Kiss of Death (Death #7)

Chapter 1

LILY

When one day of silence turned into three, I really started to worry.

Callum and I had never been apart that long, not even when he was angry with me.

If he were busy with his own burdens, he would at least stop for a minute and explain that to me so I wouldn’t worry.

He wouldn’t willingly ignore me for three days like this, especially when we stood on the precipice of battle.

In Callum’s absence, I realized the depth of our connection because I had no one else to talk to.

I was alone—and lonely. He was the person I shared everything with, the one person I could be myself with entirely.

When I needed to cry, he caught my tears.

When I needed to vent my frustration, he absorbed my flames.

And now, he was just gone.

It was early morning when I crossed to the other side of the castle and found my brother’s bedchambers. I knocked on the heavy door and took a step back to give him space…in case he had company.

I wished I’d had company last night.

“It’s open.”

I let myself inside.

He was seated in the sitting room, wearing nothing but his trousers and tousled hair.

A tray in front of him held a steel pitcher of coffee and a mug, along with a basket of fruit.

I hadn’t seen him shirtless since he was a boy and we would swim together in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall in the cliffs.

He was built like a bull, muscular and thick from training and carrying the weight of his armor constantly. Before Father had slipped beyond the veil, I’d thought of my brother as a petulant child, but now I realized he was a man.

“What is it, Lily?” he asked, his eyes tired like he’d only been awake for the last twenty minutes. He ran his fingers through his short hair then sank back into the armchair as if it was the end of the night rather than the beginning of the day.

I moved to the couch. “Are you okay? You seem irritated.”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “Just stressed. I hate sitting here waiting for the battle to begin. It just gives me more time to second-guess everything.”

“We’re as prepared as we can be.”

“And what if that’s not enough?” he asked as his eyes shifted to the cold fire. “Father used to criticize me constantly, but now, I would give anything to have him scrutinize my plans.”

“He used to tell me you would be a great general, so I don’t think he would have anything to criticize right now.”

He continued to stare at the fire. “I don’t know if we should move Dad to a secret location. Just in case they make it to the castle.”

“I’m not sure where that would be. It’s the highest point in the kingdom and difficult to reach without flight. And it’s the most fortified building in the Southern Isles. It would take many, many cannons to make it collapse.”

“But they’ll know exactly where he is.”

“Then we have to make sure they don’t reach the castle.”

He gave a nod before he turned back to me. “We’ve only made armor for a third of the dragons, and the forges have been running day and night. We’re running out of steel, so even if we had all the time in the world, it wouldn’t matter. Our resources grow thin.”

“If only half of them can fight because the other half have to keep our father alive, then that means more dragons will be protected than fewer, so that’s a win. We’ll let them decide who gets to wear the armor. It’ll be heavy, so some might not be used to the weight in flight.”

“I agree. Some of them may opt not to use it at all. That much steel is a hundred times heavier than a single rider.”

My eyes dropped to the stainless-steel pitcher of coffee, the lid closed to keep the contents warm. My heart suddenly felt heavier than the steel armor. “I haven’t seen Wrath in three days.”

Hawk said nothing for a moment. “Is that unusual?”

“Very.” I lifted my chin and looked at my brother head on. “He’s usually with me most of the time. He comes and goes often, but he’s still with me at least a third of the day. But three days of silence…has never happened before.”

My brother watched me with eyes so unlike mine, looking much more like my father with every passing year, and even more so now. “What does that mean?”

“I—I don’t know,” I said. “But I know he would never just abandon me.”

“You have no way to contact him?”

I shook my head.

“Then it sounds like we have to keep waiting.”

I remembered the dead island out in the sea, the trees withered and decayed from the forces of death beneath the ground. I’d provoked his presence just by being there, so I knew that was the equivalent of knocking on someone’s door. “I can contact him on that island.”

“That’s a long way away.”

“I know, but I’m certain that would work.”

“With war approaching our doorstep, we can’t afford to have you and Zehemoth that far away. You’re the queen, Lily. Your responsibility is to lead the Southern Isles now.”

The stress of Wrath’s absence started to eat me alive. I needed to know he was okay, that he was just busy with his duties as a god. He knew how terrified I was that he would leave me and never return. I’d made him promise to tell me if there would be a last time. “I’m worried about him.”

“Even if you get to the island and he doesn’t appear, what can you do about it?”

“I—I don’t know.” I was a powerful queen with the blood of Rothschilds in my veins and a horde of dragons loyal to me, but in the underworld, I was worthless. I didn’t have the power to travel there on my own, and even if I made it there…what would I do?

“You have to focus on the Southern Isles—and hope he comes back.”

My chin dropped, and I stared at my joined hands in my lap, my throat tight from the longing and fear.

He’d been at my side every step of this journey.

Protected me from the Barbarians in many ways and on many occasions.

I wasn’t sure if I could do this without him, the eyes in the back of my head, the god who could move me from one point to the next instantaneously.

And I wasn’t sure if I could do this without his unwavering belief in me.

“What happened…when he came to you?” I lifted my eyes to look at my brother.

He stared at the coffeepot, sunken and tired in the chair like he hadn’t slept a wink last night. He gave a quiet sigh before he straightened in the chair, his forearms moving to his knees. “He wanted to assuage my fears. Noticed the way I continued to question you about his agenda…over and over.”

“And he reassured you?”

He gave a dark chuckle. “Basically recited an epic poem about his undying love for you.”

The next breath I took hurt on the way in…and the way out.

“That there was no sacrifice he wouldn’t make for you, even to his own detriment. Someone might assume it was a ploy to gain my cooperation, but I don’t believe he could say all those things and not mean them.”

“He hadn’t even told me he loved me yet.”

“Seems like he’s loved you a long time, Lily.”

“Yeah…the feeling is mutual.”

He looked at me again. “We have more important matters to worry about and a conversation like this makes me inherently uncomfortable, but you must know this relationship can’t go anywhere, right?”

I stared at the coffeepot again.

“He’s dead…you’re alive. It just won’t work, Lily.”

“I’ll find a way,” I said simply.

Hawk stared at me with that hard look, like he wanted to say more but chose to let it lie. “I don’t think he would leave you willingly. So he’s either busy…or maybe something out of his control happened.”

“I don’t think I can do this without him, Hawk,” I admitted with a painful breath.

“You can, Lily.”

“You don’t understand. He’s been the eyes in the back of my head, taken me from one place to another in a flash, reported the events of battles, relayed the weak spots of my enemies, even revealed himself to save me.

He’s been the one keeping me alive this entire time.

” I felt like a fraud—not a heroic queen of the Southern Isles, but someone who took advantage of the powers of a god.

“He may have helped you, but he also taught you, Lily. If he doesn’t return, use everything you’ve learned to prevail. Do you still have the powers he gifted to you?”

The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d been too distraught by his absence to care about the gifts he’d shared with me. I looked down at my hand and tightened my fingers into a gentle fist, feeling how effortless it was. “Yes.”

“Then he’s still with you, Lily.”