Page 54

"I'm right here, darling," he whispered, the words not his own.

The room stilled, an icy chill settling over us.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The sound of heels echoed across the marble, sharp and deliberate.

Pasnia.

I turned to the throne slowly, my lungs frozen, unable to breathe as I laid eyes on her.

The Goddess of Madness strolled into view casually, her movements unhurried, exuding an air of absolute control.

Her crimson hair spilled down her back in flawless waves, a stark contrast to her alabaster skin.

She wore a sleek black silk gown that clung to her figure, the neckline plunging daringly low, and a small pouch hung from a belt at her hips.

She grinned, her eyes pinning me in place—cold, calculating, and brimming with malicious glee.

“That's impressive,” she purred, nodding towards the guards still held motionless under my power.

Her voice was as smooth and sweet as poisoned honey.

Slowly, she lowered herself elegantly to the throne, crossing one leg over the other.

Then, with a languid motion, she reached behind the shattered throne and withdrew a massive tome.

The Book of the Gods.

It's power rolled through the room in oppressive waves, nearly driving me to my knees .

“I’m more impressive,” Pasnia whispered with a sly smile.

Then everything went to hell.

The guards turned their weapons on themselves, their screams piercing the air as they crumpled to the floor in pools of their own blood.

“No!” My voice cracked, raw with desperation, as the room descended into madness.

Pasnia didn’t even glance at the carnage.

Her focus was solely on me. And suddenly I was aware of her magic rushing toward me.

Pointlessly, I threw up my arms as if that would do anything to stop it.

Her power pressed against my mind, dark and insidious, threatening to overwhelm me.

I struggled against it, the feeling of it so much more invasive than the interrogation of a Truthseeker.

It was faster, harder, deeper than anything I'd ever felt before.

Even as I pushed her away with all my might, with all my magic, she kept sliding closer and closer.

It took only a touch of her magic against my mind to know that while I may be a Goddess, I wasn't strong enough to fight her.

I wasn't even close to matching her power.

Which meant we weren't going to win this fight.

“Run,” I whispered to Iris.

Her eyes flashed in horror, as she realized what I already had.

I was going to die in this room.

I just hoped I could give her enough time to escape. As I turned back to Pasnia, golden light suddenly flaring in my palms, warm and glowing. I had only a second to marvel at this new manifestation of my magic before I hurled it at the throne, shattering it into a thousand glimmering fragments.

But she was already gone.

“I think your friend should stay,” her voice rang out, dripping with mockery .

I spun, my heart lurching. Pasnia stood behind Iris, a blade pressed to her throat. The Book of the Gods dangled carelessly under her arm, as though it were only there as an afterthought.

Iris struggled, but Pasnia didn’t flinch.

“In fact,” Pasnia mused, her tone light and cruel, “I think all your friends should join us.”

The ballroom doors groaned open again and a swarm of guards dragged in the battered, bloodied forms of my friends.

Clay stumbled forward, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead. Rankor’s eye was swollen shut. Kent—

Kent wasn’t moving.

Two arrows protruded from his stomach.

“Kent!” I screamed, my magic catching his body as the guards threw him mercilessly to the ground. I scrambled to his side, my hands shaking as I pressed them against his wounds.

Blood coated my fingertips, flowing out of him too rapidly.

I wasn’t a healer. I couldn’t fix this.

He was going to bleed out right in front of me and there was nothing I could do.

A sharp yank on my hair tore me backward, and I cried out as Pasnia’s laugh echoed through the room.

“Lower the Veil!” she whispered into my ear.

Her hand twisted cruelly in my hair, pulling me further back. I clawed at her wrist, desperation tightening my throat.

“No,” I insisted through a locked jaw.

She snarled and threw me backward. My shoulders slammed into the ground, but I barely had time to breathe before she grabbed a sword from a guard and swung it sharply toward Kent.

“Lower it, or he dies,” she hissed .

I didn't dare meet the eyes of my friends. I couldn't. Tears blurred my vision as I pushed myself to my feet. My whole body trembled, caught in the impossible choice before me, but the word came out firm, steady, even as my heart broke.

The fate of the Mortal Realm was at stake. Kent would understand.

“No.”

Pasnia stared at me, incredulous, before a cold smile spread across her face.

“Fine. Her, then.”

She spun, pointing the blade toward Iris. the tip of it pressing into her belly.

“Thea, don’t,” Iris growled, struggling against the guard who held her in place.

" Thea, dont," Pasnia mocked in a high-pitched voice. "Lower it!"

I swallowed hard, my mind spiraling, and salty tears flowing easily now.

It was an impossible choice, one I'd never wanted to make. I’d already watched one friend die because of me. I couldn’t bear to watch them all die before me.

But it wasn’t just my heart at stake.

“No,” I said again, louder this time.

Pasnia tilted her head, her crimson waves catching the dim light. She sighed as if bored. “Stubborn little thing, aren’t you? I suppose you get that from your father.”

I braced myself for the bloodshed, for the loss, for the screams. For the briefest moment, I closed my eyes.

But there was no scream.

There were footsteps.

Pasnia's steps were slow, deliberate, as she moved toward Clay.

Panic surged through me as she gripped his hair, pulling his head back to expose his throat. The blade pressed tight against his skin. I moved to rush forward but my feet were rooted to the ground, held there by a magic like my own, but so much stronger.

Unbreakable.

“I did all this for Hyrax,” Pasnia said with a wistful smile. “What would you do for the man you love?”

Ice fell over me in steady waves. Clay met my gaze, his expression filled with love, respect, and... resignation.

No.

“Don’t watch,” he commanded.

No.

I couldn't do this.

I wasn't strong enough to watch this.

Pasnia laughed. “You’re taking too long to decide.”

She pushed the blade into his throat and as Clay hissed in pain, as a bead of scarlet blood began trailing down his chest, as I threw everything I had against the magic holding me to no avail…something in me shattered .

“Stop it!” I screamed, my voice cracking as my hands lit up in golden light. The ground began to tremble under my feet. Iris’ eyes widened.

Pasnia narrowed her eyes, lips quirking slightly. She knew she'd won.

“No, I don’t think I will,” she said, moving behind Clay to better position the blade.

To move it into the killing position.

And when all my thoughts centered around him, she finally broke through my defenses and her power poured into me.

Her magic slithered into my thoughts, rapid and invasive until the world around me vanished.

I spun, searching in the dark.

I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t hear Clay anymore.

If she had hurt him …

"You can't stop me," I heard her whisper behind me and I spun, jerking my elbow towards her nose, but there was nothing.

"Let me go!" I demanded.

Then I heard their screams.

I felt their blood pour across my skin.

Their pain reverberated through my very soul.

Time was meaningless. Their deaths came again and again. I heard it over and over. I felt that blood splash over me until I felt like I was drowning it.

I felt the pain of their deaths a thousand times over.

And I broke.

“I’ll do it!” I screamed, the words spilling from me in a torrent of tears. My legs gave out beneath me. “I’ll do it.”

Her magic released me, leaving me gasping and hollow. Pasnia tossed Clay forward like a broken doll, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

I scrambled toward him on my hands and knees, pulling his face into my hands.

“Don’t do this,” he pleaded, his voice raw.

Gently, I brushed my lips across his, pouring all of my love into that one soft touch.

“I can’t lose you,” I whispered, choking on the words. It was selfish, I knew that. I knew everyone would suffer because of this choice.

But Clay chose me over his kingdom.

And I would choose him over this realm if it came to that.

“Enough!” Pasnia snapped, her hand clamping around my arm. Her nails bit into my skin as she dragged me to the center of the room. Clay launched towards me, but a guard stepped forward in Pasnia's place, holding him back. “Lower the Veil. Now.”

I fell forward, hands aching from where I had tore them on the stone outside. Everything ached .

And I was so fucking tired.

I raised my arms, my power trembling at my fingertips. The golden light of the portal shimmered before me, growing wider with each passing second. My friends screamed, begging me to stop. But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

Not when I still had one last trick up my sleeve.

Pasnia stepped closer, her eyes gleaming with triumph. “Make it larger!”

“You’re going to see Hyrax very soon, Pasnia,” I promised her.

Her smile faltered, confusion flashing across her face.

Then I struck. My magic snapped out, coiling around her waist, and I yanked.