The sun god bites into his own wrist and thrusts the bleeding wound toward my mouth. “Drink, daughter.”
I hesitate, the golden blood a foreign thing, but the scent of it makes my mouth water, so I open for him. He pushes his bleeding wrist up against my lips, and my tongue laps at the blood, the taste an explosion of sensations. Kian’s blood is smoky and savory, but the sun god’s? It’s like being burned alive in the most pleasant way. My insides light up, the blood almost too sickly-sweet, but I can’t get enough.
Without warning, my body starts to convulse on the floor of the pit as his blood continues to flow into me. The pleasant burn turns to agony, and I’m lost to pain. When I finally come back to myself, I have no idea if it’s been minutes or hours, but the sun god stands over me.
“What’s going on?” I mumble.
My body feels strange, like it’s not my own anymore. The power buzzing through my veins is almost unbearable in its strength, and yet I feel weak.
“Rae!” Kian yells. “Please tell me you’re all right. What’s happening?”
“I’m okay, I think,” I call back up to him, my throat raw. Had I been screaming?
“What’s going on, F-father?” I ask again.
Kyros looks down at me, a tinge of regret showing in his eyes. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, a frantic feeling growing in my chest. “What did you do to me?”
“It was the only way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The only way I can leave is if another god takes my place, and you were my sole option. Only demi-gods can become full gods through the exchange.”
Like being doused with the coldest of waters, panic sets in as everything becomes clear.I’m a goddess.“No . . . no . . . you can’t mean to leave me down here.”
“If I can find a way out for you, I will, but I’ve been down here long enough. There is vengeance to be had.” His voice is cold, unfeeling. “I need to get back to her.”
Her? With sudden clarity, I realize my mistake. In the vision, I thought he meant me . . . he needed to get back to me . . . but I was wrong.
“Please, you can’t abandon me here,” I beg. My mind can’t even wrap around the fact that my father—the sun god—used me . . . he tricked me. Once again, I was lied to, but I’m lying here, weak. Helpless. I have no idea how to use my new powers.
“I won’t forget what you’ve done for me, daughter.”
The sun god crouches to the ground, and with strength I can’t even fathom, he launches himself up and out of the pit.
The air shifts around me as he disappears from sight. There’s a shimmer, but then the light I conjured blinks out, leaving me in complete darkness. Distantly, I hear Kian’s shouts, but nothing registers. I try to clear my head, but I’m still lost in the fog of transformation and betrayal. Willing my power to form another ball of light, my heart sinks when it only sputters weakly, shooting out sparks before disappearing into nothing.
Chapter Fifty-Two
KIAN
The sun god comes flying up and over the edge of the pit through a shimmering barrier I couldn’t see until now. This can’t possibly be happening. I didn’t hear everything that transpired, but I heard enough.
He lands hard on his feet, the cave floor shuddering beneath the force.
“What did you do to my wife?” The words come out in a menacing growl as I stare down the sun god, the one I’ve been searching for and thought could save my realm.
He straightens, nonchalantly brushing dirt off the rags he wears. Despite the obvious weakness in his body, he is still to be feared. “Watch your tone, son of Silenius. I am still your god.”
“How could you leave her down there? Yourdaughter?” I grasp for answers, but the god’s visage is cold and ruthless.
“The only reason I do not drain you where you stand is forher,” he replies, looking down his regal nose at me. His eyes flick to the binding mark on my arm, barely visible in the dim light he exudes. “They should have never bound you.”
“What? I don’t understand?”
The god growls, and with immense speed, he has me pinned to the wall of the cave. “Now that she is a full goddess, your life is bound to hers through your marriage bond. I cannot kill you without killing her. You were never meant to be bound!” he roars.
