Chapter 32
“Myone? I need to see you in my war room. Could you follow me?”
She didn’t like the ominous note in Jaden’s voice, at all. He rarely spoke to her, but normally when he did, it was with a much kinder tone.
She handed her practice sword off to Jared, who had an equally concerned scowl on his face.
“Don’t go, Mom,” he whispered to her.
That sent a chill down her spine. “It’ll be fine, baby.”
But the look in his amber eyes made her heart pound.
She offered him a kind smile before she followed after Jaden.
What in the name of the Source could have happened?
As soon as she was inside the room, Jaden used his powers to shut and seal the door behind her.
That not only made her jump, it caused her stomach to cramp. “What’s going on?”
“We have a situation.”
She’d figured that much. “We always have a situation.”
He pressed his hand to the bridge of his nose. “This one is a little more delicate than normal.”
She moved to sit, as she had a feeling from his tone that it wasn’t something she wanted to hear while standing. “And that is?”
“My siblings are beginning to speak of a truce.”
Relief rushed through her. That was it? After all these years, could it be? Could the end finally be so close?
She wanted to turn a cartwheel!
“That’s wonderful!”
He shook his head, causing her relief to die quickly.
“That’s not wonderful,” he said, drawing the words out.
“Not for you.”
There was that horrible tone again. Just what were they proposing? “How so?”
Jaden let out a tired sigh as he refused to meet her gaze. “When I took you as my wife, I was only trying to protect Jared and Xev. I didn’t think ahead to this day.”
That much she already knew. So she didn’t understand where he was going with his thoughts. “And?”
“Because I married you, Noir and Azura are demanding your life.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Yes, she was very grateful she’d taken a seat. “What? Why?”
“We killed Kissare over Braith. They’re demanding we do the same with you.”
The room tilted around her. “What about Apollymi?”
“She hasn’t said a word. But the other two won’t be reasoned with. They say that as long as you’re alive, they won’t consider a truce, as it’s not fair to allow my happiness while Braith suffers.”
Myone felt as if she’d vomit. “I see.”
Forget Kuru. He wasn’t her greatest threat after all.
Xev had been right. It all came back to the gods. They were never going to let them live in peace. No matter what, they would always strike out against them.
Trying to keep herself together, she cleared her throat. “If I were gone, would they consider a truce then?”
He hesitated. “Not exactly. They just said they’d be willing to come to the table…provided you were dead.”
“So even if I die, they might not end it.”
“That’s my fear.”
She sat there, trying to imagine what this would do to Xev. But then she knew. It would destroy him. Just as Lil had destroyed Caleb. He was barely functional these days.
But there was a bigger problem.
“If I’m gone, Xev will attack the Kalosum without restraint.”
“Not with Jared in charge, he won’t.”
That was where Jaden was wrong. Understandable, since he didn’t have a mother. He had no idea of the bond she shared with her child.
She met his gaze levelly. “My lord, listen to me. If they order my death, Jared will help him destroy your army.” Like his father, he would tear down their forces and demand the gods appease his righteous fury. “I doubt if even the gods would be able to pull them back from it.”
Jaden hadn’t thought of that. But she made a valid point. Caleb was only controllable because he didn’t have a specific enemy to go after, nor an army to control. His army was now under Kri’s control.
Xev and Jared were different.
Verydifferent.
Each of them commanded a considerable force. One they wouldn’t hesitate to use to avenge the woman in front of him.
Jaden offered her a kind smile. “Forget I said anything. I will make sure to let Cam and Rezar know that we won’t consider their terms.” Leaning down, he kissed her on top of the head and left her alone.
But his mind spun with the reality he needed to convey to his siblings. That this wasn’t the solution they were looking for, and if they pressed it…
It would not end the way they hoped.
Right now, he had one sibling in particular he needed to speak to.
As expected, he found Apollymi alone in her bower. Dressed in a black gown, she was the epitome of cold grace. Her white hair was held back from her face by a black diadem.
She was beauty incarnate.
And lethal beyond words.
“Why are you here?” Her voice was as brittle and icy as her heart. “Hasn’t anyone bothered to inform you? We’re at war.”
He ignored her sarcasm. “We’ve been discussing a truce.”
She scoffed. “You and the worthless ones have been discussing a truce. I’ve not even considered one.”
“Then you’re content to continue?”
She raked him with a bitter stare. “You know my terms. I will not allow the death of my son. I will see you all burned before one hair on his head is harmed.”
Yet they wanted the death of his grandchild and expected him to offer Jared and Myone up as if they meant nothing. “You are the only reasonable one on your side, Apollymi. How do we settle this?”
She shrugged with a nonchalance that really pissed him off. “Cam and Rezar require that I put down my Malachai forces. I have agreed to that. But only if you put down your own pit vipers so that they can no longer threaten my child.”
“I cannot sanction the death of Jared any more than you’ll agree to killing off Monakribos.”
She drummed her long fingernails against the arm of her chair. “There’s only one thing our brother and sister will accept from you in trade for that.”
His own freedom. He would have to agree to subjugate himself to their will.
For eternity.
Jaden wanted to scream out in violent denial. The mere thought of being enslaved by them drove him to madness. But if he didn’t agree, they’d demand Jared die alongside all the Sephirii.
Myone’s blood damned her son. And it damned him, too.
There was nothing he could do to save her.
“What about Xev?” he asked.
“What about him?”
“I can’t let him die, either.” For better or worse, Xev was his son. In spite of what the boy thought, Jaden did love him. And he did want to protect him.
In the end, Azura had gotten what she wanted most—A way to control Jaden because he wasn’t capable of completely turning his back on his child.
Damn me for it.
“There’s no reason Xev has to die,” Apollymi said. “He’s a god, not a Sephiroth.”
True, but Myone was right. This would kill him. He’d go after the gods with a fury unimaginable.
And he’d never forgive him for making this pact.
What choice do I have?
This had dragged on for far too long. Too many lives had been lost. They’d annihilated worlds. It was time to put a stop to the waste. Time to rebuild.
The only question was…how were they going to put down their armies? How would they ever clean up this mess.
And how would he break this news to his son, who already hated him?
“Tell them I’ll do it.”