Page 45

Jude

Cerys, the God of Love, may not show themselves often, but they are there, working their magic and changing fates across the r ealm. All they ask in return is to cherish the gift they give. It can be potent enough to alter the course of history.

Excerpt from Asidian Lore: a Tale of the Gods

I woke with a gasp, panting, reaching wildly for the woman who’d been in my arms seconds before.

They were empty. But my fingers…

Veiny scars branched from each tip, stretching to my elbows. A quivering exhale left me.

These were her scars. The mark of the dark creature that attacked her a decade ago. So why did they now decorate my skin?

When she touched me in that in-between realm, had she—

No. Impossible.

“Kiara!” I called out, my vision gradually settling, the golden light dissipating. Whirling in place, I found myself staring at a copse of trees.

Aboveground .

I couldn’t Travel, not like Kiara could while using her shadows. And I was alone, not a soul or building in sight. Reaching for the welcoming heat of my power, I allowed it to stream down my limbs and burst free from my skin. A yellowish light shone from my body, casting an ominous glow upon the dark woods.

I hadn’t the faintest idea what would happen when I’d looked into that mirror, but I didn’t believe I’d wake…not when Isiah would likely seize the opportunity to kill us both.

Unless Kiara had done what I feared most.

She’d given herself to me when our very souls had been connected. She offered me her heart, her magic, her very life . She gave them to me—to Asidia—freely, all while adoration brightened her face. No fear, no regret.

The day will be restored when the darkness falls for the light.

Kiara had bestowed the final sliver of divinity without the Godslayer. She’d given me her powers. And with them, she’d gifted me the ability to Travel—far from the temple.

Leaving her defenseless.

She could be—

I couldn’t even think the word.

Everything closed in on me, and the night sky—which had brightened ever so slightly—seemed more like a roof set on collapsing. I’d failed, not just myself, not just Asidia and my brothers, but the person who mattered to me the most. Who’d fought for me until the very end.

Gods, even with all pieces of Raina’s light united, it still felt like the end.

I hissed as power flooded my system, causing me to stagger forward beneath the immense weight of it all.

My body burned, a match having been struck, my flames spreading, out of control and unable to be extinguished.

Surging ahead, I wove through the woods, every leaf and branch highlighted by the full power of Raina’s magic. My magic.

Magic that had possibly cost me my soul.

I was whole.

I was a god .

And I was about to set the world on fire before the new sun even had the chance to rise.