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“Interesting, isn’t it, that the only two who survived the Fae purge were chaos and corruption?”
More interestingthat the Fae managed to kill five immortal gods. Now that I was past my initial shock, my mind was starting to finally work. I replayed that awful vision again, trying to block out the flash of blinding pain when the rocks crushed me.
The panic—because the illusion felt so real.
There had been five gods in that vision, facing the Fae army.
And what a coincidence, none of them were the Oracle or her brother. I highly doubted the Fae had the capability to cleave the entire side off a mountain and crush a god, much less five of them.
I pursed my numb lips. “This is all very interesting, but why am I here? Why not Raziel or Zor?”
“You know why I brought you here, Anaria. Because you are the fulcrum upon which everything is balanced. Because you are a child of two worlds who controls the greatest power in our world.” I didn’t even try to puzzle out that last part, unless he was talking about the two kings.
“You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
A sound that could mean a hundred different things issued from the darkness. “My name is too long for mortal tongues, but you may call me Corvus, if you wish.”
“And you haven’t answered my question. Why did you bring me here?”
“Because my sister is a thieving traitor, who trapped me, then took the three realms for herself.” The owner of the voice crept out of the darkness behind that slithering voice and I turned into an empty husk as breath left my lungs, thoughts vanishing from my head.
Fuck. The sight paralyzed me. Corvus was a mixture of the grotesque and the beautiful. Snarled, creeping vines that became writhing shadow, incorporeal yet there was recognizable form to him, a colossus of darkness charged with dark fire.
Ancient, dark, incomprehensible.
No mouth, no eyes…no face. Just a presence. And a mass that would dwarf either king’s throne room.
Those rotten smelling shadows crept toward me in fits and starts, as if they were afraid to come any closer. I let magic pour from my hands, starlight stolen from the heavens, and the darkness shrank back.
“What do you want?” Even after scraping together every scrap of courage, my voice came out high and thin, instantly carried off by the wind.He was…He was…Oh gods, I had to get out of here.
“Return the magic to me and I will give you everything you’ve ever desired.” That cajoling voice made promises that every part of me wanted to accept.
“And what do you think I desire?”
“A world free of chains and prisons and collars. Equality. Freedom.” Silken, tempting words, dripping with possibility, flowed from his mouth like wine.
He might as well have peered into my head and checked off my to-do list about changing the world. Everything I’d ever dreamed of accomplishing was laid before me.
All I had to do was say yes.
“Why would you do anything for me? According to your sister, we’re just minions meant to do her bidding.”
“What do I care if the inhabitants of this world are miserable or happy?” Corvus’s enormous, vaporous form expanded like a spring storm cloud. “My sister seeks to control everything; I have no such ambitions. I want what you want, Anaria. Peace. Prosperity. Tell me your wish, and I shall grant it.”
Perhaps Corvus thought I would fall for his pretty words. That he could offer me everything I wanted, so easily, and I wouldn’t look deeper.
But I’d been promised many things before, and those promises were always a trap.
“Once she is gone, you will be free.” His crooning voice thrummed with power. “No more responsibilities, no more weight on your shoulders. No more wars. Your kind will be safe, going about their small, meaningless lives. Our paths will never cross again.”
“In return for peace, all I have to do is give you this?” I lifted my hands, dripping with stardust. “So you can kill the Oracle? A god, who’s existed since the beginning of time?Your sister?”
“Why should she be allowed to live?” Arms that weren’t really arms rose then dropped in a mockery of a human shrug. “She trapped me here for a thousand millennia. Ensured I could never leave. Capable of only small magicks, like bringing you here.” His admission only told me the Oracle was stronger than her brother, and probably smarter, too.
Only a fool would admit their vulnerabilities.
“Do you knowwhyI have those dreams? Your sister made me a slave in a world where I had no value other than a commodity to be used up, or as prey for bigger predators.” I tipped my head back and stared up and up and up.
