Page 43

Jude

I have my suspicions about who the Moon God is… I cannot meet with you in person, as he watches me closely. Please tread carefully and keep the girl safe.

Letter from unknown sender to Aurora Adair, year 49 of the curse

My insides were being torn to shreds by the weapon of fear. Of not knowing. Each inhale was a slash across my chest, a phantom blade bleeding me dry.

“I love you, Jude Maddox.”

No one had ever spoken those words aloud to me.

Seconds before she left me. Possibly forever.

“She’s taking too long,” Emelia muttered, the corners of her eyes creased. She ran a hand through her straight black hair, her fingers giving a slight quiver. She began to pace.

“I didn’t think you cared,” Jake retorted, his anxiety igniting his temper. “You only did this for him .” He gave me a look that was neither kind nor malicious. “Don’t act as if you give a flying shit about anyone else.”

My mother faced me, her brown eyes sparkling. “My son cares about her, that much is obvious, and therefore, so do I.”

Such a simple statement, but as it was delivered by the notorious Fox, I knew it meant more than most would understand. Gripped in a chokehold of heartache and trepidation, all I could do was nod.

Maybe, in this monstrous situation, I’d form the connection I had sought with my mother, after all. The irony hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Emelia ceased her pacing to rest a featherlight hand on my shoulder before letting it slide down and back to her side. A mollifying sort of acceptance worked its way into my heart, nipping away at the years of hatred I held for her.

A start.

“Jake, can you check the time—”

Coldness unlike I’d ever known swarmed across my upper body, curving around my midsection. My scar pulsed, a hint of gold shining through my shirt.

Frowning, I undid the top buttons, expecting to see the familiar veins of black - and - blue vines. But they weren’t black or blue anymore.

They were silver …and pulsating.

Worry crept into my chest, alarm bells resonating in my ears. More ice trickled from the top of my skull, pooling down my spine like the spindly fingers of death’s hand.

“Something’s wrong,” I blurted, itching to reach for the door. It had injured Liam with a mere touch…and Kiara insisted she was the only one capable of entering due to her contact with one of the Moon God’s creatures, but—

So had I.

Kiara’s brand. The one she had left on me.

“I’m going in,” I stated, my tone brooking no room for argument. My mother grasped my arm, her grip biting.

“You can’t!” she protested, tugging me back. “You saw what happened to her brother!”

A sharp stabbing sensation pulsated over my scar, the ice in my blood gradually heating.

I didn’t have time to argue. This was a sign of danger, Kiara’s way of calling out for me, and I promised I would always be there to catch her when she fell.

I tore off my fine jacket and flung it to the ground. Tugging down the collar of my shirt, I exposed the twisting vine-like scars to Emelia. “Kiara left a piece of herself with me, whether she realized it or not. I’ll be able to enter.”

Ignoring the protests from Jake and Liam, and yanking my arm free from Emelia, I lifted my palm and pressed forward, connecting with the cool surface of the door.

A flash of white blinded me, and the air in my lungs froze over, but it lasted but a heartbeat.

I stepped onto a cloud, into a realm of dreams and numbing fog.

“Kiara!” I shouted, racing forward, unable to see where I stepped. I didn’t care. “Where are you?”

I ran until a steep staircase took shape, rising into clouds. Terror was my faithful companion as I raced up the steps, higher into the nothingness, losing myself to the magic of the Moon God.

My breaths were uneven when I made it to the top, a wall of crushed amethysts and white stone showcasing three intricate mirrors. I didn’t have time to inspect them, because below their imposing surfaces lay a curled-up figure on the ground.

Kiara.

Calling her name, I dropped to the ground and grasped her shoulder. Her amber eyes were open and glazed. Unresponsive.

Retracting my hand, I cursed, hastily glancing around. My panic made the world hazy, a buzzing noise droning in my ears.

I scanned the space until I saw it.

There . Five feet from where she’d collapsed lay an object I knew all too well.

I lunged for the King of Asidia’s mask, and my fingers wrapped around its dense, cool metal. How on earth had this gotten here? I twisted it back and forth, finding no evidence of blood, just an odd smear of black grime. There was no body.

“That silly thing no longer matters.”

I dropped the mask, and it clattered to the ground, its jarring clang echoing painfully in the stifling hush.

No . I hadn’t heard that voice since—

Kiara let out a groan at my side, and I chanced a peek in her direction. She lay unmoving, but she blinked, and for a sliver of a second, I swore I glimpsed a flicker of panic captured inside her eyes.

Footsteps pounded, heavy boots striking the stone with cruel purpose.

I couldn’t look. If I did, I would confirm my worst nightmare. I’d break even further, and if I lost Kiara , too…

Fuck.

“I’ve missed you, Jude.”

Ice careened down my spine as I faced the man who I had once considered my kin. My brother. My family.

“Isiah.” His name on my lips was both a curse and a twisted gift.

It wasn’t possible, it shouldn’t have been, but there he stood, tall and as striking as ever, a broad and almost warm smile stretching his lips. Underneath silken robes, he wore a simple white tunic and matching trousers, the intricate threads woven along the hems a luminous silver. His dark hair, which had always been slicked back, was now wild and loose, granting him an air of innocence.

He looked like my friend, sounded like my friend, and yet something was horribly off . How he cocked his head to the side in a way that was more cunning than playful. The way his cold gray eyes grew brighter.

I had to believe he was a ghost. A monster born from the temple’s cruel imagination.

“Jude?” Isiah questioned, and I swore he sounded hurt. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

“You’re d-dead.” The Godslayer dagger thrummed to life inside my jacket pocket. “I saw you die.”

I blinked, and that vile day came back to me: his tunic drenched in blood, his eyes wide and pleading. He’d fought against the masked monsters until they’d stolen him from me, and even then, just before he shut his eyes, I’d felt his love for me deep in my soul.

Isiah ran a hand over his face, a tinge of hurt pulling at his features. “You thought you left me for dead, all alone in the Mist. Bleeding out on the forest floor.” Now his pain was evident. “But I suppose I had to pretend in order for you to retrieve the blade. Things have to play out a certain way or else the future you intend changes.”

I wanted to scream, to rage against this man and his lies. Because this couldn’t be my brother. Yet…how he looked at me now, his familiar eyes brimming with pity, was exactly how my old friend stared at me every time I came back from a mission. Every time I was hurting and alone.

It was Isiah. Whether the truth tore me in two or not.

Isiah glanced to the mirror hanging on the right, the intense light shining from its surface making it impossible to look into the glass. I followed his every movement as he readied himself to speak, and even then, I was broken by the sound of his voice.

“I wasn’t planning on revealing myself this way, but the girl found the one thing that could summon me. Trap me like a beast. The very first moonstone,” he said with a sigh. “I’d hoped it had lost its power on me when it changed to black decades ago, but it appears as if I was wrong.” His attention flitted to her form and then to the wall of mirrors. But it wasn’t the mirrors he homed in on—it was a crude dimple in the otherwise smooth rock. As if something had been embedded there…

That had to be where Kiara found the moonstone. The dent and the pile of crumbled dust was out of place in such a pristine room.

Isiah tore his gaze from the mirrors and peered at his feet, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Maybe it would’ve made me a coward, but things would be so much easier if you hadn’t seen my face. I suppose I hadn’t prepared myself for this moment.”

I recalled how Kiara had paused at his body back in the Mist. She’d said she saw his chest rise and fall, and at the time, I’d dismissed her, my grief clouding my judgment.

“You.” It was the only word I could conjure. My throat was drier than sand.

Isiah scrubbed at his jaw in frustration. “Yes, me . It’s always the ones closest to you that you should watch out for. I told you that once, I believe.”

The Moon God. The whole time, Isiah had been my only friend and greatest enemy.

“Why?” I appeared capable of only one-word responses.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, truly, I am.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I care about you, and maybe if you’ll let me explain, you will come to see why I refuse to bring the sun back.” He started to pace, his hands twitching at his sides. He was nervous, hardly able to look at me.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you. Not anymore,” I said through my teeth, anger and betrayal coursing through my heating blood.

He didn’t listen. Then again, Isiah was often stubborn. “The night has brought about so many good things! Can’t you see?” he shouted, his voice cracking. “There are no more wars, fewer deaths. More dreams ! Dreams carry so much power, Jude, allowing people to see what matters most in their lives. And I deliver them, and the moon watches over them as they sleep.”

He faced me, sincerity masking his features, which were stricken with tangible regret.

“The sun casts too much truth upon the world, and in the stark light of day, the mortals allowed their baser instincts control. They acted on their schemes. Their ambitions of greed and corruption. I aim to stop them before they ruin themselves. I’ve always watched out for them, even when they shunned me, and I always will.”

He actually believed what he spoke. That was the truly sickening part. I clutched at my chest absently, seeking the heat of my throbbing scar, needing its warmth as a reminder of why I couldn’t succumb to my pain.

None of it had been real. It had all been a game—and I’d lost.

“I’ve hunted you all for years,” Isiah said, finally meeting my stare. “The three vessels carrying Raina’s magic. Patrick, I’d known about for ages, but you came into my life unexpectedly, a joyous surprise nonetheless.” Isiah’s eyes sparkled, the tender grin breaking across his lips one of affection.

Bile seared my throat.

“And Kiara…” he began slowly, taking his time. My upper lip curled. “She was the final missing piece. I knew when rumors of her spread that fate worked in my favor. A sign from the universe that it would finally be my time to reign.”

I looked at the mask, which lay discarded like rubbish. My head grew heavy with all the unanswered questions.

“Was it always you behind the mask, then? Controlling the undead king with enchantment?” I asked with bated breath. I knew his answer, yet I had to hear the words.

My old friend scoffed. “Cirian was a horrid creation of mine, but necessary. I’d planned to do away with him once I accomplished my mission.”

“A creation?”

“He’s what you refer to as a masked man. One of the creatures from the Mist. Which was not my doing, you should know. After Raina fell and the Mist rose, the mortals who roamed those lands were plagued by the curse, changing them into monsters. I simply learned how to train them and use them to my advantage. If people were too fearful to venture beyond the borders, then they wouldn’t leave Asidia. They wouldn’t leave me. ”

A cruel thought struck me then, one that should have occurred to me minutes before.

Isiah controlled the king. Cirian had made the Calling mandatory, and he knew me well enough to know I’d select her, which also meant… “You were the one sending me on my nightly missions.” Betrayal needled my insides like tiny thorns on a wilted rose. And afterward, like the sick bastard he was, Isiah would comfort me, bringing me food, cleaning me up, telling me everything would be all right. I trusted him. Loved him.

Isiah glanced to the corner, his cheeks reddening. “I followed the path I needed to in order to make you strong. You wouldn’t have lasted in this world without me, and we had to wait until Kiara showed herself.”

I stumbled back a step, his confession like a physical blow. “Fuck. You,” I said, uncaring of the consequences. I wanted him to feel my wrath, to know I despised him well before I ended his life, once and for all.

“I know you’re angry, but I did what I had to do. To make sure you were hardened enough to live in this world. To make certain you’d be the warrior I needed you to be.” Isiah’s nostrils flared. “You would have died ages ago if I hadn’t intervened, and every mission, every strike you were dealt, allowed you to live that much longer. I only wish you’d be here at the end of all of this. That you’d be by my side. Of every mortal I’ve ever known, you , Jude, are truly one of the most deserving.”

My magic thrashed against the confines of my body. It wanted to wrap around his neck and squeeze. To burn him until nothing remained.

Before I allowed my power to be released, Kiara’s body shifted below me, just the barest hint of a shiver. My magic calmed instantly, outweighed by my fear.

“What did you do to her?” He hadn’t killed her, not yet, but he would.

Isiah’s jaw clenched when my attention wandered from him. “These mirrors show the past, present, and future, although the final mirror never allowed me to see much. I’m assuming she stared into one of them far too long and lost herself to the onslaught of prayers I keep inside. Only a powerful god, one with full divinity, is immune to their pull. She likely fell into herself and into her own darkness.”

Every muscle locked in place.

Thinking of her frightened and lost in the dark ignited a spark deep within, well beyond my magic. I inhaled slowly, trying to think without emotion, to think like a commander.

I had to do it for her , even if I was breaking, piece by piece.

Kiara must’ve found the tool to summon him here now. But why wasn’t he trapped? Had she not had the chance before she was struck down? I did a quick scan of the room, finding nothing of note. Maybe she hid the talisman somewhere on her person, but I couldn’t search her and rouse Isiah’s suspicions.

“Isiah,” I started, and his entire face brightened. “You don’t have to do this. Our realm is dying. Crops are finally failing entirely, people are starved, and without the sun, they’ve lost a part of themselves they cannot get back. There needs to be balance.”

I lifted Kiara, easing her head against my chest, her ear pressed over my thudding heart. My hand reached for her pocket. She could’ve shoved it inside when he appeared—

The ground trembled as Isiah closed the final few feet separating us. I retracted my hand and wrapped it around Kiara’s waist.

“You have no idea what it’s like to forever be the last thought. The god people cursed. I am the cool blanket of night, the shining moon, the faraway stars. But I am also every shadow and nightmare that frightens the hearts of mortals. They all but shunned me, deeming me evil and twisted. But you…you understood me, didn’t you, Jude? You were my friend, and maybe I should have told you sooner, but I’m still hopeful enough that you’ll come around now.”

My scar panged as Kiara twitched in my arms. I peered down, taking in every delicate line, every smooth facet of her striking features. She almost looked peaceful. I knew that to be a lie.

“You’re living up to their expectations by doing this,” I said, trying a different approach. “Help us restore the sun without killing one another, and you’ll be a hero. They’ll worship you for your heroism.”

He’d been lonely. That was the root of it all. It was an emotion I was all too familiar with.

Isiah barked out a laugh, though his eyes grew wet with unshed tears. “She truly has changed you, hasn’t she? It’s funny because for years I’d tried to get you to lighten up. Looks like all it took was a pretty face.”

A low growl rumbled in my chest. I wasn’t getting anywhere with him. He wasn’t going to change his plans, not even for me.

The fractures in my heart that he had repaired over the years suddenly cracked open once more.

Memories of Isiah tending to my wounds flickered across my mind. Nights when he hovered over my bedside and talked my ear off, knowing I hungered for comfort so I could escape my mind. He’d been my family, my everything , and for so long, he was all I had in this world.

I couldn’t fucking breathe.

He’d been the cause of so much of my sorrow.

“I meant what I said,” he whispered as if reading my thoughts. “At first you were a mission, a means to an end, but over time, I grew to care for you. I saw myself in you, a boy discarded, thought weak by others. Someone whose potential had been overlooked all because of how he was perceived by the ignorant. Yet as hard as this all will be, you must die. I’d only prefer if you’d sacrifice yourself willingly.”

“Willingly?” I rasped, stunned. “You claim to know me, but you realize I’d never help you with this!”

Isiah’s nostrils flared, and he presented me his back, his long white cloak picked up by a breeze.

I wouldn’t let him get off that easily. Besides, another thought plagued me. “Why not take us all when we were in that field? Why wait until now?”

He had us exactly where he wanted us. It didn’t make sense.

Isiah spun around, his face pinched, lacking all traces of warmth. “Lorian wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of me killing Raina’s kin. He distracted me while you all escaped.”

That’s why Lorian had vanished so quickly.

In my arms, Kiara shook, her lips forming nonsensical words.

She blinked rapidly, her face twitching, muscles spasming. She looked to be in pain, and my blood boiled as a reddish gold spread across my vision. The scar on my chest heated, the agony only bearable because of the beast rearing its head beneath my flesh.

When Kiara cried out again, a soft whimper, I nearly lost my mind.

I was all fire and wrath, not a man, not even a half-formed god. I was the embodiment of rage, and I couldn’t control my actions even if I tried.

Isiah’s lips parted, his eyes widening—

The entire room exploded with my fury, golden rays igniting every nook and cranny, brightening the space until I could take in each minuscule feature on my enemy’s familiar face.

Horror. I witnessed horror wash across his features.

I smiled, my girl cradled in my arm as my power erupted, heat sweeping across the temple floor.

“Come back to me , Kiara,” I whispered, my eyes prickling. “I can’t lose you.” I won’t.

Isiah held up his palm, but my light broke through. It afforded me just enough time.

With one hand resting on her scar, I lifted to my feet and rushed to the mirror that had stolen Kiara away. Without hesitation, I stared into its surface, one hand reaching for the glass.

Annihilating night swallowed my world.