Page 75 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

“You should’ve let him die,” Zephyr seethed, his lips curling as he waved his fist. “He doesn’t deserve our aid! You could’ve lost your gift, you foolish boy.”

But Raiden couldn’t bear it. He’d always been in tune with the gods, sensing their presence. Even now he could taste the cold bite of Thanos’ realm, as he had that day on the ship. He couldn’t bear the look on Kora’s face as Erick slipped into Thanos’ realm on Bone Rattler. He couldn’t bear the sound of her heart breaking as she’d cried up into the night sky, begging for Erick’s life.

33

Raiden

Chandeliers flared to life as Zephyr stormed through the cavernous infirmary, his indigo cloak billowing behind him with every long stride. For once, his infamously long white hair was braided and twisted into a tight knot at the back of his head. Bodies spilled from the open glass doorway, filled to the brim with healers, and Raiden stumbled at the wail emitting from the heart of the crowd.

“No! You’re not leaving me!”

Raiden’s mind screamed at Kora’s anguish. At her sobbing tears as he shouldered through the throng, discovering her body hunched over Erick’s. Pale lips turned blue as she shook him. Glistening wet tears splashed from her blazing eyes, her shoulder-length hair tousled from sleep, and a silk robe was all she wore.

Raiden stopped dead as he took her in. Even in grief, she was breathtaking. Her pure passion for life, for those she loved, seeped through with every shining tear. And they truly were shining, a subtle blue glow that bathed her a cool sombre hue.

“Erick!”

Raiden hesitantly approached her. The healers stood, observing in pained silence as Kora cried heart-wrecking waves of grief. They could do no more, Erick’s heart was no longer beating, his lungs no longer breathing.

Raiden had taken it away.

Even Sirona’s eyes welled briefly before she blinked, her face becoming the muted epitome of a healer’s calm grace.

“Clear the room,” Zephyr ordered. “He needs to be disposed of.”

“Don’t you fucking touch him!” Kora rounded, her stare furious. Raiden paused as her eyes and fingertips shone, her emotions channelling her powers that’d been brewing for over a week. Because he told her to rest. Because he wanted her power to grow. “Lay a finger on him and I will drown you where you stand, Your Majesty.”

“Threatening a king? Sounds like treason to me.” Zephyr smiled garishly and Raiden balked. But as Zephyr’s eyes landed on Erick’s body, his smile vanished, his complexion paling. His dark eyes frosted, his fingers curling as they did when his father had to control his anger.

They had been close, once. Zephyr, Erick, and Davy. Raiden remembered it well, those months had been one of the few times Zephyr had been . . . happy. He hadn’t chastised Raiden as much, hadn’t been so harsh or silver-tongued. Hadn’t looked upon his eldest son with such disgust and resentment.

But Erick had betrayed Zephyr, too. Not just with the ambush, or taking Kordelia, he had betrayed Zephyr’s trust and friendship.

And they’d lost Davy in the process.

“We had a deal, did we not?” Kora’s head cocked, her features feral. It was enough to spring life into Raiden. He tried to summon his power, desperate to tether his gift back to Erick’s collapsing lungs, but it didn’t budge. Not a single current of wind responded as his well of power shut off, rendering him useless.

“He died of natural causes. No one killed him,” Zephyr stated, his voice catching at the end. He cleared his throat. “Our deal still stands. You are to deliver Barron’s head to me on a spit for all I care. As long as he’s dead.”

“Scared to face him yourself?” Kora taunted.

Raiden had killed Erick. He’d given Kora false hope, made her believe he would survive, when really Raiden had delayed the inevitable. This would break her. All her progress now obsolete, the tide of grief ready to take her under to its deep trenches once again.

Zephyr paused in silence, raking his stare over Kora. “Say your goodbyes, Kora Cadell.”

Her face instantly crumpled, as though such a thing was unbearable. It hit Raiden in that moment just how much she’d bonded to Erick Cadell. How much he’d meant to Kora, and that she’d lived an entire decade with him, experiencing a life he’d only witnessed in flashes with a blind desperation to tear her from it.

“I’ll handle it,” Raiden spoke roughly to his father. “Leave it with me.”

Fleeting approval crossed Zephyr’s face. He approached Kora, but her protective growl was fierce enough for Raiden’s spine to heat. “I . . .” Zephyr paused. “Erick . . .”

Kora glowered. “You don’t know him. Don’t speak to him.”

Raiden’s jaw ground, his skin prickling, his heart thudding as Zephyr tensed. She would never know, not really. She would never remember. Raiden would go as far as saying Erick and Zephyr had been best friends. A rare friendship his father had refused to replace.

“Goodbye, Cadell.” He nodded to Raiden. “Sort it tonight.” And left the room without another word.

“You’ll do no such thing!” Kora snarled, a burst of charged energy flaring from her. Raiden froze. She was on the precipice of coming back to life after Blake’s destruction, his own relationship with her tentatively thawing from whatever strange avoidance she possessed towards him.