Chapter 7 #2
Raziel’s dark eyes held mine, steady and unflinching. “Because we are his blood. Our kind cannot kill our own.”
I frowned. “Your own?”
His lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Oberon is father to all of us—to me and my brothers. We were born from his divine essence, shaped to guard what he once ruled.”
Chait broke the silence. “But we can. We could kill him.”
Raziel studied him for a long moment, then his attention shifted back to me. “Maize can,” he said finally. “To kill a god, you need another god’s blood—and she carries that. At least one god’s…possibly two.”
I blinked, trying to process what he was saying. God’s blood, possibly two. There was no way…right? My heart sped up as I clenched my fists trying to keep from blurting out the ten million questions spinning in my head.
Kendhal spoke up. “Which, for the record, is illegal according to the God realm.”
Wonderful. Fucking wonderful.
“Is that why he mentioned my bloodline?” I asked after a moment, my tone strained and doing absolutely nothing to hide my surprise at the direction of the conversation.
Raziel tilted his head. “What do you know about your parents, Maize?”
I hesitated. “I assumed my father was Mario, but recently, it was revealed that my parents may be Cethlenn and—”
“Balor,” Raziel finished for me.
I nodded slowly.
“Balor is the one who imprisoned Oberon. His magic was the lock itself. Your god heritage gives you the unique power to end what your father began.”
Absolutely no pressure, then. Maker, I couldn’t even begin to understand how I’d found myself in this situation right now.
“None of this matters if we can’t find him—and as we mentioned in the letter, I don’t want him to know we’re coming,” Valerio pointed out. “Do you have any idea where to look?”
I knew Raziel said their magic couldn’t find him, but we needed something—anything—to go on.
Raziel exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “If I were you…” He paused in thought before suggesting, “I’d look in three places. The first two are within the Horde. One is a focal point of magic hidden deep within the mountains, and the second is the Pixie Circle.”
“We’ve been to the Pixie Circle recently, and we haven’t felt any disturbances otherwise,” Chait said.
“Then the third would be within the Dark Fae lands, in the mountains to the far east. The original resting place overlooks a valley. If Oberon’s prison is moving, it will eventually return there. That’s where I’d start.”
A cold ripple moved through me. The Dark Fae lands.
Even after everything I’d been through, just hearing the name made my chest tighten.
The last time I’d been there, I was a prisoner of war.
Now I would be returning to search for the god, the influence, that had brought Mario to his end through a corruption deeper than any common magic.
Valerio glanced at me, reading the tension in my shoulders. “It makes sense,” he said carefully. “If he fed off the Dark Fae’s energy, it would be the safest place for him to return.”
“I know.” My throat felt dry. “It just…isn’t exactly my favorite place.”
A complete understatement.
The Dark Fae kingdom wasn’t the same as it had been under my father. Vegas’s family ruled it now, and the Obsidian Butterfly units were stationed throughout to stabilize the borders. It was safe. Safer than it had ever been. So why did I feel a nervous sweat prickling on the back of my neck?
I looked toward Chait, then Maddox. “If we’re going back, we’ll need to contact Queen Gray to let her know. Maybe…maybe she can watch the boys while we’re gone.”
“I’m sure Cirdan and Brielle would be willing to check in as well,” Chait added, and Maddox nodded in agreement with the plan.
“I’ll send word ahead,” Valerio said.
Even with all that reassurance of protecting my family, the thought of returning to those bloodstained lands made my stomach twist and drop heavily.
But if Oberon’s prison was there—waiting for us—I couldn’t ignore it.
Raziel’s expression softened, a crack in his usual stoic mask.
“Understand this, Maize. Killing a god requires balance. To destroy one, you must offer something in return. If you end Oberon, you may have to surrender part of your own essence to fill the void he leaves behind.”
“Then we’ll anchor her through our bond.” Valerio’s response was immediate and filled with so much conviction that it almost made Raziel’s warning not seem so dire.
The ancient fae studied him for a long moment before nodding. “Let’s hope that’s enough.”
We didn’t stay for long after that.
Raziel’s words still echoed in my mind as Kendahl walked us to the door, her hand brushing my arm with quiet reassurance.
After promising to visit again, the warmth of the house faded behind us, replaced by the bite of the Nightmare Forest’s air.
For a long moment, none of us spoke, the silence heavy and thoughtful.
Valerio was the first to break it. “We’ll leave at first light. I have no doubt the boys will be welcome at the castle.”
Chait exhaled, his breath misting in the cold. “I don’t know why we didn’t consider going to the Dark Fae lands sooner.”
I knew why. Still, I nodded as the forest path opened ahead, and through the fog our carriage came into view. When the doors swung open and we climbed inside, the warmth of the cabin did little to ease the weight pressing down on me.
My head found Maddox’s shoulder as exhaustion from the day finally caught up to me, the rhythmic motion of the carriage lulling me under within minutes.
My head was burdened with questions, and when the world blurred outside the window, I let my magic drift outward in waves, searching.
Within my head, a space grew, like a vast empty corridor that soared through the universe toward our destination.
“Cethlenn,” I murmured, the word barely audible. “We need to talk.”
Apparently, that was all I needed to say.
The air cooled, and a shimmer rippled across the black glass floor. Everything went still for a beat, then light spilled into the space. It bounced off the walls and a figure took shape, delicate but unmistakably powerful.
“Maize,” she said in greeting, her voice carrying enough force to raise goosebumps. “You’ve begun to see the path ahead. You’ve had some answers, and now you want more.”
I was half tempted to make a sarcastic comment, because that was an understatement. Instead, I swallowed hard, my pulse thrumming with both magic and fear. “Then help me. Give me answers.”
As the moonlight was replaced by a soft glow, she made her way toward me, reaching forward and taking my hand. “Ask your questions.”
“f the boys are my brothers…” My voice trembled. “Are you my mother?”
The question was as clear as I could make it—no hiding, no hesitation. Just the truth I needed.
Cethlenn’s expression flickered between sorrow and pride. “Yes,” she whispered, the word ringing through the space around us.
My breath whooshed out of me as I nodded. “And my father?”
“Balor. Your creation was not meant to happen. The joining of two gods has broken rules put in place by the God realm.” I was torn between awe at her admission and frustration at her acknowledgement that what they had done was considered wrong—that I wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be.
“I don’t understand.”
“While we are gods, a species of beings from the God realm, your father and I have spent most of our existence in either the Druid realm or Demonic realm, neither of which had rules for two powerful gods reproducing. That was a rule put in place by gods who didn’t want their descendants seizing power. ”
“So you just decided to say ‘fuck it’ to the rules?” I asked in confusion. If they had known the danger, why would they put me and my brothers in this type of situation? I’d already heard from others the serious consequences that came from being a descendant of two gods.
“No,” she whispered. “Your creation was not meant to happen and didn’t for centuries of us being together.”
“Then why am I here?”
“The same reason the boys were made—love, and destiny. For you, to finish what your father began. Oberon seeks to consume the divine magic that trapped him, one that your father all but extinguished by putting him in his prison. But that spark runs in your veins as well now.”
I shook my head, the words pounding through me like thunder. “So Balor can’t help me lock him up again?”
“No. Your father can barely open his eyes most days. He’s been through…a lot.”
“And if Oberon finds me…”
“He will devour your power and ascend beyond the most powerful of gods,” she said, her tone heavy with finality. “But if you end him, balance will be restored.”
Somehow I didn’t think it was that simple. She continued, “It may come at a cost, though. To either yourself or the ones you love.”
Something that Raziel had emphasized to us less than an hour ago. My heart stuttered. The thought of losing myself or my mates—of leaving the boys behind—burned sharper than fear. “Then I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. I’ll keep them safe. All of them.”
In order to do that, I would need to ensure that I survived as well.
Cethlenn’s gaze warmed, her form flickering. “I know,” she said softly.
Her faith in me shouldn’t have mattered, but it did, and it left me momentarily quiet.
“Why not tell me before? Why wait?” I asked, the silence between us only existing for a moment.
“Truthfully? I didn’t foresee him being a problem, but I was blinded by a growing and pressing issue in our universe.”
“What issue?”
“Not one that you need to handle. Focus on Oberon,” she said, and before I could demand more answers, the stretch of distance between us expanded tenfold. I grunted at the restriction of power as cold rushed in around me and I was alone again.
The whiplash was so intense that I swayed, feeling as if I was about to pass out.
My hands trembled in my lap as my heavy eyes opened in the carriage, the aftertaste of Cethlenn’s power vibrating across my skin like an echo. I’d come to her searching for the truth and I’d absolutely received it.
But more so, I found something I never expected—relief.
I was never the child of the monster that was Mario.
I’d always been the child of the gods.