“What I’msayingis… I don’t know if any of you truly thought this through. I’m sure you’d be fine with watching Morrigan with Dez. You both share something that the rest of us really don’t. But are you going to be okay with even more pieces of her heart being given to Eris… Naaz… Kaiden?”
His eyes trailed down in thought for a moment. “I don’t think I have much of a choice,” he confessed, sinking back into the cushions. “I mean, even before the bond… Gods… I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Butafterthe bond? It filled something that I didn’t know was missing. I mean, you get it right? She’s got this magnetic aura that just draws you in and wraps its fiery claws around you until she’s all you can think about.”
“Yeah, she’s…” I cleared my throat and let my eyes drift toward the flames beside us. “She’s beautiful.”
“If, and only if, Morrigan decides to let me back in, I’ll take whatever she’s willing to give me. I fucked up. Ireallyfucked up. She trusted me. And if sharing her with my brothers is my only penance? Well… that doesn’t sound like such a bad life, now does it?”
I smiled at that. Whether or notmybonds with everyone ran as deep as the onestheyhad grown, Ididalways consider them my brothers. Seven orphans… all chosen by the gods to rule over the world they had built. They may have been fucking idiots, but I wouldn’t trade them for anyone else.
I felt a hard slap on my shoulder that almost knocked the wind out of me.
“I love you, man,” Cass said, laying his head back against the settee and closing his eyes. “Everything is going to be alright. You’ll see.”
Chapter 4
ERIS
We landed somewhere deep within the forest, not too far from Dez’s castle.
I knew it washiscastle from the amount of flowers still freshly bloomed in the grass. Rosina had taught him that trick when they first selected us as the successors. Since then, not a single winter had gone by where frost touched his land. Though the air felt crisp and cold, every inch of the castle grounds was lush with a vibrant green.
“There are only two entrances to the tunnels,” the seer explained, clutching her cloak tightly to her chest. “Ryuk destroyed his sometime during the war, but Rosina’s has remained open.”
Shepaused at the center of a small clearing and, immediately, I knew that we had arrived. Compared to the thick, full grass around us, the ground here appeared more…worn. Anyone with enough tracking skills could discern that someone, orseveralpeople, had been here recently. I knelt down, tracing a finger over the flattened grass.
I could feel my jaw tick as the realization sank in. “This entire time…” A bitter taste leeched itself to the tip of my tongue. “How did Dez not know people were here? Righthere! How could he not?—”
A hand landed gently on my shoulder just as Naaz stepped beside me. “Calm down before you alert someone. One of them could still be out?—”
“No one is nearby,” Kaiden interrupted. When I looked up, shadows clouded his eyes to the point of total darkness. Two empty voids remained, consuming every inch of white. Then, he turned to the seer. “Open them.”
Something in the way the seer stood had me convinced that Kaiden was right when he first visited her—the slight hesitance in her grey, worn eyes… like she didn’t want to take us to find her. I just couldn’t place why she felt that way toward us. Surely she couldn’t believe that we were more dangerous than Cain—the man who not only kidnapped their “queen,” but also killed every last priest, priestess, and servant in his own palace.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked her, tilting my head to the side as I rose slowly. “Open the tunnels.”
Her lips parted to speak, but closed just as quickly as they pressed into a thin line. Then, she turned to Naaz, as ifhewas the most reasonable one to address.He probably is, I mused to myself.
Finally, with a deep, hollow breath, she began, “You must all understand… We are descended from Minerva herself, the mother of all prophecies—she who threads the stars in the direction of their paths.”
Her grey eyes flickered between the three of us as a small frown tugged down the corners of her lips.
“There is whatyoubelieve herpurpose to be, what thegodsbelieve it to be, and what thestarshave truly chosen for her.” Those cold eyes landed on Kaiden, unwavering in their surety. “We have always provided guidance to those who seek, but our loyalties lie with the protection of this kingdom. Of its people.”
I allowed myself a step closer, nearing Kaiden as I stared at her. “Then, you should have no problem returning Morrigan to where she belongs.”
A cruel laugh escaped her lips in a ragged breath. “And you think that is withyou, My Lord?” Stretching out her bony fingers toward Kaiden, she shook her head. “A darkness is coming, and your gods will not help you then.” She lowered her hand, palm upward. “Your dagger, please.”
Slowly, Kaiden removed the dagger from his side and placed it on her open hand. “Ourgods,” he corrected, one eyebrow raised in question.
The mistake she made didn’t seem to go unnoticed by any of us, but I chalked it up to an old woman with a mind that’s been pushed well past its use.
In response, the seer only smiled, not answering him as she turned the blade and grabbed Kaiden’s wrist. Before any of us could react, she made a quick slice across his palm.
“What the fuck was that?—”
“As I told you before, My Lord,” she spoke over Kaiden, twisting his hand down, and we all watched in confusion as his blood slid down his skin and dripped onto the ground, “blood is required.”
“I thought you said the blood of agodwas require—” Naaz stopped speaking just as the ground began to vibrate beneath our feet.
