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CHAPTER

THIRTY-SEVEN

Oralia

“Take me to my companions.”

The words were not said with anger or fury. Only a moment later did I notice the cold settling over my shoulders, the ice crackling through my chest. Petra gazed impassively at me for a long moment before dipping her chin once and gesturing toward the wall to the far end of the courtyard.

We were silent as she pressed her hand to one of the smooth sections of stone, which gave way in a plume of white smoke to an ornate arch. The courtyard was situated on the edge of the cliffs, deafening waves crashing below. From our vantage point on the rolling green hills, it was easy to see the tiny island from which we had started. The mist surrounding Iapetos could only be seen from the outside, but did not restrict their view from within.

Petra gestured toward a collection of buildings settled at the end of a short, serpentine stone path lined with wildflowers and frothy leaves. The air was fragrant with the scent of meat and spices, mixing with the fresh ocean breeze. As we passed the first few buildings, all gorgeously carved stone depicting the seasons, the stars, and the forests, I noticed a few people milling about inside.

They could have been humans or demigods, though all lacked any true power I could sense. A few wandered within a small building stuffed so full with books even the windowsill was stacked with tomes. In the next, a woman sharpened a blade against a whetstone while another carved into the carcass of a great beast.

“They are not gods,” I observed, peering at one who stood before a loom.

“They are not,” Petra replied. “Humans occasionally end up within the ocean, and sometimes, we decide to keep them. A few are demigods, the results of dalliances between ourselves and those who come to find themselves here.”

Dalliances . Internally, I scoffed at the word but did not reply.

I spied a few instruments through the window of the next building, the curtains drawn save for one. There were only perhaps two handfuls of people, a strange contrast to the lavish buildings surrounding us.

But as we walked, I could not shake the coldness settling into my skin, the icy rage zinging through my skull every few moments. My retribution had not been fed, and my magic was hungry. Even now it was awake, the shadows that usually dissipated after a fight lingered around my shoulders like a cloak.

“Where are the others?” I asked, thinking of the timeless gods Ren had described fleeing after Asteria was imprisoned.

“Waiting for you,” Petra answered, nodding toward the columned doors straight ahead.

At our approach, the doors inlaid with carvings of flowers and stars swung open. It was as Gunthar had described: a great hall , with its glittering white marble floor and towering walls. The roof, however, was not stone, but swaths of gauzy fabric strung from one side to the other. The deep blue sky peeked through the breaks and I could barely catch sight of a taller building beyond.

“Where is Gunthar?” a voice called, deep and resonant.

“I snapped his neck and left him within your courtyard.”

There, in the center surrounded by timeless gods, were my companions. At the sight of them so surrounded, my power roared, shadows flicking out to wrap around those who caged them in. Bodies skidded across the marble, a few hitting the smooth walls while others stumbled. A few I had not touched merely stood in horror as fire flicked from my fingers to surround my companions in a circle, high enough no one could reach them but the heat would not touch my fellows.

Aelestor, Drystan, and Caston stood with wide eyes, their mouths agape. But it was Samarah who called my attention, lips tugging downward as she shook her head. My body vibrated with the fury rushing through me, power sparking like stars around my shoulders. Overhead thunder rolled through the sky, lightning crackling from one cloud to the other.

One god stepped forward, waving blonde hair tied back at the neck, hands raised in supplication. “Peace.”

“I fear I have no taste for it while my companions are bound.”

The god’s blonde eyebrows ticked up. “The only bonds they suffer are yours, Your Grace.”

I blinked, looking back at my companions to see they were, in fact, unbound. All three men carried weapons strapped to them. Caston loosely held Ren’s axe I’d brought with me and thought I’d lost within the waves. But my power did not flicker, not even as Samarah stepped through the fire with a look of sadness etched into her perfect features, her hands upturned as if to receive a child.

She closed the distance between us, palms cradling my face. “Oh, sweetling, this rage is not for you. It is eating you from the inside and will reduce your soul to ash.”

And yet, I could not let it go, not even as the anger roiled inside my ribs, banging against the prison of my heart. I flinched away from her touch, only for her to hold tighter, violet eyes boring into mine.

“They have taken something from me,” I gritted through my teeth. “And I will retrieve it.”

Samarah lowered her face closer to mine, her voice dropping to a whisper. “They did not take it, and nor do they keep it from you. You will have all restored, my darling. All in good time.”

“It was a mistake to allow Gunthar to test her,” another god murmured, hands gathering their messy brown curls atop their head.

“It was a mistake for her to be tested at all,” the god with the blonde hair answered before gliding to Samarah’s side.

“Back, Cato,” she hissed before turning back to me. “Shh, sweetling. They are not a threat to you.”

The blonde god’s blue eyes widened in surprise, flicking between us before they nodded, taking a step back with a hand over their heart as if in supplication. It did nothing to cool me. There was no balm for the burning inside my chest. Sickly sweet, Samarah’s magic slid across my tongue until I wanted to retch, and I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head.

“No, no .”

But when I opened my eyes, Ren stepped between us, midnight eyes glassy as he replaced her hands with his upon my face. His touch was featherlight, like the breeze, but I leaned into it all the same.

“Breathe, my heart,” he said, thumbs stroking my cheeks.

“I cannot,” I gasped.

A murmur slithered through the room, but his wide wings blocked the rest from my view. I could only see him and though I tried to find his scent, there was nothing, as it was when I went to wrap my hands around his wrists only to find empty air sliding through my fingertips.

He was not here, not really.

“I know what it is to give into the fury, to the blood lust. To gather it around you like armor so no light can enter. But this is not your burden to carry alone.”

So I took a breath as his mouth brushed across my brow. My shoulders loosened, and with it, the grip on my magic until the shadows restraining many of the gods in the room vanished, along with the flames.

Ren’s smile was soft, but grief clung to the corners of his eyes as he nodded. “These gods are not your enemies.”

I shook my head. “They abandoned you.”

“But that does not mean they are irredeemable, eshara . Forever is an unfathomable amount of time, and though we grow to be more truly who we are, there is always opportunity for change.” Ren lowered his head until we were eye to eye. “You need them.”

Heat pricked at the corners of my eyes, and his face swam in my vision. “I need you .”

With a nod, he leaned forward to press another kiss to my brow, the feeling like a feather brushing across my skin.

“Not long now.”