“Doyou know what Elion plans to do?” Axel’s voice broke the silence, causing me to glance up from the map we’d been analyzing. “He hasn’t made a play in Solis Quarter since The Wall went up centuries ago.”
My eyes flicked toward his, then back down to the map. “You know Elion. He never openly shares his plans,evenwith us.”
Axel scoffed as he leaned back against the sofa, reaching for the bottle of ambrosia on the end table before he spoke again. “You’d think aftercenturiesin his service, he’d be more open with us.”
“You already know he won’t, Pierce.” I gestured to a point on the map as my gaze focused back in on the table. “We start with the Temple District.”
“What do you think is there?”
“I’m not sure,” I said with a low sigh. “But this district of the Quarter houses all their temples and their library.”
“How many temples do they have?” Axel inquired as green eyes flicked over toward the map, studying the exact location I was pointing at.
“Too many.” I stared at the circle in the center of the district, counting six temples with one building directly in the center.
“Six?” Axel questioned from across the glass coffee table as he stared at the map that was digitally displayed between us. “What possible reason do they have for six temples?”
“One god . . . six temples . . . it obviously adds up,” I joked, even as my gaze shifted back and forth across the map, tracking the locations of the temples and the distance between them and the Solis Court. “We already suspect that they no longer follow the Eternal. And if that’s the case, we need to determine what they truly believe in. What gods or goddesses they follow instead?”
“It explains the lack of the color gold throughout the Quarter,” he replied as he too studied the Temple District more closely.
I nodded, taking another sip of my ambrosia, letting the alcohol coat the back of my throat before responding. “Possibly,” I answered. “But from what I gathered at the tavern, they still perform the Marking Day ceremony, and they still receive their affinities from Aeternus.”
“So we start there,” Axel confirmed. “There’s somethingwe’re missing. If they still get marked, their wings, their symbols?—”
“They would all be pure gold, like the Eternal—like ours, and all of Aurum Quarter,” I finished. “Not onyx like the marks we saw on the guards we took out.”
“Well, shit,” he replied. “Looks like we’re about to crash another Marking Day ceremony.”
I only nodded, letting silence wash over the space as I contemplated our options. We had seven days before we were due to report back to the Aurelian Guild—seven days to discover what was amiss, whether this district was corrupted beyond repair. The ceremony was our best bet.
“And you’re sure we can’t just take Lucanus out now?”
My eyes snapped toward Axel, catching the amused grin on his face. “We don’t know what the Eternal has commanded of the Guild,” I growled lowly.
“I’m just saying,” he replied, raising his hands in protest. “Whatever it is. It’s got to be traced back to Lucanus. Seems like it would make it easy on everyone just to take him out now and be done with it.”
“His blood isn’t ours to spill. Not now at least,” I replied, my eyes narrowing on the male across from me. “And we don’t know for certain whether he is responsible or just another pawn spreading corruption.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “We’ll wait. But Elion had better give us more information soon.”
I laughed, agreeing with him as he poured us another round.
I leaned my head back, staring up at the white ceiling of the apartment we found ourselves in. I swirled the glass of ambrosia in my hand as I ran through our plan of attack for tomorrow, tracing over the streets of Solis in my mind before recalling the interior layout of each of the temple structures. I traced and retraced every step we would take tomorrow until I knew it would be executed with perfect precision. We couldn’tafford to tip off Lucanus. Not yet, at least. Not until it worked in our favor.
The night stretched on as I nursed the drink in my hand, fighting off the exhaustion tugging at my edges. Only, I found my thoughts drifting toward wavy, dark brown hair and sea-glass hazel eyes with flakes of silver, like starlight, shining through them. I grinned, taking a drink as I recalled the witty comebacks from a particular bartender at the Tilted Tavern, and I already knew I planned to return very soon.
5
RAELYNA
The heatfrom the twin suns beat down on us, my golden, bronzed skin glistening even in the mid-morning heat. The towering skyscrapers we passed as we began making our way through the inner districts of Solis Quarter did little to block the sweltering blaze of the summer. I prayed to the gods that we would approach some canopied streets sooner rather than later.
A shadow brushed over us, and my gaze darted up, watching a trio of angels fly by. I shook my head, shocked they decided to fly in the summer winds. The rev of an engine roared on the street before a car shot past us and we cursed at the proximity.
“The Eternal will come for us!” a voice shouted from the next intersection, and my head turned toward the sound. “Turn away from the gods you’ve chosen to worship. Turn from the darkness while you still have a chance!”
My eyes narrowed in on the male shouting across the street.
