CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CADI
Cadi blinked, certain she had misheard. Her eyes darted to where Sera now sat on the couch beside Seth, hoping to gauge whether or not they should be concerned for Elias’s mental status, but only found her watching the two of them expectantly.
Almost like she, too, was interested in hearing Cadi’s answer.
Clearly, she was the only person in the living room who found Elias’s question odd, so for the sake of moving things forward, she decided it was best to play along. “As much as the next person, but I don’t understand what that has to do with this?”
“Only everything,” Kai scoffed from the kitchen.
Cadi leveled him with a cutting glare. Just because he was rich didn’t mean he needed to be rude. He held her stare as he raised his glass to take another sip, completely unbothered by her admonishment.
Turning back to Elias, the tiny flutter in her chest returned at the sight of the protective look on his face as he stared over her shoulder at Kai.
Normally she would find it kind of hot that his instinct was to defend her, especially against someone as powerful as Kai Aurelian.
But right now, she needed him to focus. She cleared her throat and gave his hand a gentle squeeze to bring his attention back to her.
Elias pulled in a breath, almost like he was a battle to reign himself back in before his eyes finally shifted to her and softened.
“What Kai meant to say,” he continued, his eyes flicking back to the kitchen, “is that those sigils are directly tied to the gods and why they have been disappearing.”
Cadi studied his expression for any hint that this was the start of another story meant to distract her, but from what she could tell, he was dead serious. Yet, nothing about what he had just said made any sense to her.
“Okay, you lost me. Those sigils are used for Somnium. How does harvested dream energy make gods disappear?”
“You’re right,” Elias confirmed, “they are used for Somnium, but not to extract dream energy; that’s just the story that those in positions of power within the Order spin to cover the real purpose of the ritual, which is to extract divine power.”
He paused, watching her closely to check that she was following—or to make sure she wasn’t about to bolt. Cadi gave him a small nod, urging him to continue.
“Every one of those sigils once belonged to a god. They were used to sustain them through worship, but they’ve been corrupted, altered to siphon their power instead. Power that Oneirios has been hoarding for years.”
Cadi’s stomach twisted. The words crashed into her, but they landed jumbled and wrong in her mind. She had been in the temple, seen the sigils glowing, felt their power wash over her, which meant …
“So, does that mean that everyone who goes to Somnium, that I …” Her voice trailed off, unable to breathe life into the question she was asking. She needed to know the truth, but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to.
In quiet confirmation, Elias nodded. “They’re being used to power those sigils.”
Cadi’s grip on his hand tightened, anchoring her while the floor seemed to sway beneath her.
Every time she’d stood on that stone and let the drums and smoke drag her down into a euphoric trance, the Order had been using her.
A shudder raced through her as the violation seeped into her skin, her soul.
“Did I … are they …” The thought alone was enough to pull bile into her throat. “Dead?”
Elias took her face in his hands, forcing her eyes to meet his. “No, love. And you did nothing wrong. You had no way of knowing what Oneirios is up to.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “What’s happening to them?”
“They’re very weak, practically mortal in most cases. Forced to blend in with everyone else for their own protection.”
“A weak god is a vulnerable god,” Sera added, flicking a piece of invisible lint from her knee.
Cadi turned to look at her, her movements slow and arduous.
Her thoughts weren’t much better as she stared at her friend, trying to align what she knew about Sera—good, magnetic, amazing Sera—with what she had just learned about the Order. About Somnium.
“How can you still go?” she asked, her voice hollow. “Knowing what they are, what they’re making you do?”
Sera’s eyes lifted, locking with Cadi’s. Something flashed in their hazel depths, gone before Cadi could begin to comprehend it, covered beneath the soft smile Sera pushed across her lips.
“We needed someone else on the inside. I’ve been digging where I can, looking for the right strings to pull to untangle the web he’s created around the sigils, but since I’m not dedicated my access is limited. Fortunately for us, my presence there is effectively neutral.”
A chill crept across her shoulders, and Cadi squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head to clear her jumbled thoughts.
“Wait, okay,” she said, holding up a hand as if it would do anything to stop the onslaught in her mind. “So the gods aren’t gone, they aren’t dead, but they’re weakened.”
Elias nodded.
“And they’re just, what … hanging out? Filing taxes? Taking public transit with the rest of us? And you’re telling me that no one has noticed a god sitting next to them on the red line?”
A soft chuckle drew her attention back to the couch, where Seth watched her with a look of amusement in his dark eyes.
Cadi glowered at him, a tension gripping the base of her skull at the way he seemed to be finding immense joy watching her existential crisis unfold in the middle of Elias’s living room.
Maybe next time he’d let her in on the joke, and they could both laugh through the shit storm.
His eyes moved to the drink in his hand, swirling it smoothly. “You would be shocked at how much mortals miss when they do not care to see, my dear. And while I cannot speak for others, I much prefer a town car to the bus.”
He lifted his glass to take a sip, tossing her a wink over the delicate crystal.
Cadi’s mouth fell open, a low buzz blooming in her ears as she stared at the man on the couch who simply smiled at her, patiently watching the wheels turn.
Her head snapped back to Elias, looking for the punchline, for the big reveal that this was all some sick, elaborate hoax.
But in his eyes she only found quiet confirmation, shadowed by regret.
She turned back to Seth, her breaths broken as she stumbled over the words she needed to solidify the truth. “What—then you—who are you?”
Seth leaned forward, carefully placing his glass on the coffee table with a soft clink before resting his elbows against his knees, the picture of a caring father preparing to guide his child through a difficult conversation.
“I was introduced as Seth, and that is the name I prefer in this age. However, you may know me better as Anubis.”
Every inch of Cadi’s body went numb until she felt like she was no longer contained inside of it, and instead was watching the scene play out from the sidelines.
She didn’t move as Seth leaned back against the cushion and smoothly gestured to the kitchen, where Kai still stood propped against the granite counter.
“And the shipping mogul making himself at home in the kitchen is your former governor: Poseidon. Though, if you ask me, it would do well for a god in hiding to select a career that was a bit less obvious.”
Kai scoffed, crossing his legs at his ankles and leaning down onto a single elbow. “You said it yourself, brother. Mortals don’t see what they don’t wish to see. Like three gods sitting in their living room having drinks.”
Elias swore under his breath, the strain in his voice sending Cadi’s heart into her throat as she turned to look at him. No. If the truth about the sigils had nearly taken her out, finding out her boyfriend was a god would be enough to have her involuntarily committed.
His gaze met hers, the slight shake of his head temporarily easing the deafening thump of her pulse until he shifted his attention back to the living room. To the couch where Sera sat frozen, glaring daggers at Kai.
Her friend’s eyes locked with hers, the bite behind them reforming into a look of regret. The truest confirmation. Cadi pulled her hand from Elias’s grip and began to fan herself with the fabric of her shirt. Suddenly Elias’s apartment was sweltering.
This was her friend, the person she got wine drunk with, the person who sent her stupid cat videos. It wasn’t possible.
Sera stood, closing the distance in a few strides to stand in front of her. “Sweetie, look at me. Everything is okay.”
Cadi shook her head. Nothing was okay. Everywhere she looked, there was another crack in her reality. How could she say everything was okay?
“Sera,” she began, the sound of her voice foreign to her own ears. “What did you mean when you said your presence is neutral?”
Sera’s eye flicked to Elias before they settled back on Cadi. “You can’t use a god to drain another god.”
Cadi pulled in a shaky breath, not even realizing she’d forgotten to blow it out until Elias squeezed her shoulder.
“Breathe, Cadi,” he said, his tone steady.
The air rushed from her lungs, making the room around her dip. She swayed, gripping Elias’s arm to keep from ending up on the floor.
“Okay, yeah, I think I actually will sit down.”
Elias guided her down the single step that separated the living room from the entryway, keeping a firm grip on her waist until she flopped down onto the love seat and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling.
This was not the way she had imagined her evening going.
Something cool brushed against her fingers, pulling her attention to where Sera crouched in front of her, a small glass of water in her hand. Cadi flexed her fingers, pushing against the tremor that seemed unwilling to let go as she took the offering and sipped it slowly.
Sera watched her with steady concern.
“So, who are you?” Cadi asked, her tongue finally obeying her command to speak.