Twenty-Three
CHAPTER
Ilay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. I couldn’t sleep. I had tried counting sheep and counting backward, none of which helped me at all. I had been restless since they left. It had been nearly three days, and they hadn’t come back yet.
What’s taking them so long?
That sense of impending doom only grew within me.
The knots that formed in my stomach never left.
Something wasn’t right. I knew it. There was this voice at the back of my mind trying to speak to me, muffled and chipping away at my thoughts, trying to break free and tell me something. But tell me what, I didn’t know.
An exasperated breath parted from my lips. Sitting up, the silk sheets fell into my lap.
“Bringer of Peace,” the wind whispered.
My eyes snapped toward my open sliding glass door, at the curtains gently flowing in the summer breeze. The moonlit sky illuminated the familiar shadowy figure with pink eyes who stood in the doorway.
Deus.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“And what are you doing here?” Deus replied.
Tilting my head, I tried to understand what Deus meant by that. It didn’t move from that doorway. Not even as the curtains billowed all around it.
“I was told to stay behind.” That was the truth. Zathrian insisted I stay here, where it was safe and out of harm’s way. And their way.
Deus slowly approached, yet I heard no footsteps. “But is that what you truly want?”
Gnawing at the inside of my cheek, I slowly shook my head. “No. No, it is not.”
“Open your eyes,” Deus whispered.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered back.
Deus closed the distance between us by reaching out and placing a single finger to my forehead. “You know what it is you must do.”
But I don’t know, and I don’t understand these vague ominous statements, either.
I sighed, sliding my hand to my forehead where Deus had just touched me. “I don’t understand what it is I am—” The moment my finger touched the place Deus had, it happened again.
My eyes went wide, seeing what I believed to be a vision not of the future, but of the present:
I was back at the Realm of Clouds, standing in the middle of Neil’s throne room, watching as Mateo, Viotto, and Nevan were all bound on their knees. Acheron was nowhere to be seen, but Neil was there, a knife in Zathrian’s side, twisting in earnest.
I gasped. “NO!” I attempted to lunge toward Zathrian, only for me to fall forward into the floor and—
I blinked rapidly as my vision came back into focus.
I have to go. I have to help them.
My hand slid to my nose because it was bleeding again.
Gods above, now is not the time.
Nearly falling out of bed, I reached for the handkerchief that was on my nightstand.
Holding it to my nose, and stumbling onto my feet, I hastily changed out of my nightgown and into the closest dress that I could reach from my closet.
Hopping on one foot and then the other, I slipped on my boots.
Wiping the last of my blood from my nose, I grabbed the pouch of stardust from my drawer, tying it to the waistband of my dress.
I didn’t care what Zathrian said, I was going to them.
Zathrian was going to be pissed, but honestly, I didn’t care. If my vision was remotely accurate, they needed me, and I would be damned if I idly stood by and did nothing.
I can’t lose you, too.
It was impulsive to go in without any sort of plan, but… they were my family. I hadn’t admitted it before now, because I didn’t want to, but home wasn’t the Realm of Stars. It was the family I made there with its people.
It was Mateo’s understanding, Viotto’s intelligence, Celeste’s support, Zathrian’s—
I swallowed hard.
I will not lose you.
I stood in the Manor. The one I once called home. With marble pillars and high ceilings, everything was bathed in pure white light. The air was light, crisp, and cool with a subtle fragrance of sweet flowers and fresh dew that I had almost forgotten about.
Inhaling deeply, I thanked my lucky stars that there wasn’t anyone in the hall.
There wasn’t anyone around at all, actually.
It was quiet. Too quiet. Quiet to the extent that even the air around me felt too still.
It was unsettling. I gulped, praying that my vision was right, and Deus did not deceive me.
What am I even doing?
It was too late to back out now, though.
Something wasn’t right. There was a heaviness to my surroundings. That sense of impending doom itched at the back of my brain, burning almost.
Were they ambushed? Did they retreat? Were they hiding somewhere? What happened? Where did they go?
It wasn’t like them to just up and vanish in thin air.
They would have come back to the Realm of Stars.
I know they would have. Anxiety quickly crept in the more I thought about everything.
Tiptoeing down the hallway, I made my way toward the throne room.
I hesitated for a moment, my hand hovered over the gold etchings in the doorway.
Slowly, I pushed the door open. It creaked loudly.
The sound echoed within the silence; the room was entirely empty.
Where was everyone?
Neil’s Manor was never this quiet. There was always soft music playing, or distant laughter of the members of his Court.
I tilted my head slightly, carefully entering the room.
Empty.
It was completely empty besides the thrones—two of them, encased in gold, side by side.
One for him, and the other for her.
Turning my heel, I stopped in the center of the room.
What happened here? Where is everyone?
“Aerilyn,” Neil called out within the silence.
My face paled, hearing that voice. His voice. Slowly, I turned around.
“Neil.” My posture tensed, and I clenched my jaw.
He stood seven or so feet away from me, and I didn’t dare move.
Every emotion that I had buried deep within me was seeping from my essence.
Slowly dripping from within me. Drop by drop.
Drip by drip. It took everything in me not to lose my composure.
To think, I was once in love with the man who stood before me.
He was no man, but a monster. Seeing him brought back so many memories. Memories I wished to forget.
I was so hurt. So angry. So broken.
“Have you come crawling back to me?” His tongue glided across his teeth.
He was also delusional.
“Where are they?” I hissed.
I hated how tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. My bottom lip quivered. I wasn’t afraid of him, but I was afraid of what he could do, of the monster that he truly was.
“Where are who?” Neil acted innocent. I knew he had done something. He knew, and I knew he knew. Neil cocked his head to the side, smirking at me.
“You know who.” My fists clenched.
Neil shook his head, his hands clasped behind his back, slowly circling around me. His footsteps echoed each time the heels of his boots hit the ground.
My eyes followed him, standing tall. I held my head high.
“What did you do, Neil? I know they were here. I saw it,” I hissed.
“So it’s true, then.” He clicked his tongue. “Gods. The prophecy really is true.” He smiled. An eerie, sinister smile. “If you saw, then you can see the past, the present, and the future. I knew it. I knew it!” He laughed.
I did nothing but stare at him with wide eyes. That laugh, his smile, truly made me feel nauseous. I clenched my jaw so tight I thought my teeth were going to crack.
“You know,” he paused, letting out a pleased sigh, “if you didn’t intervene, none of this ever would have happened in the first place.
” He spoke calmly, too calmly for my liking.
“If you just kept your nose where it belonged, you never would have died. And I never would have been forced to break your heart. I didn’t want to hurt you, Aerilyn.
I mean that. I really do care for you. I lied about many things, but my affection for you was not one of them.
Things did not have to be this way. If you had just listened to me, you could have been my concubine. You still can be.”
Concubine.
The word stung. That he would say such a thing.
Mate Bonds were sacred and not meant to be shared.
Why would he ever think I would want to be second to his Mate?
That I would choose him over my own Mate if I had one?
How could he possibly feel something for me while Mated to another?
He truly was broken. Something was terribly, terribly wrong with him.
I glared at him, choking back the desire to smite him. To make him hurt in the way he hurt me. For everything he had done. All this time, I was desperate for my feelings to be acknowledged, so desperate to be loved, so desperate to—
I had the habit of holding all my feelings and emotions, suppressing them until I exploded. I was close, so close I could feel it bubble within my very veins.
Breathe. Now is not the time for an outburst.
“I want nothing to do with you.” My voice cracked.
“That is simply not true. The Realm of Clouds has always been your home, and you know that. Deep down, part of you misses my head between your legs. My tongue between y—”
“Where are they?” Disregarding such distasteful words, I wished I never let him take me. I wished I had never allowed him to be my first. He didn’t deserve any of me.
Neil stopped, standing right in front of me. His eyes darkened, slowly leaning forward to the point our noses were nearly touching.
“Everything screams when they die, Aerilyn,” he threatened ominously.
“That means you will, too, when your time comes.”
A chuckle parted from his lips. He was a viper, waiting to strike.
The familiar tingle of warmth grew within my palms, like my shadowy tendrils were trying to manifest within them.
The subtle buzz vibrated. I shook my head, distracted by the darkness of his gaze.
“You—” I stopped mid sentence. My breath hitched.
It happened so fast I didn’t even see him move. My eyes were so focused on him, I didn’t think to pay attention to his hands.
All the air from lungs was knocked out of me and replaced by the sudden taste of iron in my mouth.
I choked as blood dripped between my teeth, down the front of me.
I could have sworn that, for a moment, time stopped.
I looked down to see that he had plunged a dagger into my abdomen.
The tip was glowing, not a white glow like when I healed Zathrian, but a deep golden color. Weak in the knees, I wobbled.
Something wasn’t right about that dagger.
My hand slid to his forearms, clutching the sleeves of his shirt as he eased me down with an indifferent expression. Blood dripped from my lips and down the front of me.
“Easy, easy,” he cooed as I continued to choke on my own blood. “You won’t die today. I still need you, my darling Little Dove.”
He pushed the dagger in deeper before pulling it out in a single motion. I dropped to the floor.
“Tsk.” His eyes turned from me to the dagger. I clutched the gaping wound, bloody oozing through my fingers.
“You know where I got this from?” he asked, carefully observing it. The corners of his lips curled into an almost smile. “Casimir gave it to me. Infused with black magic and made in the Realm of Nightmares itself. To humans, it’s a mere dagger. But to us, it is far more than that.”
Blood continued to spill from between my lips, and, seeing double, I lifted my right hand in an attempt to take it from him.
He shook his head. “The Gods blessed you, Aerilyn. It hurts, I know, but it won’t kill you.” He paused, whispering, “I don’t think I’m capable.”
I couldn’t reply. My vision blurred as Neil’s violet eyes drifted back to me, or at least it looked like it, anyway. I heard another voice in the distance, but I couldn’t make it out. Everything around me faded away, plunging me into darkness.