I'd never felt lighter. The only thing that would free me, truly free me, was if Darius joined her.

I walked in a haze after that, coming up on a door that I knew held what I was looking for. I walked in without knocking, and I only realized I was still leaking power when everyone in the room gasped, stepping away from me.

Whatever conversation they'd been having fell off, the room suddenly silent, the faces going pallid. More than I would expect from just my appearance. A few I knew, those of the Alderi Demon Horde were here, Vidius passing me a nod of his head. Adathan, the Angel Eternal, a man who beat most of the Eternium in age, looked on with vivid curiosity and a begrudging respect I'd long ago earned.

Though most I ignored, looking to Drakon.

It was time, and I wasn't in the mood to dawdle.

"Osiris, ever heard of knocking?" Drakon asked, the brash Dragonkin crossing his arms as he stepped forward. "Or is that beneath you, oh mighty Kingslayer ?"

It was a dominant display that rattled my instincts, and after the run in with Darius, I found I couldn't hold them back as I let the bonds on my gifts loosen.

A spark of lightning flashed across the room, shattering the lights one by one as I stepped up to him, face to face. "Am I interrupting something, Drakon?"

His bravado wavered, but he didn't back down, a trait I was slowly growing to despise as he sneered. I could practically see the tail behind him swinging as one of the members of his Clutch walked to his side.

He wasn't one I knew, with long black hair and steely black eyes that watched my every move. His face was strong, with the broad characteristics of early Arabic descent, likely around the same age as Eirik and easily just as large. He stood silently, a quiet guardian here to add some consequence.

The Enforcer, no doubt.

It didn't spark fear in me, not in the way he was hoping, but I respected the attempt, nonetheless. It cooled my blood, in a way.

"Nothing that pertains to our deal," Drakon added resolutely.

I didn't have the patience to deal with an uprising, not after we'd already done his dirty work. We'd made it too far for that.

"I would hope not. The last thing either of us wants after the death of Kri'Valta, is another enemy," I said, waving toward the door, keeping a tight leash on the Flame as he nodded.

The clench in his jaw told me he wanted to do more, to bite back with an insult of his own, but we both knew who would win that fight.

He was smart enough to hold his tongue.

"Come, we have business," I said, turning around, knowing he'd follow.

"And I'm in the middle of something," he snorted, but still obeyed my order, the one he'd called Aldric close behind, with the black-haired Enforcer right on his heels.

"I wasn't asking, Drakon," I added, as I checked my watch, reading the time. An hour before midnight. "If I call, you follow. "

"Jesus, you need to let off some steam or something," he retorted, the sound of a door closing behind us. "Anyone ever told you that you're fucking insufferable?"

I didn't give him anything else, eyes on the time as it glared back at me from my wrist.

One hour to hell.