Page 38 of The Fallen Fae King

After my family’s death, she thought that she could tame and control me.

Nebet from the Scarlet Temple thought the same thing first, turning me into an assassin, long before Ruin and his cult transformed me into the sacrifice for the Void, after the disappearance of my twin.

But where is Nebet now?

I slaughtered her, staining her own altar with her blood.

I am going to teach Isis that she was wrong to try to leash a king.

Before I die, I will take my kingdom back.

In my feral rage, large leathery bat wings burst out of my back as I partially shift.

Shadows ebb and flow at my wings’ edges, as if they’re trailing the night with them.

I grab the massive bronze loop on the front of the door, which is shaped like a crocodile biting its own tail. When I pull, it awakens the door.

Deep within the stone, a hidden mechanism groans like something ancient shifting beneath water. Then the doors part, revealing darkness apart from flickering lights above underground pools.

Cool air scented with lotus and incense spills out across my bare chest and arms.

I take a deep breath, attempting to find my Omega by scent. The heavy perfume in Crocodile House, however, makes it impossible.

No doubt on purpose.

I prowl inside, steeling myself against my memories.

I have never willingly visited Isis’ territory before.

I was only ever summoned to Crocodile House to be chastised. It is a place of punishment and shame, where Isis hurt me in private, while pretending to be my kind mother in public.

Her love was fake.

Please, on the Shadow Devils, don’t let my nestmates’ love be fake as well.

I stalk through the immense, covered courtyard. I wind through the sandstone columns, which are carved like entwined crocodiles and serpents. The columns hold up the low ceiling.

The ceiling is painted blue. It is studded with thousands of silver inlays like a false night sky below the city of Sheut.

I cross the interconnected network of sacred pools on the stone walkways. When I glance down at the black mirror of water, a crocodile answers my call.

She drifts closer to me with a powerful sweep of her tail. Her armored scales break the surface of the water. The lantern light ripples across her jagged back. Then her snout emerges with its rows of pale teeth.

Her amber, predator eyes fix on me.

Silently, I command her to follow me.

One of the strictest roles in the House of Crocodile is that I don’t use the Power here.

Fuck the rules.

And fuck the House of Crocodile; it bathes in its own blood today.

“Hor!” I roar. “Where are you? Return my blood bond. I have stood before the Void Devils, staring into the abyss. I have watched visions of the destruction of the realms under Hadrian’s fire. I have seen my ancestors die repeatedly, simply for being born with the gift of the Power. Do you truly think that adding your blood to the crimson history staining my hands will weigh on my soul?”

My hackles rise, when Horus’ light laugh rings out, echoing around the covered courtyard.

I spin.