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Prologue
Gravel crunched beneath my knees; the thin shards of rock slicing into my flesh as I kneeled before eleven other primordials.
On my left, they forced Abyssian, my brother, to his knees. On my right, Pollux, my oldest friend. My only friend.
The eleven gathered before us, taking on delicate human forms as we often did when mingling with lesser beings. We only brought ourselves to this plane of existence during times of celebration. To feast and fuck and arrogantly grace mortals with our presence.
This time was different.
They were here for revenge.
They were here for me.
They had one item on the agenda.
Punishment.
Pious stood at the forefront of the group, and next to him, the traitorous woman who’d robbed me of my soul. He chained her arms, holding them behind her back as she cried out to me. I shut myself off and closed my eyes, dropping my chin to my chest while her pleas for forgiveness echoed across the plains.
My heart had become stone in the wake of her betrayal. Never mind her revelations of regret or the pain of guilt that was eating her insides. Never mind any of it. I foolishly believed a mortal woman would choose love—would choose me—above power.
I was mistaken, and now I would suffer for it.
“We stand here today to sentence one of our own. Caius, you were warned of mortals and their weaknesses. You were told what would come to pass, but you still chose to trust this woman despite all knowledge of mankind’s selfishness. You cast aside your own, risking us all, and for what?” Pious spat. My head lolled forward, roughly shorn hair covering my eyes. I huffed a humorless laugh.
No, I had never been told what would come to pass.
I’d been told humans were power-hungry, untrustworthy, and incapable of true devotion.
I hadn’t been told that the woman I loved would deceive me and steal half my soul.
In the background, a swirling abyss taunted us. I didn’t have to ask what they planned to do. The portal to Tartarus was telling. That didn’t stop Pious from rambling on. He’d always loved to hear himself speak.
“We sentence you, King of Monsters, to the realm of your own creation. It was made to be a prison, and now it will be yours.”
Abraxia wept, incoherent words mingling with her hyperventilating cries.
“Silence!” Ix’s commanding bellow shook the ground, her primordial powers leaking through her human form. She took Abraxia’s bindings from Pious so that he could come forward, his attitude reeking of unmerited superiority.
I was beyond caring. Beyond shame. Beyond anything but the soul-searing pain that she had put me through, and she’d done it with their help.
“Pollux and Abyssian shall join you in exile?—”
“Just shut up and get on with it,” Pollux muttered.
“—As they supported you in this naïve wager.”
“You can’t do this!” Abyssian shouted and struggled at his invisible chains, but a minor fae god was no match for the magic of a primordial.
“Cast him out,” Ix said. Two others came forward and I locked eyes with Ru’than. He was a younger primordial, but still ageless compared to mortals.
“Ru’than, don’t do this. You know this is wrong,” I pleaded. He’d always been a voice of reason. It had to be a unanimous decision to banish me. I knew him well, and I knew he was my friend.
Or so I’d thought.
He paused, his warm brown eyes softening, clearly torn. D’axi shoved his shoulder, chastising him in a low growl. “You know what he did. So finish this and do what you’re told.”
Ru’than’s head fell, and he nodded softly. Together, they grabbed Abyssian and hefted him through the portal. My heart sank.
