Chapter 46 Dianna
DIANNA
I was glad we hadn’t brought Cameron and Reggie along.
I loved them dearly, but the fights that would have ensued with them all here would have been too much.
Just getting here had been a challenge. The brothers had squabbled the entire way until I’d finally lost my patience and yelled at them all.
Plus, I breathed easier knowing Miska was back home with them, and they were safe and sound.
Our city at home was intact and thriving, unlike the ghost town we currently stood in.
Empty shops lined the trash-filled streets, many with shattered windows and broken doors.
I took a deep breath, practically able to hear the screams that had torn through this place.
It was not an Otherworld creature that had done this, but something much worse.
My hand fisted in the banners that flew at the gates. Nismera had left them, letting all who passed know she had been here. She’d culled the town for their misdeeds, an example to any who dared defy her. I knew the outcome of our visit, even if Samkiel refused to believe it.
He led us down an alleyway, the smell of trash gathering in the corners.
Not even vermin ran between our boots. When we reached the bottom step, I saw why.
She hadn’t just broken the door down, she’d obliterated the whole fucking wall.
The gaping hole was large enough that we didn’t even have to duck to enter.
“This is a shitty establishment if I’ve ever seen one,” Isaiah said, his boots crunching on shards of broken wood and glass.
“You have such a flair for stating the obvious. Do you think you could just shut the fuck up?” I said with a sneer, glaring at him.
He arched his brow and scowled back at me.
To say that his presence was grating on me was an understatement.
It was more than annoying having him around, but even worse was having to see Kaden every day.
Samkiel was quiet as he moved through the damaged brothel. I followed him, keeping close as he moved deeper inside as if something pulled at him. I knew he hadn’t expected what we’d found here, and now I was preparing for the worst.
We stopped at a wall that looked like it might have once hidden a passageway and what remained of an elevator.
Samkiel didn’t even hesitate at the edge of the shaft.
He jumped and landed in a deep crouch. I came down right behind him, Kaden and Isaiah following.
Dust floated into the air with the force of our landing, all of us cautiously surveying the destruction.
Samkiel’s breath shuddered as he rose to his full height and walked further into the room. “Killium?” he called, stepping over the debris. “Jaski?”
Silently, I followed behind him. Gadgets and trinkets were broken, their pieces strewn about. She had ransacked this place.
“Maybe she took them?” I said, stopping in the middle of the room and looking up at the map carved into the ceiling.
The orbs hanging from it resembled planets, and the lines connecting them could have represented trade routes.
I turned to ask Samkiel what it all was, but stopped when I saw him kneeling behind the cracked workbench.
Carefully, I picked my way through the rubble to his side.
He was crouched over a heap of what looked like dust, but when I stepped closer, I saw it was dark ashes.
A choked sob left his throat, and he ran his hand over his mouth.
I leaned against his back, squeezing his shoulder.
“Can we leave now that you know your friend is a pile of ash?” Isaiah called from behind us.
I spun, fury surging through me that he would make this harder for Samkiel. Isaiah leaned against a destroyed counter with his hands in his pockets, Kaden by his side, neither showing any remorse or compassion.
Lights crackled as Samkiel rose in and advanced on them in one easy motion. I thought I was fast, but I wasn’t fast enough to stop him from lifting Isaiah by his neck and snarling into his face. “Is this funny to you?”
Isaiah’s eyes didn’t even bulge from the pressure, but being the arrogant and cocky bastard he was, he only smiled like a fool and said, “Actually, yeah.”
Kaden and I moved simultaneously to flank Samkiel. We were both intent on protecting Isaiah, but our motivations were very different. I placed a hand on Samkiel’s forearm, trying to keep him from permanently turning Isaiah into a pile of ash that matched what was left of Killium.
“Samkiel,” I said, and his eyes flicked to mine. “Connected, remember? Put him down before your temper makes you summon Oblivion.”
Like a switch flipped, he dropped him. Isaiah landed on his feet and adjusted the lapels of his jacket.
“Did you help do this?” Samkiel asked them both, but only Kaden answered.
“No,” Kaden said. His eyes flicked to mine, and I wish they hadn’t. “We were preoccupied.”
“Sami, look at the ashes. They are the same as yours,” I said, keeping my hand on Samkiel’s arm, helping him maintain a permanent leash on his temper. I tugged at him, gently turning him back toward the remains of his friend.
He reluctantly looked away from his brothers and truly looked at the ashes. “She has Oblivion,” he said as if he had not noticed before.
“Had,” Kaden said, and we looked back at him. “She tried to use that ring of yours. It worked once and dissolved. We all know why now.”
“What does he mean?” I asked, looking between them.
“Didn’t tell her yet?” Kaden’s brows lifted slightly.
“Tell me what?”
Samkiel shook his head, looking down at me. “We’ve had far more important things to worry about.”
“Tell me what?” I said again.
“Your precious World Ender doesn’t need the ring for Oblivion. He is Oblivion.”
My mind whirled as if a part of me had known that already, but I hadn’t known how to put it into words.
It fit with what Gathrriel said about his untapped power.
It also explained why Samkiel was so desperate to have a new ring made for it.
He was looking for something to help him contain the destructive power.
My fingers tightened on his arm in reassurance.
I understood why he hadn’t said anything, but I hated that it was Kaden who had told me. It hurt.
“We take care of each other. Don’t hide something like that from me again.”
“Dianna, I wasn’t hiding,” he all but growled down our bond. I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me, but toward Kaden, who had told me here, of all places. “I was worried about you.”
“I meant what I said,” I demanded, tightening my grip on his arm before letting go. Kaden and Isaiah watched our silent exchange. Isaiah’s face was screwed up in an expression of disgust, as if he smelled rotten eggs and couldn’t get rid of the scent.
“Let’s go.” This time, I led the way out of the abandoned and damaged brothel.
No one had bothered to clean up or repair the wreckage, and I knew they wouldn’t. Killium and his rebellion had brought Nismera to their doors, and they had suffered. None would dare to undo the damage she had wrought. They would leave what remained of him to rot.
“I’M SORRY ABOUT your friend,” I said, dropping the branches and logs we’d found down in our makeshift woodpile.
Samkiel glanced at me, offering a small smile. “I should be used to losing people by now. I’m not.”
“I don’t think it’s something you get used to, even for us. Moreover, I don’t think we should get used to it. They deserve to be mourned.”
He said nothing as he strategically placed the wood, propping it upright in a triangular position.
I went to his side, helping to arrange the broken logs on top of each other.
Samkiel had built the pit deep to protect the flames from the melting snow.
I couldn’t take away his pain and grief, but I could stay close in the dark and help him battle the demons that plagued him in the wake of his friends’ deaths.
I wished I could give him a moment of joy or victory, but it seemed everywhere we turned, we ran into more shit.
“You don’t have to do anything. Your existence alone is enough for me. You at my side, that’s what I need.”
I smiled, bumping his shoulder. “I keep forgetting you can just sneak into my head.”
“Oh gods, I thought I was going insane! If I have to hear your thoughts, I am going to lose my fucking mind.”
That wasn’t Samkiel’s voice. We stared at each other in shock, and I shook my head. Samkiel stood so suddenly he damn near toppled me into the snow as Isaiah and Kaden came out of the trees, carrying more wood and three rabbits.
“Absolutely fucking not!” Samkiel all but roared.
“It’s not my fault,” Isaiah said, dropping the wood.
Kaden didn’t say anything, but he watched me, his gaze intrigued. My stomach dropped.
Samkiel pointed at them both. “If you think for one second that either of you is allowed to be in our heads, I’ll drag you back to—”
“Calm down.” Kaden sneered, pushing past Samkiel with enough force that I was afraid Samkiel was going to rip his head off and kill us all.
Kaden dropped the wood near the fire pit before kneeling in the snow.
Fire ignited on his fingertips, and he formed it into a tiny ball before tossing it into the pit.
Flames danced in his eyes as he looked at me, then Samkiel.
“It doesn’t sound like the bond you two share, at least not from what you’ve told me.
Whatever Death did to tie us together seemed to extend to this connection as well.
It binds the three of us, but not you,” Kaden said, his tone smug, and Samkiel bristled.
“Don’t worry, your precious thoughts are safe.
However, Dianna’s are not,” Kaden said, smirking at me.
Samkiel lunged, and Kaden surged to his feet.
They stood chest to chest and face to face.
I pushed between them, resting my hand on Samkiel’s thundering heart.
Honestly, I’d forgotten how big they both were, two clashing giants ready to destroy the other and the world in the process. Life be damned.
“Stop it,” I said. “All of you. No one likes this, but we have to work together or we all fucking die. Anyone in favor of living, please raise your hand.”
I raised mine, waving sarcastically. Samkiel ignored me, as did Kaden, but Isaiah shrugged and lifted his hand.
I leaned harder against Samkiel and looked up at him. “Just so you are aware, my ass is pressed against him. You might want to step back.”
Samkiel snarled and wrapped his arms around me, hauling me back a few steps, but he never took his eyes off Kaden. “You’re going to shield yourself from her, block her out. Do you understand me?”
Kaden’s teeth flashed, and I knew him well enough to know he was just like his brothers. He hated being told what to do.
“I already did,” he snapped. “When she started screaming your name in that damn palace.”
Samkiel smiled, pure male arrogance. “Good, at least you know who she belongs to.”
Isaiah groaned behind us. “I’m going to be fucking sick.”
Kaden tossed a look at Isaiah. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.”
“Thank fuck,” Isaiah praised as Kaden backed away from Samkiel and me, the testosterone battle subsiding along with my nerves.
I remained pressed against Samkiel, sliding my hand along his arm. Even with the dim light of the fire and his dark jacket sleeves, I saw tendrils of Oblivion curl around his arm and fade at my touch.
“Hey,” I said, pulling at his sleeve, but Samkiel continued to give them his hard stare. Another tug, and his eyes finally fell on me. “Let’s just eat and go to bed, okay? We’re no good traveling to the Otherworld half-cocked. We need full cock.”
He snorted and shook his head at my attempt at humor, the tension in his shoulders easing a fraction. No one spoke much after that. Samkiel skinned the rabbit, Isaiah made a spit with the wood he had found, and we all ate in silence once the meat was done.