Page 81 of The Song of the Void

“Please, sir!” Akina cried, approaching him without care for who or what he was. “The Flames Below are dangerous…so dangerous. Our parents went in after Rei was banished, and—and they never came back.” Her voice trembled, as she turned to speak to all of us, not just Shaddan. “That place is filled with illusions and monsters that want to trick you to your death. It isn’t natural for people to go to the land of the dead and come back alive, so…the Flames Below claim all who try.”

We all sat silent, absorbing Akina’s ominous words.

Shaddan patted a line of golden suns stitched into his emerald leather breastplate—honestly, did he sleep in his armor? “I’ve already been through Hell and back on the battlefield, miss. The Flames Below are nothing.” He hesitated, then set his hand gently on her head, as if she were a puppy. “I have no real intention of hurting your brother, or anyone else here, as long as they don’t get in my way. My people…We need the Voidtome to right all the wrongs that the Humans have inflicted on us, and I refuse to return empty-handed.”

Akina cocked her head. “Don’t be stubborn. You’re no good to your people dead. Joining forces with Calinia, Ashkade, Reiven, and Zephra will give you all a better chance of surviving down there.”

He blinked like he couldn’t figure out how to respond.

She confidently grabbed his hand and waved at Jin and Calinia. “We should go. You all need to get to sleep. You have an important day tomorrow.”

Before she dragged him away, Shaddan met my eyes and wordlessly tossed over the Sirensteel pendant he had stolen from Reiven when we encountered each other in Redsand Cove.

“Thank you, Shaddan,” I mouthed, pulling it over my head as the four of them left.

It felt so quiet without them, but I couldn’t help but be glad for a moment alone with the two people I had started this journey with. With a gentle tug, I pulled both of them over to the balcony overlooking the island, out into the stuffy nighttime air. The volcano jutted into the darkness, the smoke streaming from the mouth lit orange from below, an imposing presence tacitly threatening the city. Very little sound carried into the night, save for a brush of warm wind and the quiet, distant song of the waves.

Reiven focused on the volcano and spoke softly. “Both of you, remember…you can't trust anything down there. So stick together, and if anything happens to me, keep each other safe.” He gave us both an odd, wan smile that felt far removed from his usual confident one. A note of melancholy threaded his voice.

I studied his face, trying to interpret the uncharacteristic stoicism I saw there, but Ash spoke up before I could ask what was wrong.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Your Highness,” he said, his tone icy. “About that thing your aunt said in the throne room…that you ‘signed your own death warrant returning here.’”

Reiven laughed nervously. “Don’t worry about that.”

A horrifying realization dawned on me. The reason he was being quiet and examining me so closely in the bedroom. It had completely slipped my mind in the excitement and relief of confessing I loved him, and the blinding pleasure of the time we shared.

“Is it true? Are you…” I turned around to face him, relieved that he put his arms around me, because I might crumble if he gave me the answer I was expecting. “Are you going to die when we leave Hell, if you don’t break your curse first?”

My words hung in the air like the shadow of a storm cloud. Reiven’s expression didn’t change, but fear mounted in my heart every second I stared back at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

Ashkade seethed beside us. “Even if you couldn’t tell us that you’re a Mourner, you should have stayed on the ship! If comin’ back to the island was gonna kill⁠—”

“What, let both of you go into Hell alone? If one or both of you didn’t come back because I wasn’t there to protect you, what’s the point of me living?” Rei snapped back. “I promised I’d keep you safe, Ash!”

His young employer gripped his crutch until I thought it might snap. He swung it at Reiven’s leg, face twisted in all the righteous anger that bubbled up inside me too. “Don’t you dare put this on me.”

Ash stalked back inside without casting a glance behind, leaving Reiven and I in silence.

My lips trembled as he crushed me within his embrace, arms so warm and safe I never wanted to leave them. But my body and heart were being hollowed out by the horrible future painting itself across my mind. Black and red smeared together. Blood-spattered dark hair, lifeless eyes and pallid skin. If we didn’t do something, it was almost certain we would lose Reiven tomorrow.

I took a deep breath and tried to say his name.

“Tonight has been perfect,” he whispered. That gloomy smile splintered the neutrality he plastered across his face, probably for my benefit. “Perfect. You told me you loved me, Zephra. I committed to memory the way your body feels, how your lips taste, the crack in your voice when you moan for me. I’ll always remember your smile and how your touch ignites my heart. And I was able to reunite with my siblings too, so if I think about it…this has been the best night of my life.”

The best…last…night of his life.

I shook my head, but he took my face in his hands to keep me still, pressing his forehead against mine. Rei exhaled slowly. “You and Ash are going to return the Voidtome to the Sirens. He’ll work to bring some semblance of peace to the world, and you’ll go home to the Abyssal Deep.”

My chest ached. “And…you?”

“I’ll be dreaming of you.” His voice was too even. Like he wasn’t speaking about his own death. “Spending eternity in the memories of your love. My mind will always return to the time we spent on that island together.” His smile widened, even as tears crawled down my cheeks. “If that was my forever, watching the sun dip into the ocean with you in my arms…putting island flowers in your hair, listening to you sing…infinity will be bliss.”

Reiven carefully brushed my tears away, continuing to give me that tragic smile that felt all kinds of wrong. The pretty picture of eternity he painted for himself—none of it would be real. He’d be dead, trapped in Hell with the rest of the lost souls. Maybe he’d manage to lock his mind away in that fantasy he spoke of, but there was no true happiness there. Only an ending he didn’t deserve. An ending I refused to accept.

“I had hoped you’d sing me to sleep, love.”

I glared up at him. “No. You can’t make me fall in love with you only to leave me with nothing but an empty heart. There has to be a way for us to save you.” My mind raced with possibilities. Dark magic maybe? Something told me he wouldn’t want to sell his eternal soul to save his mortal life. The Voidtome? No, it nullified Spirit magic, but curses were far removed from that. I thought back to the one thing Tamayo and Jin had said would end his curse. “What exactly is…lifeblood? Could we⁠—”