Chapter 15
SELENE
The wind whips my golden hair, carrying the scent of jasmine from the bushes that line the walkway to the overlook.
My hands grip the marble railing as I try to steady myself from the rush of power that swells in my chest. The two suns hover below the horizon just beyond the sea.
Invisible to all, but on full display for me.
They sing loudly, begging to be pulled from their slumber early.
The skin on my arms prickles in the morning twilight. I take another deep breath, feeling the tug of another sort of magic swelling in my blood. He’s near—and just in time.
A dark mass of shadows swirls in my peripheral before giving way to the corporeal form of the Dark God of Death. I exhale a sigh of relief, relaxing into Drayven as he wraps his arms around my shaking body.
“Do you have him?” I ask, closing my eyes and savoring the icy chill of his skin.
“I do.” Drayven’s nose grazes the shell of my ear, sparks alighting within me.
I turn in his hold, breathing in his scent. My hands roam over his arms, memorizing the curve of every muscle of his perfectly honed form as I prepare to say goodbye.
“What the fuck?” Nina’s voice cuts through Death’s intoxicating haze.
I snap my head in her direction. The Goddess of Flame’s eyes burn into me as she screams in the moonlight.
“You fucking traitor!”
“Nina, no. I’m—”
“Save it, Selene.” Rage burns in her every movement as she rushes towards me on the stone path.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you? All this time you were playing me.
I saw you on your knees before the God King.
You begged to speak with him alone…and you begged so fucking well.
” Nina scoffs. “I should have known then, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. That’s why I followed you from his chambers… only to find you with him.”
“It’s not—”
“What did you do with Nobus? And what the fuck is going on between you two?” She points from me to Drayven and back again.
My eyes bounce between them as I weigh my response. Which answer is the most likely to further incite her rage? Which sin can I confess first that won’t make them both run away?
Nina doesn’t really care what’s happening with Drayven. Family doesn’t mean much to gods—for Creation’s sake, she didn’t even attend her own father’s funeral—so a betrayal from me shouldn’t hurt any more or less than if it came from any other member of the rebellion.
The flames that hover at the tips of Nina’s fingers are full of fury, but they spark with something far more dangerous. She still believes there’s a chance to escape the fate the God King has decreed.
“Selene.” Drayven grips my chin, turning my face to his. “Your sister asked you two questions and we are eager to hear your answers to both.”
“I…I…” Words tangle on my tongue as I place my final bet on which to divulge first. A risk, but one I have to take. “I made a bargain with Nobus.”
“You did what?!” Their voices are nearly in unison as both gods direct their ire at me.
“I gave him information in exchange for…” I wring my hands in anticipation of their fallout. After a shaky inhale, I breathe out the truth. “A way back home.”
“I don’t understand. What could you possibly give Nobus to convince him to grant that?” The Goddess of Flame steps closer. Anger still burns at the edges of her vision, the deity ready to strike if my answer doesn’t please her.
“Show her,” I say to Drayven. “Show her what we’ve done.”
“Selene,” he says solemnly. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” My skin tingles. I cut my eyes to Nina and see her fingers skate over her arms, too. The end of our time here has begun. “There’s nothing she can do to change it now.”
Drayven sighs in clear disagreement, not feeling the tell-tale sign of Nobus’ impending exile. The Dark God’s shadows fall away, exposing the sleeping form of the Prince of the Gods.
Nina gasps, the flames on her fingers extinguishing as she reaches out for the hovering young god.
“You kidnapped the prince?” she asks, pride overtaking her face.
“Not exactly.”
Nina holds up a hand, halting me as my correction falls on deaf ears. “Holy Creation. You may have just saved us, Selene. Nobus will never exile us if—”
“He will,” Drayven stops her. “He will exile all of you, alongside the prince and his mother.”
My gaze snaps to the Dark God. His hand grips mine, urging me to read between the lines of his next words.
“The heir will reunite the gods.”
Heir. His or Nobus’, we can’t be sure. And to speculate aloud would be to hand over information that I don’t fully trust my sister not to use to her advantage.
It’s a gut-wrenching truth, but it’s true all the same. Nina’s own ambitions will be the end of her one day and I cannot allow my child to be in her crosshairs.
“We didn’t defeat Nobus, but he still might. That’s why we have to take him with us, and why he has to have a way back home. But only the heir can use the doorway. That is what I begged Nobus for.”
“What did you tell him, Selene?” Drayven asks skeptically.
“I told him…” I swallow thickly, the admission sticking like honey in my throat. “I told him that one day his son would become trapped without the ability to get home. I just didn’t tell him when, where, or that I was the one taking him.”
The Dark God’s laugh booms through the night air, genuine amusement coloring his features.
“You crazy, beautiful fucking goddess.” He plants his lips on my forehead and I blossom in the light of his praise.
“Wait…you two have been working together the entire time?” My sister backs away from the prince, confusion still etched in her brow.
“Yes,” Drayven breathes against my skin. “And your sister’s actions will be the reason your little rebellion succeeds one day.”
“I’m sorry, Nina. I know you wanted it to be Mikais on the throne.”
“Ha!” Nina’s unexpected reaction startles me.
“This rebellion was a power grab. Mikais was just a means to an end. The Wolf God doesn’t hold a fraction of his brother’s power.
But if he could overthrow him, if he could dispose of Nobus for us, well…
we could easily place a better ruler on the throne. ”
Whether the child prince that hovers in the shadows will be a better ruler is yet to be determined. But if he grows up away from Nobus’ influence, he might have a fighting chance.
He could be kind. He could be merciful. He could have love in his immortal heart instead of hatred—and that in and of itself would be worth all this mess.
The ground under our feet trembles, causing Drayven to mask the child again. We lock eyes in the fleeting darkness, his emerald eyes shining in the first light of the rising suns.
“We don’t have much time,” I whisper.
“Flame,” Drayven growls as he takes my face between his ringed hands. “Give us a moment to say goodbye.”
Nina starts to reply, but before her words reach my ears, shadows encase us. Wispy bands of dark magic block us from the rest of the world as Drayven’s lips crash into mine.
Time fades into nothing as the god consumes me, body and soul. There is no inch of me that he does not devour, no part of me that is not thoroughly ruined.
A stabbing sensation throbs in my chest. I ignore it, pushing past the pain to kiss him deeper. It grows sharper and more intense by the second, as if I’m being physically, methodically cleaved in two.
I pull back from Drayven slightly, staring deeply into the eyes of the deity who owns all of me.
“Don’t go.” His whispered plea skates across my lips, but we both know there is no stopping what is coming.
“Promise me, Drayven.” The sensation intensifies, my time here rapidly diminishing. “Promise me that the next time you see me, you will take me home with you.”
Home.
No matter which realm my body lives in, my heart will forever be in the Under Realm. And one day my soul will be reunited, with it, with him, dwelling there for all eternity.
“Promise me you will live, my light.” Death’s lips caress my neck, urgent kisses coating my skin as our time together further depletes.
“I know you would die for me, but I need you to live for me now. Live for our daughter. Live for the future of the pantheon. Do whatever you must to ensure they succeed.”
The Dark God of Death places the Prince of the Gods in my arms. The tiny life inside my womb flutters frantically, the pulse of their connection evident even now.
A flare of viridian light forces me to close my eyes and stumble backward. Drayven moves, wrapping us in his stony embrace and pulling us against his granite chest.
“She is strong.” He chuckles. “But I would expect nothing less from a god of two realms.”
Drayven kisses the top of my head devoutly. He slips a silver ring from his pinky onto my thumb as the earth quakes again. “Hold tight to them, my light.”
“Drayven,” I plead against his neck.
Darkness of a different kind clouds my vision. Not the shadows of the dark master, but the obsidian fabric of space and time. Specks of light flicker into view— individual realms, each its own world. One glows brighter than the rest and I feel my internal compass train on its coordinates.
The beautiful face of the Dark God of Death fades rapidly from view, the feel of his hold disappearing by the second.
“I love you,” I call out in the darkness. “I think I have always loved you.”
Drayven dissolves into bleak nothingness as I tumble through the chasm of eternity with the Prince of the Gods clutched in my arms. The connection in our blood weakens as the distance between us increases. One thin strand remains, a single string tethering me to the deity.
What remains of my body evaporates as the whispered words of the Dark God of Death fill my head. “Alak ayo nora.”
All that I am is yours.