Page 8 of The Arcane God

“I didn’t think we would go back right away, but I thought we’d come up with a plan—come up with something—to try to oust Cole, but now…”

“Now what?” Ty asked, pushing him to finish his thought.

“Now you’re running away,” Turner said bluntly. “And it doesn’t seem like you have any plans of returning at all. Do you?”

Ty looked away from him then, kicking a hunk of snow at his feet—a telltale sign of his avoidance of a tough topic.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” Turner said.

“What do you want from me?” Ty asked roughly, snapping his head back up. “You want me to abandon my wife and child and go risk my life to overthrow Cole? You want me to put Ena in danger again? I can’t do that, Turner. I swore to her I’d never put anyone above her again.”

“I’m not asking you to put them above her, but they need you too, Ty. You can’t just leave them forever. You’re the heir.”

“I don’t want to be the heir,” Ty said, his anger rising along with Turner’s. “And besides, once Cole dies, it’ll pass to Zak, and then to you. You can be the heir if you want.”

“That’s fucking stupid, Ty, and you know it. Even if you weren’t the heir, you’re their leader. You’re the king they deserve. They need you.”

“Ena needs me. My child needs me. I will not abandon them, Turner. I know what that’s like, and I won’t do it.” It was clear Ty was upset now, but was trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake Ena.

Turner shook his head, looking away from his cousin—from the man he’d looked up to, practically idolized, for so long. He didn’t blame him. He knew this was a tough situation. But there had to be something he could do. Something besides just leaving everyone in the Underworld to whatever chaos Cole was undoubtedly putting them through.

“For the first fucking time in my life, I want to choose peace, Turner. Not chaos. Can’t you understand that?”

“Oh, I understand it, Ty. I just think you’re delusional for thinking that chaos won’t find us anyway.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, neither giving an inch to their impasse. Turner folded first, and turned his back on Ty, making his way towards the tent. It was late, and after all the events of the evening, he was tired. Clearly, he wouldn’t be able to make the man see reason anyway.

After kicking off his boots, he made his way into the dark tent. He could hear Ena breathing deeply as he settled into the far side, leaving space for where Ty normally slept in the middle.

As he lay there, trying and failing to sleep, he worried that maybe he’d been too harsh on his friend. He knew this was tough. And it wasn’t like he didn’t care about Ena—he’d come with them on this fool’s journey to make sure their child was safe, hadn’t he? But still, he wanted something—anything—to show that Ty had a plan for the Underworld after all this was over. But the man clearly had his head so far up his own ass about it, he couldn’t see daylight.

Maybe it was Gaia, maybe it was Ena, but something had changed in Ty, and he just hoped that whatever it was, it didn’t leave their friends in danger forever. Because deep down, Turner knew.

Bad things were happening in the Underworld.

Chapter Four

Steig

Two weeks ago

The passageways of the Underworld were dark as Steig made his way back to his chambers. It was the middle of the night, and most daemons were still asleep, blissfully unaware of the absolute clusterfuck that the Underworld had descended into.

And all he could think was: what in the fuck was he supposed to do now?

Cole had backed him into an Iblis-damned corner, and he knew it. He’d had to agree. There was no other choice.

Right?

Fuck. He needed to talk to Lara about all this—but it was so fucking hard to concentrate with this new…thing inside him.

Gaia. This perception of the balance, the peace, the…stability around him. Where before there was only chaos, disruption—the jarring back and forth of the world, an eternal struggle—now he noticed the balance in all things. The way they fit together, waxed and waned, in a perfect, endless rhythm.

It was so weird.

But what was weirdest of all was that Ty, Ena, and Turner had clearly done it—they’d broken the bond. He was incredibly curious how they’d managed to get a witch from each Coven to participate, and he hoped one day they’d all be reunited again so they could regale him with what was no doubt a harrowing tale—but right now, he was being sent out as their enemy. And he didn’t know how the fuck to even begin to handle that.

Opening the door to their chambers, he quietly walked into their dimly lit family room to find Lara sitting awake at their large dining table.