Page 39

Kiara

Not much is known about the Moon God, but he is notorious for his love of dreams, where mortals may experience just a touch of a god’s power.

Excerpt from Asidian Lore: a Tale of the Gods

This wasn’t a temple or a palace.

It was a dream.

I all but floated up the steps, the music luring me closer, urging my pace to quicken.

The longer the ethereal song played, the more weightless I became. I watched myself move forward as if I were hovering above my body, my silk trousers gleaming beneath the radiance of the overbright moon. It was so brilliant and welcoming, demanding my devotion—

Someone hooked their elbow through mine, tugging me into a solid chest. I smelled a familiar earthen scent, and it invaded my mind until it transported me to a memory. A dream of a memory trapped in a blanket of mist.

“Kiara?” I whirled around, finding Jude’s face scrunched in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said too quickly. Just that I’m being seduced by the damn moon.

I could tell he didn’t believe me.

Jude’s hand returned to my waist, his grip firm, his steadying touch grounding me in reality. He didn’t let go as we allowed Emelia to take charge, guiding us up the grand stairway.

Everything felt wrong. I felt wrong. And the worst part was knowing things were about to get worse.

The higher we climbed, the more my pulse hammered in my throat, right beside the delicate ribbon tied there. Cold sweat banded my brow, and I slipped my finger under the satin and gave it a jerky tug. The damned thing was choking me, forcing me to focus on every nervous swallow.

Jude paused and noted where I fought to free myself. He pulled out his blade and gently glided it beneath the fabric. The sharpened tip sliced through, and the gauzy train and black ribbon fell from my shoulders. It slipped down the steps, rippling like water.

I exhaled, swallowing thickly as I clutched my bare throat.

“There,” he murmured, sheathing his blade. “Now you won’t be hindered when you go on a murdering spree.” The corners of his lips quirked, and that heavy feeling in my gut lessened. He was putting on an act for me. One I appreciated.

“There’s something up here!” Emelia shouted, a level above us.

We sprinted up the stairs after her, only to stumble to a halt when our boots struck the seventh - floor landing. It had been demolished, the stairs blocked by rubble mixed with glittering amethyst stones the size of my head. The thief dipped down and swiped a finger across one of them.

“This was recent,” she mused. “Not all the dust has even settled yet.”

“ He knows we’re here, and he may be watching us already.” We had to find the talisman and trap him. If only we knew what it looked like.

Without a path around the debris, we had no choice but to return to the sixth floor.

Our boots thudded and echoed in the circular tower, no one making an effort to maintain stealth. Time was moving quicker than sand in an hourglass. Hells, it was more like water in an hourglass.

We burst beyond the sixth landing and into an antechamber of dazzling copper. It made up the walls, the ornaments, the flooring. The moon’s light didn’t reach this room, and sconces were lit throughout, though they barely cast a steady glow. Darker furnishings decorated the space, though they weren’t polished like the ones on the first floor, a thin coating of dust dulling their shine. I peered around, shivering when I noticed dozens of portraits , all depictions of a man wearing different faces but possessing the same eyes.

Gray irises so light and piercing, I shivered.

Some of the renderings portrayed him in a somber daylight, others cast him in a sheen of moonlight, his face a masterpiece of joy and unattainable perfection.

I noted how his smile lifted more with every illustration as if he had a secret he was finally preparing to share with the world.

Jude lingered by one, a painting of the hooded god, only his eyes visible. He lifted his finger and traced the gray eyes with a frown.

He said nothing as I gripped his hand and pushed on, though he glanced over his shoulder once more. I wondered what he saw that had given him pause. But save for Liam’s ragged breaths, all was silent as we strolled through the gallery, and I was too on edge to break the hush.

I felt watched. Every painting we passed possessed eyes that appeared to follow us, the subject trapped within the frame unnervingly lifelike.

Relief swept through me as we turned a corner into a new hall, this one thankfully devoid of unnerving portraits. Numerous closed doors were erected on either side, all adorned with a silver crescent moon for a handle. Embedded diamonds shined from the metal, their clear radiance in stark contrast with the deep warmth of the copper walls.

The voice of caution I so often ignored urged me not to open any of them, no matter how my curiosity begged. They felt…sacred. And dangerous.

My dark magic lifted in my chest whenever we passed one, like it craved whatever lay on the other side. Another reason I held back.

Frost trickled down my spine and I shuddered. I craned my neck, half expecting someone to be standing behind me. There was no one.

Jude gently nudged me, a question in his eyes.

“Be careful,” I warned, shaking off the sensation of that glacial touch. “I feel like something is in here with us. Watching.”

My words were hardly above a whisper, but Jude nodded and tightened his fingers around mine.

A door lay at the end of the grand hall, and this time, I wasn’t strong enough to ignore its influence. This one lured me with the promise of a new tomorrow.

The knob was reminiscent of a full moon, tiny pieces of opal flecking the otherworldly white stone. The surface itself glowed from within, the chipped gems radiating tiny pinpricks of light across the walls. It reminded me of hundreds of twinkling stars.

My body vibrated with raw energy—we were so close to the Moon God’s inner sanctum, I could practically taste the ancient power of his magic saturating the air.

My shadows flickered at my fingers as if in confirmation.

Undoubtedly, it was a trap, but it didn’t matter. We’d made it this far, and there was no other way but forward.

Jude maneuvered in front of me protectively, earning an eye roll that he couldn’t see. His body was tense, and even through his fine jacket, I perceived how his muscles strained. “Stand back,” he said. Advice that I entirely ignored.

Placing his hand on the knob, he rotated his wrist. Gradually, it creaked open, an ominous screech that had the tiny hairs on my arms rising to attention.

Nothing happened. No demon or monster tumbled out to grab us, no pointed teeth aimed at our throats. Just spine-chilling silence.

I tugged on Jude’s hand. The stubborn man resisted, trying and failing to angle his body before mine. He let out a deep groan of frustration when I sidled next to him. He knew he’d lost.

A hundred heartbeats passed until we walked through.

Purple light the color of the softest Midnight Blooms swathed the enclosure, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. There were no moon or stars above, the domed roof made of lustrous steel blocking our view.

Rather than loungers and elegant tables and chairs, there were piles of silver coins. Among the mortal riches dispersed about were weapons, books, and figurines.

I spotted a bow and a quiver of arrows with Maliah’s crest nearly hidden under a pile of lush fur pelts, the body of the arrows framed by a circlet of the richest red. The pelts themselves were free of symbols, though I couldn’t help but sense a divine quality to them, the luscious brown shifting to russet and back with each new blink.

Arlo’s sigil was branded across some of the nearby books, three stalks of grain sprouting from the underside of a deep V . I could imagine his anger if he’d discovered them here. Arlo had always been protective of his weapons, and books were weapons by themselves.

The Moon God…he’d stolen the sacred tools of his fellow gods. But why?

I spun around to voice my suspicions just as the door slammed shut behind us—

Vanishing entirely into smooth stone as if it were never there at all.

Fuck.

“Don’t just stand there!” Emelia shouted, rushing into action. “Look for another way out!” She flung aside priceless treasures like they meant nothing, and even Finn grimaced when she knocked over a glass sculpture that would’ve gathered a respectable amount of coin.

“Help me,” she snapped, and I’d never seen Liam move as quickly as he did when she cast her trenchant stare his way.

A whirring noise that sounded like pattering rain drowned out my thudding heartbeat.

“Sand,” Jake yelled, pointing a trembling finger to a statue of Silas, the Water God, his wizened face and muscled body framed by stone waves. Behind it, sand trickled out from a hidden spout, the color unusual in the way it shifted shades , from gray to blue to lilac. A lever clicked somewhere out of sight, and more of the sand rushed out and into the space from the other side, knocking over a pile of Arlo’s books in the process.

“We need to get higher up,” I said calmly, even if calm was the farthest emotion from my grasp. Arlo had taught me that showing fear could bring it about in others, and sometimes, a good leader had to be strong for the men they led. Even if it felt damn near impossible.

Twenty feet away, a stack of coins formed a massive mountain of wealth. I motioned in its direction, screaming at my friends to climb. We could figure out a way to get out of here, but not if we suffocated under this sea of sand first.

Jake’s eyes bulged in his head. I practically dragged him over, and even with a not-so-gentle shove onto the pile of coins, he still hesitated to climb.

Jude snatched my hand and forced me higher, his other hand gripping Liam. Whenever my brother stumbled and coins skittered out from beneath his boots, Jude caught him and eased him back into place with a care that would’ve warmed my heart had it not been beating erratically.

“There’s something up here.”

I tilted my head, discovering Emelia already past us all. Damn, she was quick. She’d nearly made it to the top of the pile and was pointing wildly at the ceiling.

I focused my attention on where she directed, finding the oddest sight.

There was a handle fashioned like a crooked star in the very center of the dome above our heads. Surrounding it were crisp seams, the lines forming a rectangular shape.

A door .

Emelia jumped, fruitlessly aiming for the handle, attempting to wrench open the portal.

She huffed each time she missed. Coins flew every time she landed, a couple smacking me in the face.

Below, the sand had thoroughly coated the chamber’s floor, rising steadily, making its way up. At the rate it had poured into the room, we wouldn’t have much longer before it buried us.

Jude and I reached the summit just as Finn hauled himself up, his footing tremulous due to his weight and the ever-shifting coins. He leapt for the handle, and as he was over a foot and a half taller than Emelia, he managed to open the door on his third try.

Finn eased Emelia onto his shoulders, and she grasped the edges of the frame, pure darkness welcoming her from above.

With a grunt, she thrust up and through the entry. I held my breath, terrified we’d made a mistake and that the door led to nowhere. Or worse.

A hand lowered down through the opening.

“Come on!” Emelia called, waving her arm around. “Someone grab hold!”

The walls violently shook, the ground rocking back and forth. Fissures formed and stones plummeted, the entire room set to erupt.

I watched in relief as Emelia took my brother’s hand , Jake keeping him steady as they assisted him. I released my breath when he vanished. He called out for Jake a second later.

Finn supported Jake’s weight, guiding him to the others, but Finn’s muscled arms shook, his exhaustion evident.

“Go, Kiara,” Jude commanded. Heat emanated from his skin, his magic awakening.

“You better be right behind me.”

“Always,” he rasped, his eyes molten.

The bodyguard whirled on me, his deep brown skin covered in sweat. He held out his arm, waiting for me to take it. I peeked at Jude, wavering, not trusting that he wouldn’t do something heroic and foolish if I went before him.

“I’m not leaving you,” Jude said, his voice weighted with conviction. His nostrils flared as his words penetrated my doubts. “We finish this together.”

I would’ve grinned had we not been in yet another life-or-death situation. Maybe I’d gotten through to the stubborn boy after all.

Finn grasped my outstretched hand as the chamber hissed and moaned, and something ominous creaked. As I was flung up and into the air, I heard another groan followed by a whoosh. A new spout must have opened.

“Hurry the hells up, child!” Emelia cried, swinging her arm about. I had no choice but to close the gap and snatch it. Her lean fingers locked around mine, and with surprising strength, she hauled me over.

I landed in a circular room, my divine vision awarding me sight. But I didn’t linger on the new room or the peculiar door that stood at its center. I twisted back, readying to assist Jude. Emelia extended her hand, and the commander hastily glanced between us.

Sand gradually rose, now mere feet from grazing the bottom of Finn and Jude’s boots. He gritted his teeth and lunged without Finn’s aid, snagging both our hands and squeezing tight. Liam grabbed my waist to steady me, Jake doing the same for Emelia.

“I got you!” Emelia promised her son. I could see her muscles strain beneath her silken clothes, but a fire not born of magic brightened her eyes. She shrieked as she yanked herself back.

He tumbled to the ground at my side, his power surging, lighting the space around us in a warm gold.

But we weren’t safe. Not yet.

“Finn!” The Fox hovered above the open door, and Jude replaced me to offer his hand to the bodyguard. Finn was sweating profusely, his chest heaving. The sands were less than a foot away and rising swiftly.

“Come on, you fool, jump!” Emelia was panting, wetness lining her eyes. “We’ve been through worse, and I can’t lose…” She stopped there, biting her lip. Instead, she screamed, “Take my hand!”

Finn groaned as he reached up, but he missed her flailing fingers by less than an inch.

He tried again. Once more. On the third attempt, he made contact. Jude grasped his other wrist, and I held on to his forearm. Jude shouldered all of Finn’s weight, but his mother wouldn’t relinquish her hold.

Together, they gradually eased him up, and in a minute he’d—

The sand touched the bottom of his boot.

I’d seen a lot of grisly things in the past few weeks, but never before had I seen a man’s foot crumble to dust.

Finn’s screech was heard in the depths of my soul, his grip on Emelia and Jude loosening, his face turning a sickly shade of gray. As the sand climbed, it ate away at his heel, the polished leather of his shoe dissolving to dust.

There was no blood, no dripping red to emphasize the absence of his foot. It was as though the sand cauterized the wound while it greedily consumed his body.

“No!” Emelia lurched backward, moving him inches higher. The sand had passed his ankle, and Finn’s eyes shuttered, his throaty screams a thing of nightmares.

“Not you!” Emelia cried, tears freely dripping down her sharp cheeks. “I can’t lose you , too!”

Finn’s eyes were closed, the man likely passing out due to the pain.

“Mother! You need to let go!” Jude screamed. He’d never called her mother with such sincerity before, and if she heard the endearment, she didn’t let on. She couldn’t look away from Finn, and her hand refused to release his.

Her love for Finn was a tangible thing, and it bolstered my strength, inciting my shadows to unfurl as I moved into place between Jude and Emelia. Night rushed from my shoulders and surged from my palms, fully enveloping Finn.

In all the chaos, I remembered something Arlo had told me years ago, back when he’d pretended to be my uncle. “Panic is a weakness you can’t afford,” he grunted one day during practice. “The only way to overcome your doubt is to center yourself. If your mind is off-balance, your body will be, too. ”

I might feel anger toward the earth god for his deceit, but his teachings taught me how to be strong. And strong, I’d be now.

As my magic gripped Finn—holding his heavy weight—I shut out Emelia’s cries and the whooshing noise of the poisonous sand. I pictured a glen that belonged to me and my brooding commander. In that very place, I’d exposed my deepest self and found a peace I hadn’t believed possible.

From somewhere in the background, Jude whispered my name. Even with my mind working to command my magic and pull Finn to safety, I could feel his warm exhales fan across my cheek.

A great tug jerked me forward, but hands were once more around my middle, keeping me centered. My brother without a doubt.

“Kiara!”

I opened my eyes. A gust of wind and night sent me barreling back, the glen torn from my thoughts. I tumbled onto my hands and knees, struggling to glance up, hoping I hadn’t failed another person.

Emelia’s shout reached me.

Finn lay in her arms, unconscious and still except for the subtle lift and fall of his chest. Liam shoved the door closed with a grunt, his breaths agonizing wheezes.

“He’s alive,” Emelia sobbed, hugging Finn’s head to rest over her heart. “He’s—he’s breathing.”

Jude hovered above his mother, watching as she clung to Finn. An indiscernible look passed across his features before his focus landed on me.

I’d done it. I used my shadows and bent them to my will.

My darkness hadn’t killed. It saved .