Chapter 38
Iris
The carriage—or better said, the prison on wheels—rattles as it hurtles over another pothole.
I grunt when the metal bars dig into my lower back.
It feels as if the rapid clip-clop of the horse’s hooves is stomping on my brain rather than the grass.
I don’t know if it’s because of what has now become normal migraines or because of the blow I received to the temple.
To top it all off, I don’t remember ever being so tired in my entire life.
It goes further than bone deep. The chains they shackled us with are not only spelled to tighten at the slightest attempt of removal, but they also suck the energy out of you.
And it’s all made worse by the way my stomach is sticking to my spine.
They only gave us small portions of water—enough to keep us alive but not to satiate the thirst in this sweltering heat.
And why would they feed us? We’re going to be executed like the human rats they think we are, anyway.
They can all go fuck themselves.
Especially their commander.
“If we somehow manage to escape, and I ever tell you again that I’m going on a diet, you have my permission to stab me.
Multiple times,” Sam half mumbles–half whispers from beside me because Thalia is finally asleep, curled up between us, her head resting in Sam’s lap.
She has been in a state of shock since they shoved us in here three days ago and hasn’t said a word or slept. Understandably so.
“How’s the eye?” I ask in the same low tone while I squint against the glare of the broiling sun to scan her face. At least she can open it a smidge. But the area around it, aside from being an angry deep purple, is still swollen.
Fuck me. I’m regretting the decision to wear my hellseeker gear after we bathed in that creek. It feels as though I’m cooking from the inside out on high heat.
“Not much different since you last asked twenty minutes ago. Seriously, I’m okay. Stop worrying about me.” She blows out a weak, frustrated breath. “Your hand?”
“Eh, I’ve had worse. But it still hurts like a bitch.
” Those accelerated healing abilities would come in real handy right now.
Being reduced to nothing more than a human sucks ass.
I guess I never realized how good I had it before because my injuries would never last this long.
The gash on my cheek is starting to scab, and the itchiness is driving me up the wall.
It’s incredible how something so small can be this annoying.
Raising both of her shackled hands so she can wipe the perspiration beading her forehead, she adds, “Gah, I would kill for an extra-large pepperoni pizza right now.”
“Or some shrimp tacos from Tu Tia Loca,” I retort.
Malik lets out a painful, muted groan. He’s seated across from us between Kaiden and Rhett. “Or a burger and a cold beer.”
“Or a juicy steak and a salad,” Kaiden chimes in. They all look as exhausted as I feel, with cuts and various bruises marring their faces and bodies. Every time Kaiden glances at the side of my face, where that asshole punched me, his jaw—which is still swollen—turns into an iron bar of tension.
“A salad? Dude,” Sam scoffs. “Salad as a comfort food is a fucking crime against humanity.”
“Throw some mac and cheese at me, and I’ll be a happy camper.” We all turn toward Rhett, who did a piss-poor attempt at a Southern accent. A good chunk of his left eyebrow and the lower half of his shirt have been burned off in the fight. At least he still has eyelashes.
I huff a laugh. “How very American of you.”
“Are you going to finally tell us what that prophecy said?” Kaiden inquires, his tone losing all traces of humor.
I flick my gaze to the two soldiers guarding our wheeled cell at the rear of the small convoy.
They’re on the verge of nodding off in their saddles, so I don’t think they’re listening.
Glancing down at Thalia, I observe the steady rise and fall of her chest. I’ve been worried that talking about the prophecy would agitate her, given everything that happened after…
But if I’m being completely honest, that is just an excuse.
I don’t want to talk about the prophecy because the implications are a bitter pill to swallow—scratch that, they’re more a boulder the size of China.
Swallowing thickly, I finally say, “Yeah.”
I recite the prophecy for them. I’ve repeated it so many times in my head these past days, trying to decipher its meaning, that I know it by heart.
“Daughter of Starlight and Shadows…where have I heard that before?” Sam asks when I finish.
“It’s from the book about ancient demons Iris bargained for with a dark witch,” Kaiden cuts in. I can almost feel the wheels spinning in his head at the speed of light while his brows furrow.
“Oh yeah. What did it say again?”
Kaiden recites it before I can:
“‘Beware of the shadow that lurks in the dead of the night. It whispers of forgotten souls and eclipses the light of life.
“‘Beware of the nocturnal wind that carries the mournful wails of those denied peaceful rest.
“‘Beware the dying breath, for the umbra seeks to ensnare those who linger between worlds, compelling them to a never-ending, soul-stealing twilight.
“‘No escape shall be granted, for the umbra’s grip tightens, and the stolen souls become eternally entwined in the ominous dance of celestial thievery.
“‘A cosmic cataclysm, foretold in the shadows and unleashed at the hands of the Harbinger of Death, the Daughter of Starlight and Shadows.’”
“The twenty-third circle of life,” Sam muses, quoting Thalia’s prophecy.
The color in her cheeks drains in slow increments.
“Wait…you’re twenty-three. The umbra came through the Hell portal right on the night of your birthday.
And when Erik attacked you at Sin, you said shadows started emanating from your body. ”
I nod, my lips pressed into a tight line.
“I don’t like where this is going,” she continues, worry etched in the lines around her mouth. “But, Iris, what if you are the Daughter of Starlight and Shadows?”
“The night Adrianna saved me, while I blacked out, I had another memory flashback. I was unintentionally eavesdropping on a conversation she and my mother were having when I was a kid. They were looking for an oracle because a seraph warned Mom about the prophecy…and she was desperate, I could tell. She said it was already difficult keeping me hidden because of my rising power.”
Kaiden’s accusing gaze grates on my skin like sandpaper. “You didn’t say anything.”
I huff. “And why should I? Because I trust you wholeheartedly?” I tilt my chin and raise an eyebrow at the way his nostrils flare. But his anger is only a thinly veiled mask because, behind it, there’s something else—pure, unadulterated fear.
So, he figured it out. At least, now I know he didn’t lie about this, too, because there’s also shock there. But what if he—
“When I first sent you the translation of the Enochian text, you said you weren’t sure what it meant. Did you suspect it had something to do with me?” I blurt out.
He sucks on his teeth but doesn’t say a word.
“That’s what I thought. Another lie to add to the list,” I snark. And once again, I’m bleeding.
“I didn’t lie,” he counters.
“Oh no, you didn’t. You were purposely vague. Bravo, you’re a true champion at skirting the truth.” I applaud mockingly. But my shackles hinder my movement, so it doesn’t have the effect I wanted.
“The prophecy is talking about the Hell gates, isn’t it?” Malik says grimly, cutting the suffocating tension. “And the Daughter of Starlight and Shadows is the key to opening them.”
“But that would jumpstart the Apocalypse,” Sam squeaks. The shock must have made her forget she replied to something Malik had said.
“‘A cosmic cataclysm, foretold in the shadows and unleashed at the hands of the Harbinger of Death, the Daughter of Starlight and Shadows,’” I repeat the last part of the text about the umbra demons. “Or the black death, according to the prophecy.”
What I don’t tell them is that among the bloodbath the Fates allowed me to see, I was at the epicenter, commanding the umbra demons to steal souls.
The silence is loaded—as if one of us stepped on a landmine.
Kind of funny that I’ve been struggling to find my place in the world when fate had already decided it for me hundreds of years ago—as a weapon of mass destruction.
I’m nothing more than a means to an end.
A pawn. The Universe’s punchline. I might seem apathetic on the outside, but I want to grab destiny by the throat and scream in its face.
It’s not fair.
It’s not fair.
It’s not fucking fair.
I would give away all my powers and live as a human for the rest of my life if it meant I wouldn’t be the Daughter of Starlight and Shadows anymore.
Malik pops a shoulder. “Hey, at least look at the bright side. You can’t exactly jumpstart the Apocalypse if you’re executed.”
I snort while Sam glowers at him.
“Shut the fuck up, or you won’t make it to the gallows,” Kaiden bites back, the vein on his temple pulsing as though it’s about to burst any second now.
Whoa. Way to make it awkward, Kaiden.
“It was just a joke, man. Calm down.” Malik turns to me, a sheepish smile pulling at his lips. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I thought it was funny.”
Determination steels Sam’s tone. “Well, I didn’t because I’m not accepting this as fate. We will somehow make it out of here. And the first blood moon in centuries will fall on New Year’s Eve, so we have a few months to figure out how to stop it.”
“The blood moon forces the veil between Hell and Earth to thin, right?” Rhett inquires, a stricken look on his face. This is quite a lot to take in, so no wonder he has stayed silent until now.
“Yeah, it’s wrongly believed that it happens every year on Samhain. While that’s true in Faerie’s case, if that happened with Hell, a lot more demons would breach through, causing massacres each year,” I answer.