Chapter 16
“P
lease tell me you have good news,” Karver’s voice was broken and angered.
I don’t… I’ve scoured this entire planet, Karver. She’s nowhere, and it makes no fucking sense. Jayce’s tone was no better.
He was standing atop a snow-capped mountain. The wind was so strong at that height that most would have flown from its peak or died from the lack of oxygen. He was neither fazed, nor did it seem like he was concerned.
“Brother, call me to come. Summon me, and I will join you in finding her.” Karver was nearly on the verge of tears; he didn’t need to see him to know that he was breaking down for his girl, “It has been nearly—”
I know how long it has been. Do you think I could forget? He hated that his tone was unforgiving. Karver didn’t deserve it. He was just as concerned for Azahara as he was.
After the explosion that sent him into the sea, he recovered immediately, finding his place right where she had been in mere seconds.
He had taken her right from under his nose.
“I do feel safe with you.” were close to her last words to him, and he had failed to do the simplest thing: keep her away from that god, the King, and Jaakobai. That was all she wanted from him.
Xol confirmed that she— Jayce swallowed, incapable of even the thought of her being dead. Not again.
“At least she’s good for something. Fucking monster.”
Stop! The mountains below him trembled, and he hadn’t even uttered a word. At this point, she’s been the most significant help we have had. It was true. While Xol held no Magic to traverse the world in a matter of seconds, she held the ability to speak with Death itself.
Death confirmed that they did meet with Azahara, but refused to tell her anything else. Xol… she looked into Death’s eyes and saw a glimpse of her. If I couldn’t pull the image from her myself, she wouldn’t have told me.
He paused and heard Karver speak, but the words were indiscernible.
I nearly destroyed the ship.
“We will find her, Brother. I swear on my wings.”
I know. I will never give up on her and I will kill that fucking god for what he has done to her. To my girl…
“Fuck—”
What, what’s wrong?!
“I need to go. Your King is a piss rat. I’ll check in later.”
With that, Karver closed his end of the winnox, leaving Jayce in an unsettling silence. He couldn’t find the peace he needed to stay calm, and the burning desire to bring Parádeisos down from the clouds to find her consumed him. The challenge lay in the fact that he knew she wasn’t there.
He had no connections to the gods above, but their realm lay linear to Howl, and he was old enough to know how to connect with it. It had been the first place he checked, and they were fortunate that he hadn’t attempted a physical visit.
Taking a deep, resigned breath, he summoned a portal and stepped through it.
The sun’s warmth caressed his skin as the ship came into view.
They hadn’t departed from the port, not due to his request, but because of Alyse’s unwavering orders.
She refused to leave without Azahara despite the passage of nearly a month since she was taken from them.
A sickening feeling gnawed at his gut, forcing him down to his knees.
He closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands.
He had been trying to open the winnox to find her every day, nearly every hour.
However, each time, he was met with an impenetrable wall.
Whatever the god had done, it had entirely severed Azahara from him.
It didn’t deter him from trying. He would never stop searching for her.
He took a deep breath and extended his mind, searching for her unique window—the one that unfailingly pulled his soul towards it.
It was always there, no matter where she was, waiting, wrapped in vines and illuminated by a candle that could never be put out.
Beyond the window, which always opened, he would find her bright smile, welcoming him home. Even if it was under the pseudonym—
“Sam…”
He stumbled through his mind, almost losing the connection to his winnox as she appeared at his window.
“I can’t see... am I here?”
Sunshine... Hearing her voice flooded him with renewed hope, even in its broken state. She had found him.
“Sam...” A sob cracked in her voice, and he longed to reach out. He was going to get to her and protect her for all eternity. “I need help...”
I know, by the Mother, where are you?
“I-I don’t know. I can’t see, even after healing enough to push through to your window, I can’t see.” The shudder in her voice broke his heart; she was absolutely terrified.
His teeth clenched, and his shoulders tensed. I need you to see. I need you to break through whatever he has around you, even if it’s only an inch.
“I’m… I’m trying…”
I know you are baby girl. Take your time.
“He…” He was trying to reach through her mind. To take hold of her eyes and see for her. He only needed to see a glimpse of her surroundings. “…Sam…”
I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You stay with me, okay?
“If this doesn’t work—”
It IS going to work.
“I—Can you tell Jayce and Illyan something for me?”
This is going to work, damn it. Concentrate on seeing. Please—
“Tell Illyan to release Kaed, so at least in death, I can see him.”
Azahara, I’m going to get you out! His eyelids burned, feeling the onslaught of tears spilling from them. I will come for you. Please don’t give up.
“Tell Jayce I am thankful for him, if you can find him.”
It was no use; she couldn’t see, and neither could he. The god’s ward was far too powerful. It blocked out absolutely everything. Not even his Magic could penetrate from the outside. It would have to be her. She would have to be the one to break through it.
“I don’t blame you. It’s okay,” the defeat in her voice made the hold on his reality fracture and the gravity around him shift.
This isn’t goodbye. I will never say goodbye to you. I would search for eternity for you, Azahara, but I won’t need it. I’m getting you out now.
“He’s coming back. I have to go—”
Do not break this connection! He nearly shouted through her window.
“…I do not want you to feel what he will do to me. I don’t want you to feel my shame. I cannot let you see me like this…”
You are strong. You got to me now, don’t –
“You don’t know what I had to do to get this far! He is here, Sam. I never wanted to give up. I want to see him again...” She was breaking down; he could physically feel her body trembling and fear rapturing through her.
You will see Kaed again. I will make sure you do.
“…I want to see Jayce.” A full-body chill ran through him, “I want to tell him he isn’t a bad—!” The terror in her scream echoed through the winnox, cutting her short and ripping her away from his window.
The god knew, Azahara?!
He had no other choice. If they lost the connection, he feared what might happen. Leave it open and look into his eyes, Sunshine. Let me see his face, and then I will come for you.
There was only silence that followed, but he knew she was there; she was trying to save him from her pain.
Please, trust me. Let me see. Open your eyes. He gently caressed through her mind.
A moment passed. His heart was in his throat, silently begging her to trust in him, that he would come for her.
His girl did it, and as those crimson eyes came into view, he saw everything he needed to.
When the perspective shifted, and her beautiful face was now captured in his view, that sense of calm he had from her turned to rage.
That would be the last time she ever looked into his eyes, the last time she would ever feel fear and loneliness like that.
Jayce saw the space around them and knew exactly where he needed to be. Ripping open a wether, he shot through the darkness, and without hesitation, went straight for the damned god.
His fist met Goddrick’s jaw, sending him flying across the room with a rocketing sound wave. The boom from the impact, accompanied by the crash from his body, was music to Jayce’s ears. Any mortal would have died from that alone, but as a god, Goddrick got to his feet and stood to his full height.
This was the first time Jayce had seen this piece of filth in person, and it filled him with even more anger and hatred. Standing nearly as tall as him, Goddrick was twice the size of Azahara. He took advantage of her as though she were cattle.
Massive wings expanded across the space, stretching outward and curling between the room.
Goddrick’s expression shifted, understanding what he was up against. While he may have known that a Fae was warding her, as Azahara had mentioned that night during her drunken slurs, he obviously had no idea just how strong Jayce was.
“You…” Goddrick covered himself in a black shadow and shifted his gaze away.
Jayce briefly looked to where Goddrick’s eyes were to see them on Azahara, who was barely holding herself upright, leaning against the wall where he had her pinned just moments before.
He shifted his black and midnight blue wing, reminiscent of a raven, in front of her, completely blocking her from his view.
“You will never lay as little as your filthy eyes on her again,” his tone dripping with unmistakable venom.
Goddrick looked back at him, “If you leave this room, Little Mouse, I will destroy your world when they come for you.”
Her soft weeping was enough to force his attack.
Jayce reached out and gripped the very fabric of gravity around him.
He watched as Goddrick’s eyes widened in fear as Jayce obliterated the space nearest him into absolutely nothing, sending pure elation through Jayce’s veins.
It completely disintegrated the area, imploding the wall that brought in light from the area beyond it, leaving crystallized elements that represented the air and gravity that once housed that space in time.