Page 5 of The Endless One

“A sacrifice?”

“Is there really going to be a ceremony to turn him into a god? A public one?”

None of it sounded good. She stood beside Elric, her arms crossed over her chest in a mirror image of his pose. They had created the crow with his shadows, so the creature was a little twisted. Just like her familiar could walk through walls, this one was unusual.

A third eye between the other two blinked at her, turned upright rather than horizontal like it should have been. The feathers were a little more spiky than an average crow’s would be as well. In all other fashions, however, the crow was the same as any other bird. From afar, no one was likely to notice that it was a little different.

“Did it see anything?” she asked.

“What do you think?”

“I think it would only return if it did, and I don’t know whether that is a good or a bad thing.”

“It saw enough.” Elric’s gaze flicked to hers and then back to the crow. “Leon may seek to put a god in himself, but he isn’t one yet. He does not know the ways of the witch, nor is he capable of understanding just how far I will go to stop him.”

A shiver traveled down her spine. “You say that like you’ll stop at nothing to kill him.”

“I won’t. There will be no more gods in this kingdom. Not while I’m alive. No one would survive their return, Jessamine.” He reached out his arm, and the crow hopped onto his wrist. “Tell her what you told me.”

She gazed into that third eye and felt herself tumble through the vision of the crow.

Jessamine saw her almost-husband wandering through the halls of his own castle. She’d been there before, but it had been many years ago. At the time, she’d been young and hopeful. She’d thought his home was beautiful, and Leon to be handsome. But now she knew to look at the details of his homeland, rather than the hopes and dreams she’d imagined for herself.

Leon was learning how to cast spells. There were runes etched into the ground. Giant ones. Some that were twelve feet in length, even bigger for others. He was working through the web of them, making sure everything was just right.

Without seeing Elric standing in front of her, she murmured, “Is that the same rune Callum used to hold you?”

“It appears to be the exact same rune. At least we know where Leon learned his tricks from.”

“But your grimoire is with us. It’s safe and no one else has looked through it since we took it back.” At least, she didn’t think so.

The crow was already flying past the castle as night and day changed over, turning into another day where it had watched Leon. There were women and men joining him, but it was the women she took note of.

Elderly women, each of them in crimson ceremonial robes that weren’t familiar and yet were at the same time.

Elric’s voice murmured in her ear as she watched them all file into the castle. “My grimoire is safe, yes, but that doesn’t mean Callum didn’t make copies of the page he had. Are you seeing the priestesses entering the castle?”

“Yes.”

One of the old women looked up and caught sight of their crow. A frown crossed her features, and Jessamine watched as her mouth moved. Perhaps rumbling with a spell, because in a split second, all she saw was darkness.

“Death?” she asked.

“The priestess killed many crows, it seems.”

The flickering memories were then shown to her in bits and pieces. Images of those priestesses heading into the castle in droves. Of a ceremony where Leon knelt before them, the first time she’d ever seen him even attempting to look humble. And then, a vision that chilled her to the bone.

An effigy of the God King had been brought to the castle. It was tall, the same height as the ones she had seen in the Pleasure District before Elric had brought them to life and forced them to walk with him through the streets. He’d left the statues scattered throughout the city as a reminder that only one god could command them, and that he was displeased with many of those who lived in this district.

But this God King statue was clearly one that had been saved by the priestesses. It was in perfect condition, depicting him in full armor and the regalia that he always wore. It made her blood turn icy in her veins.

“Why would they bring a statue of the God King to the castle?” she asked.

“To make the spell easier. Leon can see the god that he is summoning, and if he has the image of the God King’s form, then it will be easier to know which spirit he brings into himself.” Elric cleared his throat and then shifted the bird away from her gaze.

Jessamine blinked back into the room. She grounded herself, noticing every detail surrounding her before nodding. “So what does all of this mean?”

“There is more that the crow saw. The time of the ceremony, who will help Leon, all the resources he has gathered to ensure that he will not be disturbed.” For the first time in a very long time, she saw that edge of glee in Elric’s eyes that meant he knew something she didn’t. “We know everything, Jessamine. His entire plan.”