Chapter 51 – Raelyn
Chapter Fifty-One
RAELYN
This can’t be real. I can’t possibly be looking at the sun god—my father.
For a moment, we just stare at each other, both taking the other in.
Long, blond hair hangs limply around his shoulders, his skin so pale, it rivals what mine once was.
His golden eyes sink into his emaciated face, and his jaw is so pronounced, it could cut glass.
His face is foreign to me, but there’s a hint of familiarity in his presence.
I think we have the same mouth. A shocking warmth radiates from him, even in this dank pit.
The ball of light followed me down, and when I look up toward Kian, there’s barely an outline of him. I will the light to lift a little higher, and to my surprise and relief, it responds.
“You look just like her,” the god says, his voice choked.
“Who?” I ask, though my heart already knows the answer.
“My Lynette,” he rasps. “Your mother.”
“What happened to her?” I’m almost afraid to ask, but I have to know.
“That son of a bitch Cary killed her,” he spits out, the cold rage coming from him terrifying to behold. His golden eyes are alight with a fire that would scare the bravest mortal.
“No,” I say, my hand flying to my mouth, even though it rings true. As angry as I am at my father, I still care for him, but to know he’s responsible for my real mother’s death and my real father’s imprisonment breaks something in me. Something I’m not sure can ever be repaired.
“Do you want to see her?” he asks.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I can show you some of my memories.”
I hesitate. I want to see who my mother was, but I’m also afraid of how much more it will hurt knowing she is gone. No. I’m being ridiculous. Why wouldn’t I want this gift?
“Yes, I want to see her.”
The sun god takes a step toward me, and I try not to flinch as his hands come up and he places them around my head. There’s a burning sensation in my mind, and then I’m no longer in the cave. I’m in his head but not. It’s as if I’m hovering above, observing but not quite present in the moment.
Memories of Kyros courting an auburn-haired beauty with vibrant green eyes takes my breath away.
She gazes at him adoringly, and the looks he gives her scream of love, or is that obsession?
More memories fly by, and I see my mother swollen with child—with me.
The way she speaks about me and her hopes and dreams for my future fill me with a sense of being wanted.
A pang goes through me. The mother I’d known, Cary’s wife, had never spoken to me in that way .
. . never really had a kind word for me.
Anger toward Cary burns within me, but I’m not even sure if it’s my anger or if it’s radiating from Kyros. It’s more potent somehow . . .
Another flash, and there I am. A tiny babe with eyes to match my mother’s . . . and somehow, despite all the memories that were stolen from me, I never forgot those eyes. Filled with love. Affection. Belonging. A blink, and everything changes. Instead of a flash of memories, I’m pulled into one.
Lightning cracks through the sky, illuminating two dark figures fighting with swords on a mountaintop.
“You’ve always wanted what was not yours to want,” Cary calls out.
The heavens open, rain falling in torrents, and suddenly, I’m seeing this memory from Kyros’ eyes, feeling his emotions and hearing his thoughts.
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. She has always been mine,” Kyros says.
A piercing wail rends the night, followed by the rumble of thunder as lightning splits the sky once more.
Kyros turns and shouts at Lynette, who is hiding behind a boulder, “Get her out of here! Now!”
It would be his undoing. She’d always been his weakness, and now she’d be his ruin.
A blade pierces Kyros’ chest, and he gasps as he falls to his knees.
“Kyros!”
No. No! She needs to leave. She can’t be here.
Another flash of light, and jade eyes meet his.
“You need to go,” the words gurgle out of Kyros.
“I can’t leave you. You’re my everything,” she cries.
“Think of her. You need to go.”
A cackle of laughter rings in Kyros’ ears as rain sluices down his face.
Lynette reaches behind him. “I need to remove it. You won’t heal with it in your flesh.”
“Lyn, No!” Kyros screams as lightning flashes and thunder crashes once again, this time striking the sword that pierces his skin.
The pulse of lightning shocks Lynette, and she’s violently thrown away from him.
He’s on fire; everything is burning. The strike would have killed any mortal, but not Kyros.
“What did you do? What did you do!” Cary screams, rushing to Lynette’s side. “This is all your fault,” he spits out bitterly as he rocks her body in his arms.
“Look in the mirror!” Kyros replies, even as grief overtakes him.
With a mighty push, Kyros screams and pulls the enchanted blade from his chest. Warmth pulses as his body oh-so-slowly knits itself back together.
Rising to his feet, Kyros stalks over to his enemy. “Get your hands off her! She’s my wife, not yours.”
Perhaps there’s still time for me to save her. She begged me not to change her to an immortal until after our daughter had grown, but it will be her demise.
“She was your wife,” Cary says, his voice defeated.
Kyros roars, and the ground shakes beneath his feet. “You will pay for this, Cary Astoria. If it’s the last thing I do, you will pay in blood for your petty jealousy and pride.”
Kyros’ fist cracks into Cary’s face, but he only laughs before spitting out blood.
“We got her!” another voice rings out, followed by a child’s wail.
Spinning, Kyros’ eyes search for the newcomer.
My daughter. I need to save her.
A glint of gold sparkling in his peripheral is the only warning Kyros has before a net is thrown onto him. It brings him to his knees, and immediately, all power flees his body. His chest wound leaks golden blood from where it didn’t completely seal.
“You coward. Face me like a man,” he screams at Cary.
Cary turns, cradling Kyros’ daughter in his arms. Her arms flail as she screams, breaking the god’s heart. She has no idea what transpired, that her mother was taken from her too soon.
“I want you to live knowing that I have what’s yours—what should have been mine. You will never see her again.”
“You better hope I die, because as long as I draw breath, your days are numbered. I will find you and tear your beating heart from your body.”
A shiver goes through Cary at Kyros’ words—his vow.
“Throw him into the pit,” Cary says.
The golden net holds Kyros completely helpless. Every bit of his power is snuffed out. Kyros watches his enemy walk away with his only child, his heart cracking in his chest, even as anger incinerates his insides.
I will find a way back to her, if that is the last thing I do.
Overwhelming pain wracks Kyros’ body before his vision goes dark.
Back in my own head, I fall to my knees as pain courses through me. At this point, I don’t even know if it’s mine or his. Tears stream down my face, and I start to retch.
A hand on my shoulder brings my eyes up to his. There’s a cold fury in his gaze. “Surely you see I must take my revenge. It is long overdue.”
Overwhelmed with grief, I only nod. “Whatever you need, Father.”
Before I can react, he’s latched onto my throat, sharp fangs piercing me. I scream in surprise, and Kian’s distant cries barely register.
“What’s happening? Why does it hurt?” I gasp as he drinks and drinks from me. My strength is waning, and I slump down, the sun god’s arms holding me up with surprising strength.
He tears away, my shimmering blood gleaming around his mouth. But no, it’s okay. He said he needed this to get out. Surely he didn’t hurt me on purpose.
The sun god bites into his own wrist and thrusts the bleeding wound toward my mouth. “Drink, daughter.”
I hesitate, the golden blood a foreign thing, but the scent of it makes my mouth water, so I open for him.
He pushes his bleeding wrist up against my lips, and my tongue laps at the blood, the taste an explosion of sensations.
Kian’s blood is smoky and savory, but the sun god’s?
It’s like being burned alive in the most pleasant way.
My insides light up, the blood almost too sickly-sweet, but I can’t get enough.
Without warning, my body starts to convulse on the floor of the pit as his blood continues to flow into me. The pleasant burn turns to agony, and I’m lost to pain. When I finally come back to myself, I have no idea if it’s been minutes or hours, but the sun god stands over me.
“What’s going on?” I mumble.
My body feels strange, like it’s not my own anymore. The power buzzing through my veins is almost unbearable in its strength, and yet I feel weak.
“Rae!” Kian yells. “Please tell me you’re all right. What’s happening?”
“I’m okay, I think,” I call back up to him, my throat raw. Had I been screaming?
“What’s going on, F-father?” I ask again.
Kyros looks down at me, a tinge of regret showing in his eyes. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, a frantic feeling growing in my chest. “What did you do to me?”
“It was the only way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The only way I can leave is if another god takes my place, and you were my sole option. Only demi-gods can become full gods through the exchange.”
Like being doused with the coldest of waters, panic sets in as everything becomes clear. I’m a goddess. “No . . . no . . . you can’t mean to leave me down here.”
“If I can find a way out for you, I will, but I’ve been down here long enough. There is vengeance to be had.” His voice is cold, unfeeling. “I need to get back to her.”
Her? With sudden clarity, I realize my mistake. In the vision, I thought he meant me . . . he needed to get back to me . . . but I was wrong.
“Please, you can’t abandon me here,” I beg. My mind can’t even wrap around the fact that my father—the sun god—used me . . . he tricked me. Once again, I was lied to, but I’m lying here, weak. Helpless. I have no idea how to use my new powers.
“I won’t forget what you’ve done for me, daughter.”
The sun god crouches to the ground, and with strength I can’t even fathom, he launches himself up and out of the pit.
The air shifts around me as he disappears from sight.
There’s a shimmer, but then the light I conjured blinks out, leaving me in complete darkness.
Distantly, I hear Kian’s shouts, but nothing registers.
I try to clear my head, but I’m still lost in the fog of transformation and betrayal.
Willing my power to form another ball of light, my heart sinks when it only sputters weakly, shooting out sparks before disappearing into nothing.