Page 50

Chapter Fifty

Calix

“Okay.” Asteria drew the word out, and I could feel how unsure she was. I was still shocked to find out an entire god was erased from our history. And despite their words of reassurance, I struggled to see what made us truly different from the Vampyres.

I’d heard the stories about them, of course. Where they’d run through villages, destroying every creature in their path, leaving nothing behind but desiccated bodies drained entirely of blood.

What about my bloodlust was different? I’d worried since the moment I realized that my bloodlust during battle extended to drinking Asteria’s blood, no matter how natural it felt in the moment. But I didn’t doubt the gods— could not .

If mates were always supposed to share blood, and we’d just lost that knowledge along the way, then that explained a great deal of my draw to her veins.

I wanted to lose myself in her entirely, blood and magic, and most especially, body. I would take any and every part of her I could.

With whatever was to come, we’d need whatever extra strength sharing blood could give us. I wouldn’t lose Asteria because of my own fears. I refused to let the monster inside of me hurt her, and I was determined to make sure she lived through this war if it was the last thing I did.

“It takes several blood-sharing sessions to cement the bonds between mates. You have one left to complete. You two must share blood when you return and cement the bond fully. Tie off the bow on the threads of fate that connect you. Then, and only then , can you go fight this war. But beware, our children. Should Cyrus win, chaos will reign—as will Cruach.” Earendel said gravely, leaning forward on his throne as his eyes flared with light. “Every blood sacrifice Cyrus makes strengthens Cruach. It’s given him an opportunity to escape that he should never have gotten. Should he get out of his prison, the balance will never recover. Nor will your world.”

A dark chill went up my spine. Everything I’d been working toward was at risk. Should chaos reign, and this god escape, we’d lose everything, forever .

“Cyrus has been overtaken by chaos to such a degree, that he does not realize Cruach’s manipulations,” Erebus added, his gaze as dark as the rest of him. “Cruach has always been able to manipulate dreams, a gift he passed onto his creatures,” he sneered in disdain. “Cyrus’s delusions of grandeur are only hastened by Cruach’s touch.”

“His influence feeds Cyrus’s own rage and lust for power,” Asteria told us softly. “His own anger toward us is vast, if entirely misplaced. He has turned on us because his magic faded, which was a direct result of his own actions. Should the balance sway too far either way, the magic weakens in your realm. It was created in balance, and in that balance, it must continue. Or risk becoming something… other .”

“Cyrus believes we have caused the loss of his magic, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.” Earendel smiled sadly. “We cannot alter the fundamental rules of the universe, not without dire consequences. But Cruach’s own anger, his desire to kill us and take over, has infected Cyrus as well. Fueling him toward even more hate and chaos.”

“Nox,” I swore, running a hand through my hair, before cringing and looking to the patron god of Night with an apologetic look. His amused smile made me feel better, at least.

“Wait, you said if the balance sways too far either way ?” Asteria asked, stepping forward slightly, her head tilted to the side. “What does that mean? I thought we only had to worry about it moving toward chaos?”

“Balance is just a harmonious in-between,” Asteria explained, her starlight eyes swirling in a hypnotic manner. “In between chaos and order.”

“What’s wrong with order?” I asked, confused. Wasn’t that what the balance offered?

“Should you ever experience pure order, with no chaos, you would see quickly why it’s not something we want,” Nox spoke, and I turned my head to face him again, our eyes meeting in a clash I felt reverberate down to my bones.

I was only shaken out of the stupor it left me in when Asteria asked, “Okay, so we kill Cyrus, save the balance, and stop Cruach?”

The gods tittered around us, and I had to remind myself not to bristle in defense of my mate. These were the damn gods themselves, not a courtier I could put in their place.

“You expect such a task to be easy?” Arawn drawled, a narrow bone index finger tapping on the arm of his throne. “Prophecies are not things to trifle with, girl. And ones like yours are not given unless the circumstances will be dire indeed.”

Asteria bristled, her eyes narrowing on the god of death the moment he called her girl. I put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her, reminding her we couldn’t win that fight.

She slumped back against me, and I hated to see the fight leaving her. As much as we couldn’t direct it toward these particular beings, I did love to see her when her blood ran hot.

“Your guardians will continue to watch over you and help us keep an eye on you in your realm.” The goddess Asteria said with a bright smile that made starlight expand out behind her.

“Our guardians?” I asked, head cocked to the side.

“Well, Asteria’s guardians,” she corrected, looking at my mate. I did the same and watched her eyes widen in shock.

“Luna and Zhu?” she asked in a gasp. I wasn’t sure who she was referring to at first, until I remembered that she’d called the dragon who was in our shared dream space Luna.

“Yes. But that’s enough about that for now,” Earendel insisted, despite Asteria looking like she was about to argue with him. Clearly, there were facts they didn’t want us to know. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It was ingrained in me to follow the gods without question, but if important information was being kept from us…

“You must cement the bond quickly upon your return. There will not be much time before you are needed to take the battle to Cyrus,” Erebus insisted, looking between us like he could will us to follow his direction.

“But before you can return, Asteria, please remove your necklace,” Earendel asked, the white light of his eyes intensifying for a moment, though his voice remained kind.

Asteria’s hand flew up to her neck, where the necklace from her mother, depicting our soulmark, resided. Since she stopped hiding it from me, which thinking back was utterly adorable of her, she rarely took it off.

“My necklace?” she asked, hesitantly. “Why?”

Nox, I hoped the gods forgave us for all the questions we asked. My father would have punished me severely if he saw the pushback I’d given the gods today.

“We will return it, Asteria.” The goddess of the stars reassured her with a twinkling smile. One of the women who’d been sitting in the first row of seats before the celestial gods’ thrones stepped forward, waiting for Asteria to remove her necklace. Her bright pink hair and eyes were striking, as was her barely-there dress. I averted my eyes as she walked forward, not wanting to accidentally see anything I shouldn’t.

The dress was made of a flowing fabric, cut with two dangerously high slits up to her thighs that left a lot of leg bare. While the top half was bunched at the shoulders, a string of pearls laying across them and dangling down her arms. The fabric panels of the top went straight down, covering her breasts but leaving an extremely deep V that showcased even more bare skin.

Wait …

The power pulsing off her read as divine. Not one of the beings from our realm, but a member of the lesser pantheons, then. There was a hierarchy of the different pantheons, with our gods on top, of course. The gods the Elves prayed to came next, followed by the Dryads, and then the Pixies. The power of the gods lessened as they went, and judging by the power I could feel off this one, it had to be one of the goddesses the Elves prayed to.

I could only imagine Azurill’s face if I told him I had met one of his gods. As the High King of Gemaria, we’d met many times over the years at different functions, forging a friendship between kings that extended into a lucrative trading partnership. Now, we remained in constant communication regarding the balance and how the situation may affect our entire world. I was due to send him an update— overdue really. Asteria was nothing if not distracting. I’d have to make a note of that for when we returned.

I hoped we wouldn’t have to call for aid, but I was leaving the option open. I’d have to let Asteria know what to do, just in case. One could never be too careful when it came to battle plans and backups. That was one of the first things Titan had taught me about planning a battle. Always have a backup, because no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

I watched Asteria hand her necklace over, nervous and twitchy about letting it go. The Elven goddess smiled kindly at her, laying a hand over her forearm. The faintest flicker of power licked over her, and Asteria calmed immediately, smiling back.

The goddess handed the necklace to Earendel, and he, Erebus, Asteria, Nox, and Hyperion all stepped off their thrones to gather around his outstretched hand. I had to squint my eyes as their power flared. It was obvious their true power was too much for even Fae eyes to take in wholly. They were toning things down for our benefit, surely.

Strands of white light and golden sunbeams, liquid darkness, and black shadow, all accented by twinkling silver starlight, surrounded the necklace, sinking into it and lifting it into the air. Their lips moved, but I couldn’t make out a word of what they were saying.

Asteria hid her face in my shoulder, and my hand automatically found the back of her head. I buried my own face in her hair as the light flared brighter and brighter, until my options were to look away or risk my sight.

I could still see the aura of their power with my eyes closed, and only dared to look up once the radiance finally passed.

Asteria stepped down off the dais then, and came to stand before my mate, handing her the necklace back. I helped Asteria reclasp it around her neck as Erebus explained what they’d done.

“This necklace has been infused with our power now. It will allow you to find the gates to the Underworld at any time. You won’t have to worry about your father showing you how to access the one for Elysium in Day,” he paused for a moment, looking between us. He seemed strangely sad, maybe regretful even, before he continued.

An ominous feeling came through the bond from Asteria, echoing my own.

“It will also allow you to access knowledge when you need it from those of us connected to you directly by blood, whether from birth or bond. Not quite like a seer, for that is not a gift we can give, but when it is most needed, knowledge will come to you. Do not resist it.”

Asteria looked at me uncertainly, and I shared in the foreboding feeling with her, hoping against hope the knowledge would only help, and not hurt her. I’d seen Liviana torn up by her visions too many times to dismiss what knowledge from the gods could cause. The goddess of stars reached out and grasped my mate’s hands, squeezing them in a reassuring manner.

“You must prepare yourself for what is to come, my little starling.” The goddess smiled sadly, silver eyes swirling slowly, just as her silver dress fluttered around her legs in a nonexistent wind. “And remember, Asteria, that while it is always darkest before the dawn, you were made to shine in darkness.”

The two Asterias looked at one another, both of their eyes swirling with starlight. For a brief moment, I could have sworn Asteria’s dark hair twinkled with starlight as well, but it must have been a reflection of the goddess’s starlit hair in her own beautiful tresses that reminded me so of the night sky.

Everything we had learned about Cyrus and Cruach was certainly concerning. Cyrus was farther gone than even I realized, and if Cruach was affecting him from inside his prison, I dreaded to think what he could accomplish if he was freed.

None of us would be able to oppose him. If we tipped toward chaos completely, we’d lose even our most basic defenses. Our magic would dry up, leaving us nothing but slaves to a mad god.

A chill went through me, and my eyes locked with Nox’s. He stood, his hair a bright silvery-white, not dissimilar to mine, and yet completely so. Where my hair remained a flat color, Nox’s glowed like the moon. His eyes were as dark as night, but they had a familiar Aurora striking through them. His features were so similar to mine and yet so different. So much more .

“The power of two is always greater than the power of one,” Nox said, his hand landing on my shoulder heavily. “The night is the darkness that the stars are meant to shine against.”

His eyes were drawn to the goddess Asteria, and I recognized the depth of emotion from staring at my own Asteria. “What is to come will test the realms. And everyone in them. Be as solid as the night sky. The give and take of your bond will build a better future for all. Do not let chaos and death be the legacy of the future.”

“Of course.” I nodded deeply, practically a bow, and Nox smiled slowly. He nodded back once before he made his way over to who was clearly his own mate, standing to the side as she spoke to the beneficiary of her power.

“Let’s get you two back to where you need to be,” Erebus said, a heavy finality in his tone. Earendel and Asteria joined us as we made our way out. I took one last look at the gods, especially Nox, unable to believe this had actually happened.

The very beings I prayed to all my life. Right in front of me.

The tall, dark, curling horns on Faunus to the green, flowering hair of Florus. The bare-chested and leather-pant-clad form of Hedone, who winked at me, as the red-haired and white-eyed Ziva pulled him along by the hand. Anann’s giant form, with his double-ended blade on his back, loomed over Vakare’s, with her ombre hair that shifted through orange, peach, pink, and purple. Hyperion’s golden eyes and hair shone brightly, like a miniature sun, while the wavy, watery blue of Nammu’s was a peaceful respite.

Asteria took my arm, smiling up at me as we walked out. I grasped her tightly, almost afraid to leave this place where she was safe .

Out there, we were going back to a battle that would define the future of the realms.

I had no idea what Cyrus had been doing in our absence. Or how long we’d even been gone.

“Is there nothing else you can tell us? To ensure we win this battle?” I asked Erebus, hoping against hope there was something that would tip the scales.

He looked back at me sadly, shaking his head. “Some things cannot be taught. They can only be lived.”

“But to live, we first have to survive,” I argued carefully as we made our way out of the palace and down the path. I couldn’t help but look around, with so many creatures flying and grazing outside. Not merely dragons, phoenixes, and Pegasus, but more I couldn’t even identify.

Erebus chuckled, pointing up at one of the dragons flying overhead. “You see these creatures?”

I nodded in confusion, and he patted my shoulder. “You have their spirit, but they are pure animal, while you are of us. A mixture of god and beast, creating a new, perfect creature.”

“The Fae,” I clarified, and received a smile in return.

“The Fae.” Erebus nodded with satisfaction. “One of the best things about us, god or child of the gods, is we all work according to the stirrings of fate. Destiny is written in the stars, after all. And what are the stars but pure chaos?”

“I don’t understand.” I shook my head gently, not following what he was talking about.

“Neither do I,” Asteria mumbled mutinously from beside me, making Erebus and I both smirk at her sass.

“You will learn. That is the important thing.” Earendel added, his eyes flaring an even brighter white as he stared at us eerily.

“You will find the way forward. Remember what I told you, Asteria. And fight for the future you want to build,” Asteria said, her silver starlit hair bouncing behind her as she walked beside my mate.

We came upon the portal faster than I thought we would, and a brief spike of panic went through me. I wanted to ask a million questions, receive a million answers. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that was coming to an end.

“We have given you all you need,” Erebus assured me.

“Become the Star Queen and Night King you are meant to be. The prophecies that fate weaves always prove themselves in the end.” Earendel reached out and cupped Asteria’s cheek. “You carry the hope of the gods with you. Carry that fact like a torch through the darkness, to light your own inner flame.”

“Thank you, Your Majesties.” Asteria bowed her head, and I echoed her, grasping her hand as we faced the portals.

With one last look back at the gods we prayed to, but who were somehow looking to my mate and me as hope for the future, we stepped through the portal back to Tartarus. Preparing ourselves for the journey back home.

And the monumental task that waited.

* * *

I was shocked to find none of the obstacles we faced on our way here in place as we started our trek through Tartarus. Our path was smooth, and I didn’t trust it for a moment. Asteria was looking around anxiously as well, until she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

“Asteria? What’s wrong, my réalta?” I asked, trying to figure out what was happening.

Her head cocked to the side, and she looked to the right. She slowly walked over, her starlight spilling out of her as she did.

“There’s something here,” she murmured quietly.

The rock wall beside us looked solid, and I was beginning to get a bit concerned. Suddenly, she funneled a huge blast of starlight through the rock. It tunneled straight through it, creating a perfectly rounded arch that stretched out before us. I could just barely make out a light coming from the other end.

“Come on,” she urged, grabbing my hand and trying to pull me in.

“Asteria, we have no idea where this leads. We should follow the original path back,” I cautioned, not wanting us to get stuck halfway across Tartarus in the wrong direction. Too many things here were not meant for us. I didn’t want to stumble upon a monster we couldn’t defeat when so much was counting on us back in Celesterra.

“Do you trust me?” she asked, turning to look at me. Her sky-blue eyes shone with the stars, and I could see the sincerity in them. The faith that this was the right choice. It pulsed through the bond, and I found I could do nothing less than have faith in her in this.

“You know I do,” I told her quietly, lifting a hand to her chin and raising her head to mine for a kiss. It felt like it had been forever since I’d had her, and I was anxious to get back and cement the bond between us as the gods had instructed.

“Then come on.” She smiled playfully, and her starlight circled around her, touching down on her hair, which looked darker in the light of Tartarus, and making it shine like the night sky again. I smiled at the sight, fingering a lock of her hair. There was nothing better than seeing my home reflected in her.

She was home, truly.

I let her pull me down the newly created tunnel, her light illuminating our way. Before long, we came to the end, and I was shocked to step out and see the portal that led back to Tairngire. I recognized the fork in the path we had found when we emerged, and from this angle, the portal was wholly different from the others we’d seen here.

This one was surrounded by star opal, and inside the black liquid-looking smoke were flashes of purple, green, and pink, like the Aurora through the night sky.

“Told you.” Asteria smiled impishly, and I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help my smile.

“Well, by all means, let’s get the Tartarus out of here.” I raised a brow and pulled her forward.

We stepped through the portal, and after a moment of being encased in its mists as they slipped across our skin, we were standing in the bowels of my palace once more.

I couldn’t help the laugh of relief I let out. I could feel it shared between us as I looked at my Asteria, my mate . I couldn’t help the wonder I felt at the sight of her. I cupped her cheek and lowered my head to kiss her fiercely.

“You truly are the light that will guide our way,” I whispered as I pulled back. She stared up at me with star-filled eyes and shook her head.

“You think I’m the light? I think you forget I’m the kind of light that only shines amidst the darkness. Without you, I’d be lost,” she insisted, reaching up and sneaking her hand into my hair, her thumb caressing my cheekbone as she used her hand’s position to force my lips back to hers.

My hands gripped her waist, and I tried not to let myself get too distracted. I desperately wanted to throw her down on the ground and rip her armor to shreds to get to her body. To sink myself inside her and feel at home again.

But I wanted to do this properly—and comfortably. I wanted her in my bed, where I could lose myself in her for hours without a care in the world. And to do that, we first had to get upstairs and past everyone else.

“The faster we get upstairs, the faster I can get you naked,” I mumbled between our kisses.

“Hmm.” She hummed, considering. “Good point. I need to get at this beast as quickly as possible.” She grabbed my cock, gripping it through my leather pants, and made me groan as she squeezed.

She cackled with laughter as I grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly through the palace, nearly running to get up each level.

We made our way past the treasure room, up and past the Hedone room, until we finally got to the main level. And, of course, Ilta was coming down the hall right as we appeared.

“You’re back!” she shrieked, and threw herself at the two of us, hugging us both tightly. I would have made fun of her for it if I hadn’t felt her trembling.

We all knew there were risks involved in our journey. I couldn’t imagine how they felt having to just sit around and wait for us.

“You’re both okay?” she asked, voice suspiciously damp as she pulled back to look us over.

“We’re fine, Ilta,” I reassured her with a small smile. She searched my face to make sure I was telling the truth, and Asteria nodded to reassure her as well. “We’ll have to arrange a meeting with everyone. But tomorrow morning. Asteria and I have other plans to see to right now.”

Asteria snorted, trying to hide a giggle, and Ilta slowly smirked, raising her brows. “Well, far be it from me…”

Asteria let out a full laugh, and with Ilta’s permission, I grabbed Asteria and threw her over my shoulder, zipping upstairs to my room as fast as my Fae speed would take me. My mate’s laugh ringing out down the halls like music to my ears.

I burst through the door to my rooms, making straight for our bedroom. A fact I felt a complete thrill over. I couldn’t wait for all of this to be over so we could just live our lives together. Waking up slowly and falling asleep in each other’s arms. After tiring ourselves out from hours of sweaty, bloody sex, if I had my way.

My fangs lengthened at just the thought. Asteria bounced as I threw her on the bed, my hands immediately going to undo her corset. Her own hands eagerly ripped at my armor in return, and we began racing to try to get the numerous pieces undone and on the floor as fast as possible.

My fangs were literally aching at the idea of what was to come.