Page 30 of This Vicious Dream (Kingdom of Death #1)

Madinia

Eamonn takes off, flying up towards one of the few marble pillars still standing.

Calpharos prowls towards me and I stumble backwards, tripping on a loose piece of marble. I wince as I hit the ground, and Calpharos is suddenly there, hauling me to my feet.

He nuzzles at my throat, and I tremble. “I can scent my power within you,” he whispers. “Calling us both.”

My lungs turn to stone. He knows I took his link to the third grimoire. Which means he knows he needs me to find it.

I don’t hesitate. Twisting out of Calpharos’s hold, I lunge left, rolling free.

Creas chooses that moment to shake the earth again, and Calpharos lets out another roar. I stay low, crawling across the cool marble.

This time, I don’t need a tonic to remember crawling through another temple in an attempt to save my own life.

I half expect to feel Anarthys’s hand in my hair at any moment.

The ground continues to shift and buck, thick, choking dust rising as stone and marble crumbles.

“Madinia!”

I roll just in time to avoid a huge stone column as it slams into the floor, directly where I was crawling.

Eamonn flutters around my head, but I grit my teeth, ignoring him.

Reaching for my link to the third grimoire, I use it to pour power into my flames. They burn as high as Calpharos’s head, a fiery wall between us.

I launch myself to my feet.

And run.

“What are you doing!” Eamonn slams a wing into my face and I duck, still too furious to speak to him.

Calpharos hasn’t yet made it through my flames, but he will. My breaths are sharp sobs, the world spinning around me.

But I make it to Fox, yanking his lead rope free.

Shockingly, the stallion allows me to pull him away from the temple.

“Don’t do this, Madinia.” Desperation coats Eamonn’s voice, and I have no doubt that if he could shift into a larger animal, he would be attempting to prevent my escape.

“Calpharos,” a feminine voice calls, and I go still.

That voice.

“Get down,” Eamonn hisses, and I drop to the ground, Fox carelessly munching on the grass next to me.

Several soldiers march from behind the temple. One of them carries Vicana’s flag.

My mouth goes dry. We’re sheltered behind a few trees, but it wouldn’t take much for someone to see us.

The soldiers part, and I catch sight of the witch first. Despite her rounded shoulders and stooped posture, Bridin walks with a spring in her step.

Behind her, the queen glides toward the temple. She’s wearing a long, crimson gown, a ruby-studded crown encircling her head.

My body turns hot and then ice cold.

I know that face.

“Eamonn.” My voice trembles as my mind attempts to understand what I’m seeing. He lands on my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me Vicana was the goddess who killed me?” I stare at Anarthys, bile burning up my throat.

Eamonn’s voice is a shocked whisper. “I didn’t know. I’ve never seen her face before. This should be impossible.”

It makes sense now. Calpharos’s sister is still working with Anarthys. She attempted to slow him down, buying time for the goddess to reach this temple.

I’m not sure how Anarthys ended up in this world, but I’m not surprised that she made herself a queen. She always loved being worshiped.

Something dark and possessive spills through me at the thought of the bitch-goddess touching Calysian. I can’t forget her black poison from the bolt at the lake, or the way a mere graze with that poisoned bolt sent Calysian into unconsciousness.

But he’s not Calysian now.

He’s Calpharos.

It takes everything in me to watch as Vicana and the witch step into the temple. But I do it.

And then I swing myself into the saddle, nudging Fox into motion.

“What are you doing? You’re truly leaving him?” Panic coats Eamonn’s voice, but I block him out. I half expect the demon horse to throw me from his back. Instead, he breaks into a trot.

“Madinia.” Eamonn flaps his wings, creating a tiny breeze around my head. “Talk to me.”

I can’t even speak. All I can do is hold on to Fox as he moves into a smooth gallop and I attempt to block out the sight of Vicana and Bridin walking into that temple.

I trapped Calpharos with my flames. I practically handed him to them.

The city gates loom in the distance, and relief shudders through my body. It’s enough to help me talk around the lump in my throat.

“Last night, you told me I could take the link to the third grimoire. You didn’t have a plan to get to the second grimoire, because you wanted your brother to take it. And this morning…you could have woken me when Calysian left. But you needed to ensure he had enough of a head start to take the second grimoire. And yet you also needed me to make it here in time to steal his link to the last grimoire.” My voice cracks. “That’s some impressive timing.”

Silence.

I blink back hot tears. “You need Calpharos to have all three grimoires. It’s the only way you’ll be able to get your true form back. You need a god to fix you. Would that mark on my back have appeared if you hadn’t given me my memories back yesterday?”

“I don’t know.”

“I suppose you couldn’t risk it not working. You needed me to at least open that window , didn’t you?”

Eamonn may have helped me steal Calysian’s connection to the third grimoire, but it wasn’t supposed to be a permanent solution. It was supposed to be temporary. Calysian would recognize who I was, I would lead him to the third grimoire, Eamonn would get his true form back, and Calysian would kill Anarthys.

Everyone would be happy.

Except those who lived in this world, when a war between gods inevitably began to tear our world at the seams.

Eamonn lands on my shoulder. I don’t bother shaking him off.

“And what was your plan, Madinia? What’s your plan now?”

A choked laugh is wrenched from my chest. My plan? I didn’t want to take the link to the third grimoire. I wanted to steal the second grimoire and meet Asinia. She would take the grimoire, hide it, and I would find a way to convince Calysian he didn’t need it.

It was a thin plan, but it was all I had.

Now, Calpharos is even more powerful, even as he’s likely fighting for his life.

We make it through the city gates. Eamonn is silent as I ride toward the dock. I dismount, leading Fox toward the bench outside the tailor. But I don’t see Fliora.

My pulse stutters.

“Madinia!”

I scan the dock. A group of fishermen walk past me toward a tavern, jostling and laughing. And that’s when I see her.

Asinia.

Fliora stands by her side, a wide grin on her face as they approach. “She said I could trust her, and that you would be here soon. Why didn’t you tell me you were friends with pirates?”

I let my gaze drift past them, and my breath shudders from my lungs.

Daharak smirks at me. The pirate queen’s umber skin is a little darker, the tiny lines at the corners of her eyes a little more pronounced. Her sleeves are rolled up, one arm still covered in scars from various fae blood vows.

She swaggers toward me, and her smirk widens. “I told you I’d find you.”

Asinia gives her a look. “We found you .”

I launch myself at Daharak and feel her jolt as her arms wrap around me.

“We need to go,” Asinia says. “Since I don’t see any sign of the grimoire, we need to go now .”

“I’m taking Fox. I can’t just leave him here.”

Asinia sighs. “That horse is going to kill someone.”

Shockingly, the stallion cooperates, allowing me to lead him down the dock toward the ship I so carefully ignored just a couple of hours ago. Eamonn swoops around my head.

“You planned this.” His voice is empty. “You never planned to stay with him. You were always going to leave.”

“No,” I grit out. “I would have given Asinia the second grimoire if I’d gotten to it first. And I would have stayed. For him. Calysian made a choice. And now I’m making one.”

“The only thing you’re making is the biggest mistake of your life.”

Wiping my damp face, I take one last look in the direction of the temple.

Last night changed everything for me. I thought it had changed everything for Calysian too. And still, he left me in that bed. He still chose the grimoire.

He did exactly what I expected him to do. And still, I’ll never forgive him.

“What if they killed him?” Eamonn snaps.

“They didn’t.” I know, because if I close my eyes and focus, I can sense Calpharos. I can feel him sprinting toward the city even now. He’s likely using the same power he funneled into the horses the day I almost died. And yet this time, he’ll be the one to kill me if he reaches me.

But it’s not just Calpharos I can feel. I can also feel the third grimoire, my link to it gossamer thin but surprisingly strong.

“I know where the last grimoire is,” I murmur, and Asinia throws her arm around my shoulders. “I stole Calysian’s link to it.”

A low whistle sounds, Demos holds out his hand in an attempt to take Fox’s lead rope from me. Fox snaps his teeth at him.

Demos shakes his head at the horse and leaves him to me. “At least that’s something,” he says. “So the dark god can’t find that grimoire without you?”

“No.”

“Unless he kills her,” Eamonn snarls. “By running from him, she’s made herself a threat.”

“Madinia!” Calpharos’s roar echoes across the dock.

Daharak whips her head to our left, her eyes widening. Demos grabs my arm with one hand, Asinia’s with the other.

“Move!”

Pushy bastard. I yank my arm from him and drop Fox’s lead rope. The four of us take off down the dock toward the ship.

I glance over my shoulder. Anyone stupid enough to get in Calpharos’s way goes flying, and our eyes meet for one brief moment.

My breath catches, and I force myself to run as he roars my name again.

“Do not run from me!”

The dark god is racing after us. Even from here I can see his bared teeth, his murderous expression.

Daharak gives an order, and the ship must have been ready, because the moment we’re up the gangplank, pirates scramble across the deck. The anchor creaks and groans as it’s wrenched from the depths—someone using their power to haul it up faster than I’ve ever seen before.

The gangplank is yanked aboad, and the ship lurches.

Someone hands Asinia her crossbow and she aims at Calpharos.

My heart jumps. “Wait!”

She fires, and Calpharos catches the bolt. He throws it into the water, and Daharak shouts something else I don’t catch.

As one, every pirate who can shield raises their wards.

Calpharos comes to a stop at the edge of the dock. We’re far enough away that not even he can make the jump. But he considers it.

The ship lurches, and I clutch at the railing. Fox trots over to Calysian, and the dark god gently strokes his nose, as if he’s not currently planning my murder.

“Maybe it’s a good thing Prisca is on her way,” Asinia says softly.

Denial flashes through me. “No. Write to her. Tell her to stay in her kingdom.”

“It’s too late for that. If Lorian couldn’t convince her to stay put, we don’t have a chance. I informed her of your plans and she insisted on helping.”

Demos sighs. “Honestly, after what I just saw, I think we need both her, and the bloodthirsty prince.”

“Don’t call him that,” Asinia and I say in unison, and Demos lets out a faint laugh.

Calpharos’s eyes meet mine once more, and I shiver at the dark promise in their depths.

I don’t need to hear his words. I can read his lips.

“I will find you .”

The end.

Thanks so much for readingThis Vicious Dream. I hope you enjoyed it! I wanted to get Calysian's head during that last scene, so I wrote it from his POV as well.