Chapter 60
60
I dragged myself up from the floor of Alastor’s chamber, skimming my fingers across the second marking on my neck. Using a broken shard of mirror, I took in the rose tattoo with petals falling like drops of blood with ease. What difference did it make when in a matter of minutes, my entire world had turned upside down?
Alastor was nowhere to be seen. Shoving steel into my veins, I walked to the door and rested my hand on the knob. I didn’t want to see Ezra. I didn’t want to look into those eyes and feel every ounce of truth he’d kept from me. I didn’t want to know why he’d come here. Or how, when I’d left him behind in Death’s Court. I only wanted space. Or to escape.
With a deep sigh, I swung the door open, surprised to see gray skies and cobblestone streets. I stood there for a long moment, letting the reality of my situation sink in. Alastor, in his twisted way, had granted me a bittersweet mercy. By giving me a different path to take, away from the man I’d thought I was falling for, he’d spared me the agony of facing Thorne. No, Ezra.
Questions swirled through my mind. The weight of betrayal pressed down on my shoulders as I began to walk, my feet carrying me aimlessly through the winding streets. He’d killed me. A past life version of me, anyway. He’d walked into that room, looked at a woman that’d loved him so purely, so fully, and stabbed her in the back. Because I was the Hunted and the Huntress, but he was the Hunter.
I’d also seen him cry, though. I’d felt him holding Winter’s body and sobbing as hard as Archer had this morning at Harlow’s graveside. And these people had known him for a lifetime. Not months. Nothing made sense. Not a fucking thing. In fact, it made less sense than it had this morning when I had no clue at all what the hell was happening.
And I think the only way I was going to be able to work it all out was to go back to the beginning. Back to a little boy with an eerie grin and a penchant for snatching stories. Luckily for me, maybe unfortunately for him, I knew exactly where to find the little fucker.
The streets weren’t packed with Cimmerians, but they lingered as they always had. I’d learned the rooftops were a far less likely place to run into them. I crossed the city almost effortlessly, though it did take time. I tried not to think of how long Thorne had waited in the Vale for me. Didn’t think about the little golden book that’d been stolen, nor how it would have heated my thigh the moment he figured out I wasn’t coming back out to meet him. Minimally, he’d lied. Though something told me that barely scratched the surface of truths he had to tell.
The little boy stood under an umbrella, hopping from puddle to puddle as he counted out loud, singing a children’s song about numbers. I strode forward. The boy remained oblivious, lost in his innocent play. I grabbed him by the collar of his coat, dragging him closer until we were face to face.
I couldn’t help the snarl. “Hey! Remember me?”
The boy’s eyes went wide with shock and fear, his small body stiffening in my grasp. His umbrella tumbled to the ground, forgotten, as he stared up at me with a mixture of confusion and terror. “I—I don’t—” he stammered, his lower lip trembling. “I’m sorry.”
I lifted a brow. “It’s not nice to tell lies.”
“Please, miss. I don’t know you. I swear it!”
The boy’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. A flicker of doubt crept into my mind, but I pushed it aside, too consumed by the anger raging within me.
“You know exactly who I am. You stole my story, remember? In the marketplace, when I first arrived in this godforsaken city. You took my memories of being in love.”
The child shook his head vehemently, tears now spilling down his freckled cheeks. “N—no, miss. I swear on the gods, I’ve never seen you before. Please, you’re hurting me!”
“Paesha. Stop.”
Ice raced through my veins. My chest tightened as I released the little boy and spun toward Thorne… Ezra… whatever. Whoever. “Don’t you fucking talk to me. You’re a liar. And I think you made a bargain with the Keeper of Memories to trap me here. You’re a monster.”
He stepped forward, eyes heavy and full of sorrow. “I can explain.”
“No.” Another familiar voice crooned, taking my side. “You’ve told enough lies.” Alastor. The tattoos on his neck and arms writhed as he stood at his full height, glaring at Ezra.
The liar lowered his chin, glaring daggers at Alastor. The tattoo from their bargain rippled on his neck as if reminding him who was in debt to whom. Still, he growled, “This has nothing to do with you. Leave us.”
I couldn’t help but feel the power behind his command. The connection to him even now when I didn’t trust him at all. I cursed my weak heart and stood my ground as Alastor fought back.
“This has everything to do with me. Or have you forgotten she wouldn’t be alive if not for my help? Nor would she have been rescued if not for my spies. She owes me two more names and it’s time to collect on the third.”
But I didn’t have a third name. I hadn’t had time to find another soul. And I was done standing in the middle of half-spoken conversations and implied meanings. I stepped away from both of them.
Thorne moved to stop me, grabbing my elbow, but I jerked away from him. “No. I’m not going to be a pawn in whatever game the two of you are playing.”
“No one is playing games. I’ve told you this,” Ezra said, his tone firm.
“You will take your fucking masks off when you speak to me. No more lies.”
But Alastor didn’t move. Didn’t flinch at all, nor tear his gaze from the man I thought I’d loved… twice. “Give her the name.”
I whipped my attention back to Thorne. “You? Do you have a broken soul? Are you…” My legs turned weak. I had to fight to remain standing. “If you have a choice to show it… it means… You’re a god? And you knew. You knew I needed your name, and you kept it from me. You really did try to trap me here.”
He took a step toward me, but I matched it, moving back. “Paesha. Darling. All of this is for you. Every life. Every choice. It’s all always been for you.”
I couldn’t hear another word over the ringing in my ears. I stared Thorne right in the face, almost numb and Alastor knew. He’d planned for it. His Remnants surged from him, smothering my body, rippling, seeking the name from my lips.
“Give me the name,” Alastor commanded.
“Thorne Noctus,” I whispered, though I knew it wouldn’t work. Still I’d tried, desperate to be wrong. For the betrayal to hurt less.
Alastor shook his head. “I need his real name.”
I swallowed, staring deep into those beautiful hazel eyes as I whispered, “Ezra Prophet.”
For a heartbeat, the world stopped. The Remnants froze. My heart ceased to beat. And as if it were from somewhere far, far away, Alastor whispered. “Wrong again.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Alastor commanded Thorne. “If you want to save her, give her your name, Keeper.”
I stared at the man across from me as if I were drowning and he was the only hand reaching for me. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want a thing from him. But I had no choice.
A sliver of black rippled around Thorne’s figure, confirming his broken soul before it melted into bright, vibrant gold. “My name is Reverius Hawthorne Noctus, Supreme Sovereign, the Unerring Arbiter of Beginnings and Endings, the Keeper of All Realms, the Keeper of Memories and I’m so fucking sorry.”
The god of a thousand names.
The one I’d made the bargain with.
I’d seen him stand before Ezra in Death’s court, but not really. I’d only seen a glowing light. Never a man. Never a form in the shape of a man. Because he’d been one and the same. A trick. A manipulation. Ezra was Thorne and Reverius. Three names and all the lies.
Overcome with betrayal and shock, I could do nothing but repeat his name in a choked whisper, “Reverius Hawthorne Noctus.” The words felt foreign on my tongue, a name belonging to a stranger wearing the face of a man I thought I loved.
The Remnants surged forward, their inky tendrils burning into the back of my neck and down my spine like white-hot brands. Pain exploded behind my eyes as the world tilted and spun. I tried to scream but no sound escaped my lips. The ground beneath my feet dissolved, colors blurring together in a sickening swirl until there was nothing but blinding white light.
With a jolt, I was wrenched from my body and thrust into another time, another place, another life.
The immediate heat, oppressive and all-consuming, burned into my skin. Sunlight beat down from a cloudless sky the color of bleached bone and sand stretched out in every direction, an endless expanse of shimmering gold broken only by towering dunes and the occasional skeletal remains of dead trees.
I stood next to Thorne in this barren wasteland as he held my hand, the dry wind whipping at the thin white shift that clung to my sweaty skin. The air shimmered with heat, distorting the horizon into a wavering mirage. Thorne’s eyes were filled with a love so deep, so pure, it stole the breath from my lungs when he faced me. I wanted to scream at myself to run. Not to trust him. But I was frozen, watching through her eyes with no other freedoms as the memory played out.
With reverent fingers, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a ring, the metal glinting in the harsh desert light. It was a simple band, unadorned save for the intricate engraving of a flame etched into its surface.
“Marry me,” he whispered, his voice raw with emotion. “Marry me and I swear, I will spend the rest of my days filling your life with wonders beyond imagining.”
Tears blurred my vision as he slid the ring onto my finger, a perfect fit, as if it had always been meant to rest there. The metal was cool, a balm against the oppressive heat, and in that moment, I felt a joy so profound, and a love so deep, it rocked me. Because it was all a godsdamn lie.
He surged forward, capturing my lips in a searing kiss that solidified every ounce of love, every shred of devotion I’d held in my heart into the press of his mouth against mine. His arms came around me, crushing me to his chest.
When we finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against mine. “Say yes, darling.”
“So commanding,” I whispered with a smile before nodding. “I would say yes in a thousand lifetimes, my love.”
“Then I vow to find you in every one, just to hear it. And I will love you in every one, just to feel your heart beat with mine.”
As I stared into his eyes, lost in the depths of his love, the shimmering heat at the edge of my vision rippled, taking on a more solid form. Slowly, as if stepping out from behind a veil of mist, another figure emerged.
My heart stuttered in my chest as I realized it was also my beloved. Another of him, identical in every way to the man who held me in his arms. The same tousled dark hair, the same chiseled features, the same broad shoulders and wide muscular frame. But where my love’s eyes were filled with adoration, the other man’s gaze burned with fury.
I looked between the two men, my mind struggling to comprehend what I was seeing. This must have been a trick of the desert heat, a cruel mirage conjured by the unforgiving sun.
“Rev?” My former self whispered, my voice trembling as I clung to the man who had just pledged his eternal love. “What’s happening?”
He’s a liar , I wanted to scream. That’s what’s happening. But I couldn’t. I was trapped. Forced to watch and feel another tragedy at the hands of angry gods.
Before he could answer, the other man took a step forward, his hand reaching behind his back. In one fluid motion, he drew a sleek, black bow, nocked an arrow and let loose.
“Brother, no!” Reverius screamed, his voice raw with desperation as he tried to shield me.
The word ‘brother’ echoed in my mind like the chime of a clock as I was ripped from the vision. But not to stand back on the street with two warring gods. No. That would have been too damn easy. And clearly the Goddess of Time had to have her hand in the chaos too. Because why the fuck not?