Chapter 4
LUKA
She’d summoned a godsdamn goddess.
Serafina, the goddess of dreams and stars. The consort of Arius. Tessa’s grandmother.
Luka stared at Tessa as she squared off with a First Goddess.
He should be furious with her. He was furious with her.
She’d once again, single-handedly, altered their plans.
But by the gods, he was also so fucking proud of her as she lifted her chin, waiting for the goddess to answer her.
It was going to fuck up everything. He could feel it in his bones.
She was about to do something wild and uncontrolled, and he was probably going to fight with her about it later, but in this moment, his chest swelled with pride.
“To start a genesis,” the goddess finally answered, her eyes softening a fraction as she held Tessa’s gaze.
A genesis?
The term nudged at something in the back of his mind, but then there was a hissed, “Mors!” from Blackheart that had him turning to his right.
Only to find the male on a knee. Cienna and Gia were in the same position. Looking at his father, he found him, Razik, and Eliza on a knee as well. The same way the Fae knelt for the Legacy Lords and Ladies.
Because they were the gods in Devram.
Luka had never had to do such a thing. It made sense, being in the presence of an actual First Goddess, but he didn’t like the idea of being on a knee with Tessa being so…
unpredictable right now. More than that, why in all the realms would he kneel before a being that had abandoned their world, leaving it to become what it was?
He’d kneel before someone he was loyal to, and that certainly wasn’t a fucking goddess.
Silver eyes slid to him as if she could hear his thoughts.
Her facial expression didn’t change. Her body language remained still.
That snake continued to glide around her.
He wouldn’t kneel before her, but he did give her the courtesy of being the first to break the stare, dropping his eyes and bowing his head as he would to a Lord or Lady.
Until the goddess said, “Xan, it has been some time.”
Luka’s head snapped back up, looking at his father.
“It has, Serina,” Xan answered.
Serina?
His father was on a first-name basis with her? Not only a first-name basis, but a familial name of endearment?
“Sargon is growing anxious,” Serafina said.
“Understood, my lady.”
What did he understand? He’d been so worried about Tessa and Theon these last weeks, he hadn’t had spare time to sit down and talk with his father about anything.
When they did talk, it was all of them trying to convince him they needed to go and stop wasting time.
Or rather, it was them trying to tell him he needed to deal with Tessa and convince her it was time to go.
A few more seconds of tense silence passed before the goddess said, “You all may rise.” Her gaze moved over them again, stopping to his right.
“Tristyn Blackheart, your dealings do not involve me, but I can still see your deepest desires and dreams. Taika will be interested in this report of events.”
Luka watched the male’s jaw tense, his fingers curling into fists at his sides, but he said nothing.
His father was a god. What sort of dealings did the male have with another goddess?
This was all getting too messy, and quite frankly, he didn’t care about their dealings or the mysteries of the gods.
The only thing he wanted an answer to was what she’d meant by a genesis and why Tessa was asking this of her in the first place.
Tessa was apparently in agreement because the bands of light at her wrists were glowing and snaking up her arms, only now there were flecks of darkness among the light.
“Enough,” Tessa snapped, stepping closer to the mirror once more. “This isn’t a reunion with souls who found their way to a realm you care nothing for. What did you mean ‘to start a genesis?’”
That’s our girl.
Luka thought it before he could stop himself.
Godsdammit.
Serafina refocused on her granddaughter, lifting an arm so the snake could coil around it.
“Devram was created millenniums ago,” she said.
“Much has happened since that world was cut off from the rest.” Silver eyes scanned the room again.
“And much history has been forgotten. If not forgotten, altered, depending on who is telling the tale.”
“Then how am I to believe anything you say?” Tessa demanded, her hands flying to her hair.
He wanted to step forward and stop her, but he hesitated, unsure why. He could say it was because she hadn’t asked for his help. That he was letting her do this on her own unless she asked for him, but he knew that wasn’t the only reason. His dragon knew it too, snarling internally.
She’s not ours, he snapped at the creature in his soul. She betrayed us.
Of course the possessive dragon side of him didn’t care. Once it claimed something, there was really no going back.
Which just made her an even bigger pain in his ass.
“You do not have to believe me,” the goddess was saying to Tessa. “But you summoned me for a reason, so I would gather you will, at the very least, listen to what I have to say.”
The power winding up Tessa’s arms flared again, but then Roan was there, rubbing along her legs, and her fingers sank into his fur. Grounding her. Giving her something to latch onto.
Luka ignored the guilt coiling in his gut.
Serafina’s eyes dipped to the wolf, a small smile lifting on her lips. “One of my son’s own,” she said.
“Roan is mine,” Tessa retorted. “As is Nylah.”
“Because you are of him,” the goddess answered simply.
Luka heard the scoff from Tessa before she said, “Tell me your version of history then, goddess.”
Serafina’s smile morphed into something tight and cold. A smile he’d seen on Tessa’s face more than once. “Careful, child. Family or not, I am still a goddess.”
“I do not care,” Tessa said. “I have been forgotten and discarded, used and abused. You think I have any care for what you are? For my own wellbeing at this point? I have nothing to lose anymore. I’ve already lost it all.
I am the villain in everyone’s story, including my own.
I am the excuse for everyone’s actions, and I am the power everyone seeks.
I stand at a crossroads. Salvation or destruction.
So either tell me why you chose your path or leave.
I will make a choice either way. You can decide if your knowledge is valuable enough for me to consider before I take that next step. ”
Serafina didn’t move. Didn’t blink as she studied Tessa.
And Luka found himself drawing closer. He hadn’t even realized his feet had moved, but he needed to see her face.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the cool iciness that he found.
There was no hesitancy. There was fury, but when wasn’t there anymore?
And her words? She’d once said things so similar, but she’d been different then.
Beat down by a world full of the wicked.
She was a villain because this realm had turned her into one.
The difference was now she didn’t seem to care. She was embracing all that she was.
Wild and untamed.
Chaotic and uncontrollable.
Powerful and vengeful.
“So much like your father. Wild and stubborn,” Serafina murmured.
“He abandoned me. I could not care less about him,” Tessa spat.
The goddess leaned in, as if she wanted to whisper into Tessa’s ear. “You are powerful, but you are not immune to my gifts, Tessalyn. Is that what you believe happened? That he wanted nothing to do with you? That he left you to the Fates?”
“Worse,” she sneered. “He left me alone. Everyone did. It is what I have lived and what I know. Alone in a damned world. Wishing someone would care…”
She trailed off, waiting for Serafina’s response, and Luka glanced at the goddess. Her lips were pursed, eyes glowing even brighter now, as if they were starlight themselves. Silver flames flickered in them. The same silver flames Scarlett could wield.
“Arius and Achaz used to be quite close. Like brothers,” Serafina said. “The first to emerge from the Chaos, they worked together in harmony, as was always meant to be. Keeping the balance.”
“You would have tipped the balance either way,” Tessa said.
Serafina’s answering smile was anything but joyful. “We were not the only beings to emerge from the Chaos. Arius and Achaz may have been the first, but other beings emerged after them. Some before the rest of us.”
“You speak of the World Walkers,” Razik cut in, drifting closer. The draw of new information pulled him in like a moth to a flame.
“The World Walkers were one of them, yes,” the goddess agreed.
“Who else?” Tessa asked.
“The dragons. The seraphs.” Her gaze moved from Xan and settled back on Tessa. “The Fates.”
“Are there more?” Tessa pressed.
“They are the main players,” Serafina replied.
“We all emerged with our own strengths. We were all meant to be a balance, but… We created. New stars. New worlds. But the World Walkers were the ones who could move most freely among the realms. The rest of us could do so, but there are costs for magic that is not inherently yours.”
“What does any of this have to do with choosing Arius over Achaz?” Tessa cut in.
“The World Walkers were just as powerful as the gods. While we had our own powers, so did they. They could also create worlds, and they could shift forms at will. The Fates warned of a coming imbalance, and as happens when one tries to figure out fate, destruction befell us all. War erupted between the gods and World Walkers.”
“The Everlasting War,” Eliza clarified.
Serafina nodded. “We were losing, and in our desperation, we thought if we could create a powerful child, stronger than any other being to exist…”
“You and Achaz were going to create… Why didn’t you?” Tessa asked, inching a little closer.