Page 48

Azer watched me with a bored stare, his arms crossed over his chest. He had the same twist to the corner of his lips that my mother used to, the one when she was amused but didn't want to show it.

He huffed when I lifted my arms for the thousandth time, desperately trying to move the Void as he'd been doing. Trying to shift the shadows that lay at our feet, but even as I forced all my effort into them, they didn't move.

My hands shook, and the Void came, just a bit, brushing against my skin. It made the hair stand up on my arms, and I sucked in a harsh breath, trying to keep from flinching away.

I failed, and the Void kept back again, slinking away as my arms dropped.

"You know, darling, I, too, have a strenuous relationship with the Void, truly. But you treat it like it's going to reach out and bite you." Azer clicked his tongue before he flicked his hand, the shadow at his feet seeming to grow before wavering. It came alive under his touch, coming off the ground and condensing into a ball that settled above his hand. "Which, in all fairness, it might , but you don't have to be this skittish."

The mass of Void rolled over his fingers, seeming to play like a little creature as it bounced from one finger to the next. I tried to focus on my own, forcing Osiris's and Than's words to stay close to me. They'd said not to treat the Void like a monster, but that was what it felt like.

"How is this supposed to help Prince?" I mumbled. No matter how hard I tried, the cold brush of the Void still made my skin crawl. That voice in the back of my head came crawling forward, tempting me with things I didn't want to do.

"It would be so easy to let go," it whispered.

"Souls and Void are the same thing at their cores. You could even go as far as to say the Void is a soul. So, theoretically speaking, if you can control the Void, you can hold the pieces of your little lover together. I doubt for long , but you might be able to buy yourself a day or two." Azer dropped his hand, the shadow that had been there moving to dance around his head instead. "Either way, you need to accept it. Your powers are built in the Void; there's no escaping it."

"What I'm hearing is that you don't actually know," I said, letting my hands drop to my sides. They ached, my muscles screaming at me as I finally let them relax. My fingers were tense, and flexing my hands hurt.

Azer snorted, walking toward me as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "No, I don't. This is new territory for me. Bringing someone back from the dead isn't exactly our realm of expertise, and I'm still trying to figure out how you did it. I'm doing what I can here, to save your boy toy and to get you ready for everything else that's about to come your way."

I knew that. I hated that even knowing didn't make it any easier to reach for the Void.

"Are you always this much of an asshole?" I asked, and Azer's eyes rose with mocking surprise.

His mouth fell open, and he cupped his jaw. "Darling, if you think this is an attitude, you should see me without sleep. Which we are getting dangerously close to."

His hand flicked, and in an instant the little dancing blob of shadow that had clung to him turned into a blade. It thinned until I could barely see it, cutting through the open air with an audible slash. It went on, shooting into the Void until it faded from view. He shoved his hands back into his pockets after that, walking toward me, looking over the blank expanse in front of us. He reached up, snapping his fingers, and the Void listened, morphing into a target. "Would it help if I conjured up a dummy? Maybe we could put Sebek's face on it. Or Kri'Valta's?"

His hand touched my head, awkwardly patting me like you might a dog or a toddler in distress. I could practically hear him gagging around a "there there."

"Wasn't Kri'Valta your father?" I asked, and Azer clicked his tongue.

He brushed his hair back, toying with the black chunk that stood out in the vibrant white. His eyes were brandished lavender with flecks of gold, and the sudden broken look on his face took me by surprise.

"Yes, and you'd be ecstatic to know how many times I've imagined killing him. It's become a bit of a wet dream that your devilish little man stole from me," he hummed. He brushed his arm, one now covered in a standoffish white shirt. He scoffed just as shiver bumps lined my arms. "Not that I'm complaining, being that I'm free and all."

The Void itself was cold, but when that chill deepened, I felt it like an extension of my own skin. I was turning before Azer felt it, the familiar chill shocking me.

"It seems we have a visitor," Azer said, just as surprised.

Red danced around, little more than shifting dust in the air, but I could see him. The outline of a body, the flash of a smile that was then lost to nothing.

"Red," I said, equal parts excited to see him and terrified, but the Void didn't seem to be plucking at him. It wasn't trying to drag him away.

Azer looked at the dust with mild interest. He didn't reach out to touch it, luckily, but I still tensed when he leaned forward. "Odd. Seems he's just a fragment, too small for the Void to take. I doubt it even sees him."

Red shimmered, and a flash of annoyance filled the air. Just as quickly, his emotions wavered, dashing between several over just a few seconds. Azer snapped his fingers. "This gives me a wonderful idea! Sit."

He didn't wait for me to do so, sinking to the ground in front of me with his legs crossed, his hands planted on his knees. I did the same, facing him.

We'd been at it for a while, a long while, but the actual time wasn't something I could place. It moved so much differently here, and I wondered what time it would be in the real world when I finally left.

"All right, here's what I need you to do," Azer started, closing his eyes and tipping his head from side to side. "Take a deep breath and imagine looking at your soul through a window. Imagine being just close enough to touch."

His hand extended out in front of him, and he took a deep breath. A glowing light started in the center of his chest before it expanded, eventually around him, then around me. It shimmered, with flecks of gold and black all stitched together in perfect harmony. The black battled with the gold, the hints of his heritage shining in the powerful slashes that came barreling off the gold edges, just for the power to be absorbed by the black. Demon meeting Reaper.

"Lovely, I know. I have quite the beautiful soul," Azer mused, his eyes open again, focused on me. "Give it a try."

I nodded, tensing my hands on my knees as I closed my eyes and tried to take level breaths. It was like meditating with Eirik all over again, the overbearing weight of the Void a distraction I couldn't rip my thoughts away from. I tried and failed to imagine what he'd said.

Even when I got close, it was like my soul revolted, shying away, shrinking in my chest. Sweat gathered on my forehead as I opened my eyes.

"This is going to be tougher than I thought," Azer mused. "Your soul is a mess, baby Imperial. Though, you did tie yourself to someone and ripped it apart to bring him back from the dead. Guess this is the best I can get."

"What else can we do?" I asked, letting my fingers go slack as they ached from how tightly I'd clenched them.

Azer grinned, bowing his head with a flourish. "Lucky for you, I should be able to pull it forward, and we can see what we're working with."

He reached out his hand, the majority of his arm covered with the cloth of his shirt, but it pulled back enough to see the golden runes that sat against his skin. They glowed, pulsing slightly, bringing attention to the scars that were buried inside of them.

I didn't comment on it, just took his hand, slowly. He flinched when we touched, before he relaxed into it. One second his soul danced around us; the next, mine was dragged out of my chest.

It sucked the breath right out of me so fast I couldn't even scream, the pain so focused I could feel the rush of unconsciousness in the black spots that danced in my eyes.

"Sorry about that. It's never quite as nice doing it to someone else," he said, completely unbothered by my shaking hand as he let me go. I glared at him, intent on giving him a piece of my mind, when I realized he was no longer looking at me.

He looked around the Void, to the soul that surrounded us. It was black, like his had been, mixed with a rolling, snapping red that I guessed was the Vampire half of me. Where his was an easy mix, mine was fractured. Huge fissures broke it apart, bits and pieces flaking off, others completely unmoving, as if dead.

"Holy hells," Azer whispered, running his hand through his hair as he searched my soul. "How are you alive?"

It may have been a question, but it wasn't one directed at me, not really. My soul jolted every few seconds, as if trying to find a bridge. Some bits stuck together, only to rattle violently apart.

"What are these gaps?" Azer asked as he reached out to the gray spaces that tied everything together.

"My memories, the ones I haven't gotten back yet," I guessed, and Azer nodded, moving around to the next odd piece.

A red flowing mass that differed from the Vampire side of my soul. It was rowdy, almost flashy, as it stuck to the other bits. The way it moved, the way it breathed, the gentle warmth I got from it when I reached out to touch it.

"And I take it this is …" Azer said, not finishing as I nodded my head.

Where my soul was fractured, that piece did its best to hold it together, a stitch that kept things at least mostly contained.

"Prince," I whispered. "That's Prince."

It wasn't the only odd piece, as I lingered on another stretch of black, this one seemingly frozen, skating along the edges of the other bits. The Void . It was almost the exact same flowing black as my soul, which made it hard to recognize at first, but I knew it wasn't me. It solidified what Davi had said before, when I'd watched my mother bring back my father. The Void had been a part of me for centuries.

"Damn, this is a lot to unpack," Azer said with a whistle. "A person's soul is a mix of their entire life. Every memory, every moment. You shouldn't have this many lifetimes."

So much of my soul was made up of blank spots, memories I hadn't yet gotten back. Memories of a life that seemed fake. How many were good? How many would leave me smiling afterward? I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

I wasn't sure I had a choice.

"Azer, what would you say if I said I was born here? That I've been around for … as long as you? Maybe longer," I asked, looking to him for guidance when I had none.

A surprisingly serious look took over his face, and he spent time searching my soul, too, his fingers touching the jagged edges as they flowed around us. Red shuffled nervously, wrapping himself around my shoulders.

"Born in the Void?" he asked, shaking his head. The black streak of hair tumbled down over his forehead, and for just a second, his skin glowed, the demonic runes there shimmering forward as he looked me in the eye. "Normally, I'd call you crazy and ask if you'd like a room with a window."

The Void flexed under us, rippling in what felt like a warning. Red grew more agitated, bounding around me now.

"But the Void? It seems to think you're right." Everything settled, and he huffed a dry laugh. "Guess you really are the favorite."

His bitter words echoed as the Void flexed underneath us again, more insistent this time, as though gently pointing me in the direction I should be going, like hands on my shoulders.

"Seems our time is up," Azer said, standing before he reached his hand down to help me to my feet.

I'd been here forever, it seemed like, but I didn't feel like I'd done anything. I was just as lost as I was when I first came here. No closer to a way to stitch Prince back together.

Just the realization that I was somehow more broken than I thought.

"Now stop that. What did I say? The Void takes , Aaliyah," Azer warned. "Don't forget it. We've already been here longer than we should have."

I nodded numbly, taking his hand and letting him pull me to my feet. Red made himself known again, sliding up close to me, passing on comfort as Azer stretched.

"Now, do you remember how to get back?"

"Yes," I whispered, tipping my head forward as I pressed a hand to my chest, searching for my home. I felt them immediately, my wrist tingling where their marks were. I was suddenly more than happy to leave here. I could only imagine how stressed they were after I'd disappeared. I needed to make sure they were all okay.

Prince was sick, Adrian and Fallon were fighting the Call , Osiris was in prison, and Eirik seemed to be in a constant fight with his beast. The fact that they were alone, even with each other, didn't sit right with me.

"Good. I bet your wild hunks are rather upset with your absence." His response was teased with a laugh as he threw his head back.

"Do you know how much time has passed?"

"No idea. You'll find out when you land. Time is a finicky bitch, but if I had to guess, it'll be exactly the time you need it to be. The Void's been kind about it so far," Azer said, as he winked my way, tipping his head in a flourish. "Until next time, darling."

The silver beneath him rippled, his shadow crawling up his body, cinching on his arms and legs, before it dragged him backwards into the floor. Then he was gone.

It didn't take much for me to get out this time, much like a breath as I thought of the others. One moment I was in the Void, staring at the obsidian sky; the next I was breathing in the scent of the sea, wrapped in arms that squeezed almost too tight. The force knocked away my breath as I wrapped myself around Eirik. His heat sank into me, helping to push away the chill that still lingered.

Red was back as well, moving joyfully around the room, and that helped to relax me the rest of the way.

Eirik grunted, his nose burying in my face, his chest rumbling in a deep purr. When he pulled back, his face was sharp. With the extension of his fangs over his lip and his eyes that deep shade of blue, he looked almost cute. I smiled as I reached up, pressing a finger to the sharp point.

I wasn't expecting him to shudder, his pupils growing. He nipped at my finger, playfully toying with it.

"This isn't meditating," he said, the husk of his words accenting the heat in his gaze.

"How long was I gone?" I asked, and he tilted his head, his eyes going crystal clear.

He held me closer, huffing against the top of my head. "I didn't know you were."

The time shift made my head hurt, my entire body feeling the ache that came with it. Yet nothing had passed here. I lifted a hand to my forehead, rubbing the sting away. "I was there for a while, an hour, at least. I should have disappeared, like I did after the ball."

Eirik grunted, "You never left my arms."

At least time slid to a stop, rather than rushing forward. But I felt it, the effects of the Void, the worries Azer had tried so hard to get me to see. It was like my soul ached, a hunger so vicious in my stomach it made me sick.

It takes, and it takes, and it takes.

I'd have to be more careful next time, not to push it too far.

The room grew quiet for a beat before another hand found my back. A second later, my head was being tilted, and my lips were claimed by the fresh press of Fallon's, unyielding as he dominated the exchange, stole every thought I had. The only other thing I could feel was the ache of Eirik's fingers as they dug into my hip.

"Be safe, Ali," he whispered, looking serious in a way that I couldn't help but smile at.

"I'm already back, Fal," I said, reaching up to grab his face again. I kissed him slowly and savored the way he softened against me.

He sighed, sagging into my hold, hugging me as tightly against him as he could while I was still in Eirik's lap. His arms shook, his heart echoing in my ear. "Was it supposed to be that fast?"

I let out a breath. "I don't know. I was there, in person. It was different from the last time I tried to go."

I saw the twitch of fear in Fallon's eyes, his jaw clenching like he was going to push more. Instead, he pressed his forehead to mine. "Proud of you, trouble."

His nickname sank straight to my core as I remembered the weight of him inside of me. I ached to get closer to him and find his lips again. I leaned forward as a whimper rose from my chest, and Fallon's eyes danced with mirthful heat.

I was waiting for the dizziness to wear off when the door swung open. I froze in Eirik's arms, suddenly feeling caught in a vulnerable position, even Eirik's growl picking up. Until I saw who it was.

Adrian was covered in blood, his eyes wide as he looked frantically around the room. The few moments I'd been away seemed to spiral down, and panic swallowed us. I didn't need to ask whose it was.

Pressure, I felt it grow the closer I looked at Adrian's stricken face, the harder I focused on the cool shifts in the air. The presence of a ghost popping in and out of existence.

I hadn't learned anything. I hadn't found a way to fix this … and Prince was still dying.

He snapped out again, hard enough that I felt it in my chest, a wrecking gasp tearing out of me as I began to sweat. It was easier now to find the Void that lingered in the cracks of my soul, just like the pieces of Prince that bound the broken chunks together. I stumbled to my feet, finding Prince halfway through the bedroom door, curled up on the floor.

He gasped, dragging back to his body, arching off the ground. I felt that too, breathing into the pain as I searched … for the bits of me that brought him back.

"Get Mags," I said, wiping the sweat from my brow, leaning on Eirik as he stepped to my side, and another tear ripped through me.

Another chill, another death . There was no way we'd make it even to the First Rights in this state. I reached for my chest, feeling for the parts of my soul that were Prince . He wobbled, the stitches that held me to him just as fragile as the rest of me.

I had to do something, anything .

We were out of time.