Wicked Death (The Royals: Hades’ Court #1)

Prologue

Thanatos

“Iwould know you in a thousand lifetimes, forever recognizing you as mine own. No amount of time or distance will alter the devotion you have instilled in me. Your soul beckons me, and I am helpless but to heed your call. For wherever you go, I will follow.”

Loneliness was a disease among the gods, one for which there was no cure.

Absolute power created absolute isolation.

Yet I had found my salvation only to have lost it time and again.

Each loss only deepened the crater of loneliness that occupied the place where my heart was intended to be.

I had given it away centuries ago and had never gotten it back.

Not that I wanted the damn thing. It pained me in ways that only those who truly knew love could understand.

But the hope that my emptiness would one day be filled forever more by Anastasia brought me back to this place.

A place where even the gods were forbidden to dwell.

The long dark hallway stretched out before me.

A brilliant light dotted the end of it, illuminating the stone walls and floor.

My steps were slow and silent. I could hardly take my eyes from her delicate soul in the palm of my hand.

It glowed a faint blue color that lit my pale skin.

Though her shape was little more than a flickering flame within my grasp, I knew her soul burned brighter than all others.

This time will work.

This time I will have her . . . for eternity.

I didn’t want to let her go, but living or existing in death in my cooped up home was no afterlife at all, and I wanted more for Anastasia.

Greedily, I wanted more for myself . . .

for us. There was more to life than death.

I knew that now. Anastasia showed me what was beyond the Underworld and what could be.

But how could I expect life when I was death itself?

I stopped at the end of the hallway and dropped to my knees.

Her soul was so warm it nearly burned my hand, yet I couldn’t bring myself to let her go, even though beyond this point was sheer peace and radiant light.

It was one of the most spectacular sights I’d ever had the privilege of beholding.

She belonged here in this serenity. Only souls were permitted to travel here, yet I found myself daring the fates and the Creator to smite me just by simply coming here.

Clouds swirled beyond the end of the hall.

They looked cottony-soft, and rays of sunlight danced over their swirling peaks, giving them a glimmering golden effect.

A winding path cut through the clouds and a line of glowing, golden souls lingered there.

At the end of the path was a large stone archway.

The stones were so white they nearly blended in with the clouds.

A single white beam of light shone down from the sky right at the end of the pathway.

The golden, glowing souls flowed down the path and right toward the beam.

They floated up the light in a slow spiraling dance toward the sky, where they would find their way to their new lives.

It was quiet all but for the little hums the souls made to each other. It was an unspoken language only the souls about to be born could speak. I dropped to my knees just at the edge of the hall and held her closer to me. My breath hitched and I hung my head.

“This time must be it. Join me, love, and I will hold you forever more. No more hiding. No more shame.”

Though I wanted to let her go back into the line of creation, I closed my hands around her glowing soul and brought her closer to my chest. A single tear fell from the corner of my eye, and I didn’t bother brushing it away.

My faith that this would finally work was shaken.

There was no such thing as reincarnation in our world, and yet I had done it.

I had broken the rules, and I would do it again just for her.

A sad chuckle escaped my lips. “I can’t seem to let you go. ”

A warm hand rested on my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “But you must.”

My head snapped up, and I looked up at the god standing by my side. I let go of a sharp breath. “Brother, what are you doing here?”

Hypnos, my twin, stood over me. Though we were alike in looks, he tended to take on whatever modern style was prevalent in the world.

My eyes were lighter, and his white-blond hair cut into loose waves that fell around his face, as opposed to my own hair that was long and flowing down past my shoulders nearly to my elbows.

But in every other way, we were identical.

He bent down to one knee, crouching next to me.

“For eternity it has always been you and me. How could I not know when you need me most?”

My eyes drifted back down to where Anastasia’s soul flickered within my grip. “I cannot . . . I cannot let her go.”

“Brother, you must. You cannot keep her with you trapped in your home. The fates will find out. It is amazing they haven’t already, and when they do, they will punish you for this.”

“I know this well. But I just don’t know how to . . . how to live without her.” A lump formed in my throat, and the pressure deepened in my chest. “I cannot draw breath.”

Hypnos dropped down to one knee beside me and placed his hand under my own. “She will return to you, Brother, as she has before.”

Agony shot through my chest at the thought of not seeing her face tomorrow. I tried to raise my hands, but they were so heavy.

Hypnos pressed his hand beneath mine, lifting them out toward the glorious line for creation. He leaned in closer to me. “Release her, Brother.”

Tears flowed freely down my cheeks now, and I forced my fingers to open. Anastasia’s soul floated up from my palm, hovering at my eye level. She flickered there in the most beautiful dance of blue light. I reached out for her, but Hypnos pulled my hand back. “No, Brother, no. Let her go.”

Anastasia’s soul turned from the brilliant, flickering blue to the purest gold color. She slowly drifted away from me and toward the line of creation. I dropped my hands into my lap. “Return to me, love.”