Page 20 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

I watched them both sleep.

My daughter had somehow unwrapped herself from the covers and was sprawled out on the bed like a starfish in a sea of clouds, leaving very little room for her mother who slept soundly on the bed's edge.

Remnant's breaths were slow and soft, a fae deep in satiated sleep, and I was the one who put her there.

I licked at the delicious taste of my soulmate still on my lips with the memory of her screaming in pleasure, a symphony that was the best kind of music. She had collapsed in my arms, exhausted and sated with her monosyllabic speech before falling into a deep rest.

A rest that she needed badly.

As fae, our health regenerated rapidly on its own, but the mind…

that was a different thing entirely. I prayed that the deep sleep overtaking her now would lift the cloud of doubt she was drowning in .

Perhaps then the fears she confessed would ease their grip, the worry in her beautiful emerald eyes tonight—fuck it was almost more than I could bear.

And it had been too goddess damn close to how I had been feeling as well.

Snarling softly, I started to pace the room. With Ethereal gone I had no fucking idea who I truly was, no idea what beast lurked inside me and— if I even had one .

That little fact was something I avoided revealing and I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass with swift retribution, but still I would do it again. Remnant had enough to goddess damn worry about and I was already a big part of that with my lack of god blood.

Fuck Shea.

The death god took her choices and shoved her in a corner to fight her way out without anything to protect herself with. His actions went against every fucked up morally gray fiber of my being, the one thing I never take from anyone—choice.

Dark anger and wild fear seized my chest, squeezing me like a vice that left my breaths shallow.

Still I paced.

I wished that I had my family awake and well with that damn cat buzzing in my ear.

To have some fucking advice or outlet to work my way through this mess we found ourselves in, to find a way to stay at Remnant’s side.

For if she had no choice then I would goddess damn make sure she at least had the tools at her disposal to fight for another day.

My steps faltered.

Slowly I turned to stare at my mate. I always knew she had strength that was superior to any other and her strength ran deep. It never wavered, and I thought—I thought I understood it but what was clearer now more than ever was that I had just scratched the surface in understanding its depths.

The empty ache I felt now, with its hopelessness and fury—Remnant had felt this for fucking years.

Her friends, her family, her love, her life, everything that she had known was stripped from her within seconds.

She had been left shattered, she still was when I finally found her and still—she followed me out of that cabin to live again.

And here I was, fretting like a goddess damn faeling when I had everything I would ever need.

My daughter and soulmate.

I lived them.

I breathed them.

My heart beat, my power flowed, my soul ascended, for them .

The quiet flutter of soft wings had my head jerking up, the sound easy to detect for my shifter ears and the culprit knew it.

Prowling towards it, I stepped outside our lavish rooms and into the corridor.

A long spiral staircase descended down to the ground floor of the tower we slept in and I searched its shadowy alcove.

When the wings ruffled again, I narrowed my eyes on the fluttering sound seeing a small chickadee hop up on a step below.

Chirping once, it took flight, flapping its wings to disappear downward into the darkness.

It wanted me to follow.

Running my hand through my hair, I glanced back. My daughter and soulmate still rested peacefully in their slumber. It was likely my absence would still keep it that way since there was no chance I’d be sleeping tonight, my frustrated prowling only risked waking them up.

Sighing heavily, I stepped down on the onyx glass steps and despite my light footfalls, I felt heavy. An ominous feeling weighing me down with each passing step I took. Every instinct told me to go no further but still the soft chirps and light wings taunted me to follow.

When my feet finally hit the landing, shadows swirled in the dim light to reveal Remnant’s mother. Dressed in fitted leathers, hair unbound…she looked too goddess damn much like my soulmate.

Raising my brows, I addressed her with a short nod, "Lady Eve."

A soft smile fell on her face, "King Daemon."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest with disappointment. I had expected someone else entirely, someone who would appreciate my half nakedness as much as he would appreciate scat on his boots.

Where had that damn chickadee gone?

"Where is your lesser half, the death god?"

Eve's smile widened and she tilted her head towards the doorway, "Walk with me, Emon."

I glanced back up the long glass staircase, still able to hear Riella's soft snores and Remnant's slow breathing. Looking back at her I shook my head. "No. Say what you need to here."

"What needs to be said, what needs to be done, cannot be done here, shifter king.

" Her blue green eyes bore into me, her hand raised at my attempt to protest, "I know that you do not trust him, Emon, but Shea watches over your heart without any selfish intent or intrigue tonight.

Although you have made that task difficult with your most recent choice of activities. "

I smirked. "A little exercise never hurt anyone."

Her eyes narrowed but still glittered with amusement, "Indeed, an interesting choice of exercise…on the balcony, a display for the entire realm to see."

My smile widened. "Balconies have always held a wonderful array of possibilities…I was inspired by the stunning view. Be sure to convey my thanks to the death god for creating not one but two exquisite views for me to indulge upon."

Eve threw her head back with laughter. "Have care, shifter king, one of them is my daughter too. Do I not get credit for at least half of the view?" shaking her head, she waved me forward, her hand extended in invitation.

Sighing, I relented. The heavy feeling returning the moment I took her hand, tucking her arm into me as she led us out of the tower.

"I will not deceive you Emon, son of Asher. Tonight, I am bending the universal laws." Eve's voice carried through the silence of Sheol's night. "I shall accept the repercussions of this decision for I no longer wish to see my daughter suffer.”

I frowned. “I am not entirely sure Remnant would want you to do this then.”

She shook her head sadly while we continued to walk.

“Yes, you are correct with your assumption but my daughter has sacrificed enough for me, it is high time I do the same. Now listen closely, Daemon.” She waved her hand out before her, “I have had a vision of you and my daughter, one that I cannot ignore.

As you stated tonight, visions can often be interpreted in many ways, and mine even more so.

Rarely are my glimpses of the future concrete.

They are more like timelines, feelings—so fleeting that I had learned to not invest too much time worrying over them, usually allowing the fates to play out the future as it should be.

But with Remnant…" she looked away, her voice wavering, "I have made so many mistakes—mistakes that caused her to suffer greatly in my arrogant understanding of my secondary powers and my stubborness in adhering to the rules of the sight. "

I studied the wretched pain etched on Eve's face, full of regret and guilt. "You could not have known, Eve."

She glanced over at me and then back to the silvery path we walked upon.

"Some of it I did. I knew Deirdre would someday harm her…

but to what extent I did not know. I should have never allowed her to stay there.

I should have forced her to break her oath and brought her home.

It was within my power to do so but I thought, in my arrogance, I still had time to guide Remnant away from Deirdre's manipulative clutches. Except it only served to push her further away from me. Newly out of her centum, Remnant was so eager to prove herself and to help her court. Deirdre was also eager but not for the right reasons. She wanted power and my daughter was that power.”

“Until Deirdre realized that she would never be able to truly control Remnant, not in the way she really wanted to and decided to destroy it instead." I snarled into the night and watched a lone ice phoenix blazing across the sky, releasing fiery snow that fell down in front of us.

“Yes.” Eve said simply, watching the ice phoenix snow as well.

"She is not meant to be controlled," I added, reaching out to the icy flakes and closing a tight fist around it with a snarl, feeling it burn my hand with its fierce cold.

When I opened it, the ice remained, but my flesh had been burned.

Blowing softly on my palm, the phoenix snowflake drifted back out to the white sands of Sheol. "She is meant to be unleashed."

Eve studied the snow for a moment before she whispered softly, "You will not make it to The Well Emon…and without you, Remnant will not either."

My lips thinned and I raked my hand through my hair, "I sense an unless…"

She sighed, weaving shadows around the chilling fire and cradling it in her hand softly so it would not burn her, she stared down at it thoughtfully.

As if the past slapped me in the face, I was suddenly struck with the image of my own mother holding a wisp all those years ago as she confessed her worries of the future.

My brows furrowed, Eve and her were not that much different.

Both of them mothers in a dangerous world, searching for ways to protect the ones they loved.

"I should clarify. Your body will not make it…you will succumb to a soulless sleep no matter what path you take. But there is a way for your soul to stay tethered to my daughter instead of going straight to The Well, and in this future the odds are more in your favor."

I shook my head, growling, "I will not forfeit my soul to the death god, your daughter would never forgive me for that."

Eve nodded, releasing the shadows to allow the blue phoenix fire to fall and sizzle onto the silver path.

"What I speak of is not the gift of the last breath.

It is a binding oath of the shadow fae." She arc'd her hand over her head at the stars, the shadows forming a sign of infinity. "Darkness has no beginning or end, it is infinitely connected and each shadow fae binds themselves to a part of this darkness, in your case you would bind your soul to my daughter’s. Your soulmate bond can be destroyed but darkness cannot, through it your soul can continue on at my daughter’s side until your body finally leaves these lands. "

I stopped her from walking forward, my voice cracking with emotion, "You're asking me to take the eternal oath to the shadow fae court? And by doing this, I will ensure my soulmate succeeds?"

Shaking her head, she pursed her lips. "I have never had a clearer vision than that of the consequences of the choices you make tonight, but that does not mean my visions are foolproof." She looked up and studied me through worried eyes, "Daemon, you must know what it will mean if you do this—"

I cut her off, my hand slicing downwards with finality. "I accept."

She pursed her lips again and again the reflection of her daughter was far too akin for my own comfort. "King Daemon, I feel that I must speak plainly about what it is you will be giving up, what you might become—"

I growled low. "I am well aware of what I will give up to make this oath. I still accept." Then I tilted my head, "But I will ask for one favor."

Eve nodded. "I think I know what this request is but whatever it is you ask of me, I will try to grant it."

"I need paper and ink." Sighing deeply, I shook my head, running my hand through my hair again with a growl. "A lot of paper and ink."

Her sapphire eyes ringed with green sparkled and I swore I could see the future unfolding within them. "This will not be an easy path for either of you to take, but I can see now that the fates have chosen well."

"No," I turned and looked upwards at the swirling black tower of glass where my soulmate slept, making out the outline of the balcony extending into the stars, and spotting the chickadee perched upon its railing, "your daughter chose well, the fates had nothing to fucking do with it."