Page 48 of Until the End of Ever (To the Cruel Gods #2)

KLEOS

T he Hall of Truce, built eons ago by the gods who created this city for their descendants, had morphed into many things.

The Archives downstairs, and there even were prisons in the belly of the lower floors, and the magistrate met in the largest forum at the back.

There were also the ballrooms, the museum, not to mention the elevators heading from the vale down to the underside.

But above all, the Hall of Truce was a temple. It had been designed to hold a shrine to every single god involved in Highvale upstairs.

How I longed to be able to step towards the column at the center of the entry hall and disappear. It was so close, and completely inaccessible.

At that time of night, the hall was busy. Any other day, it would have been full of unders returning home if they worked in the vale, but currently it was the opposite: curious young valers daring each other to party in the underside for a night.

Zenya had no interest in the hustle, clearly leading us toward the grand staircase to the higher floor. To the temples—likely Zeus's, the largest—where my fate would await me.

Was she going to make me wed my cousin? The treacherous barkeep? The mountain of muscles?

Lucian .

The hopelessness flooding my mind as I thought the name was beyond all the fear, the horror and the panic I'd fought back. As soon as I allowed myself to think the name, I stopped thinking and started despairing. And yet my feet kept walking, steadily following the monster, flanked by her acolytes.

I was supposed to spend my life with Lucian. We were going to talk about it tonight.

I remembered the many times I had his signet ring right against my skin, warm and exciting, like a dare. We should have sealed a bond on the first day. I should have insisted the moment he told me the purpose of the ring.Who the fuck cared about my soul?

But now, I understood why he hadn't accepted it when I'd been so flippant. I should care about my freedom, my autonomy, my choices . He'd respected them. He'd respected me.

A little too much.

My foot touched the first marble floor when all of a sudden, completely unexpectedly, Zenya gasped. Then, her goons were screaming.

And just like that, the connection broke. I turned, desperately looking for Lucian.

But it wasn't Lucian behind me, hand raised towards my mother, dark, sinister mist surrounding him.

It was a little kid I'd never seen before. Dark, messy hair that definitely needed a wash, a shirt too thin for the November mountain air, and golden eyes, the one source of brightness in his shadows. He was maybe twelve, fourteen at a push.

The kid tilted his head. "Come on, it won't last long. Let's get going."

I opened my mouth, and then knew better. I ran, only daring one glance behind.

The five people on the stairs were still terrified .

"You did that?" I asked after he'd opened the closest lift to the underside.

"Uh-huh." The kid leaned back against the wall, relaxed.

"How?" I shook my head, "Wait, why? How did you know you I needed help?"

"You were very scared. It's not normal to be that scared and that serene. I figured it was a spell."He shrugged. "You're that girl who hangs with Regis, right? Sessona said you fixed her back."

Suddenly, I made the connection. This was one of Sessona's orphans. It explained the slightly disheveled look, and the fact that he was alone up in the vale.

"I don't know what fates guided you to me just then, but thank you." A sob clogged my throat as the tears I'd been desperate to shed finally fell, and I was holding the poor kid in the tightest of hugs. "Thank you, thank you."

"Hey, chill. It's no big?—"

He straightened up, frowning, those golden eyes bright. "They're no longer under the spell, and they're coming after us."

"You can feel that?"

Again, he shrugged. "There's something wrong with them. They feel weird. Don't let the guys catch you. And the woman—she can still control you. She was just distracted."

Fuck .

I doubted my mother or her goons knew the way to Lucian's, but they were going to arrive in the middle of the town circle, which was an open space.

I'd be easy enough to spot. No one was expected me, so I couldn't count on a carriage ride.

Waiting for the tram wasn't an option. How the hell was I going to get back to Lucian's without being caught?

Auntie Hilda would probably laugh if she knew that my ignoring her strict fitness regimen for the last couple of weeks would spell my doom. I would be the example she used when she justified why trainees had to take care of their endurance.

"Look, I can take you to the Royal Manor, if you'd like," the kid offered, somewhat reluctantly.

"You'd do that?"

He snorted. "Like I want to tell to Lucian bloody Regis how I let some asshole catch his girlfriend."

I was going to empty my entire bank account and give it all to this kid. "I would owe you. Big time."

"Yeah, whatever. Keep up, and keep your head down, yeah?"

The kid was fast. I was fairly certain keeping my head down wasn't going to cut it, but the moment we stepped out of the lift, I noticed all my clothes and hair had turned black. Sort of. It was more like a layer of shadow covered them.

"Yo, Larna!" the kid called. "How much for the hat?"

The street vendor snorted. "Like you can afford it, Night."

" She can. And she'll pay extra if you make it quick."

The woman behind the stand glanced at me, and tossed me the hat without a word. "Free of charge for you."

I blinked, confused.

"Cover your hair. Shielding it like that is sucking my energy," the boy said, rushing towards the gate of Death.

"Aren't we going next door? To the gate of Kings?"

He snorted. "Right. You mean the one they'd expect you to take?"

When we reached the first tram stop past the gate, the kid sat on the bench. "Sit down. Hunch a little. Stop standing like you own the place. Even if you might as well, future Mrs. Regis."

I flushed, but did as I was told.

"You're smart," I told. "And I'm way too tired to think. Thanks again."

"I'm just used to blending in. I'm having trouble sensing your friends, but they're here. Just not too close." He frowned. "I think the woman stayed behind. Who was that?"

A dry chuckle escaped my lips. "My mother, believe it or not."

"Oh, trust me. I believe it."

We waited for the tram is silence, exhaustion hitting me. "What's your name?" I asked him. "They called you Night, right?"

"Adrian. Night's my surname. And you're Valesco."

"Kleos," I replied, offering my hand. "My friends call me Kleos. And you're definitely a friend."

The kid flushed a little, he swatted my hand, and then offered me a fist. I bumped mine to his.

"You don't know how much I owe you. What they'd planned…" My throat clogged up.

The tram thankfully arrived before I could completely lose it.

It was rather full, which I was grateful for. In the middle of a crowd, I'd be harder to spot if anyone thought to check this avenue.

The ride was uneventful until we stopped, towards the end of the avenue.

The boy looked left and right before hopping over the fence of what looked like a private property.

"Really?"

"Come on," he urged, and I did my best to not impale myself on top of the picket fence as I followed.

"Little-known fact," he whispered as we scaled the garden, head bent, "but the avenues aren't completely separate everywhere. There are a few tunnels linking them. Unfortunately, the Waytts’ garden blocks this one.

But it takes us pretty close to the manor. "

Between the avenues, the tunnel was dark and smelled like several things had died in it, but I could see the blue light of Lucian's trees on the other side.

The great news? We'd arrived close to the bridge.

The terrible news? So had the four men.