Chapter 38
Elysia studied her audience. Maya lounged in her usual overstuffed chair, her legs flopped over the sides.
Grim, unfamiliar with the idea of comfort, had carried in a stiff wooden chair from the dining room and sat at attention like he was ready for orders.
One leg crossed over the other, Aidan relaxed on the couch, patiently waiting for her to begin as he pushed his dark blue sweater sleeves up.
Ever since her oath, he had been walking around with his sleeves at his elbows, silently showing off the golden strands that had sunk into his forearm, hand, and fingers. Without saying a word, he was loudly making sure everyone knew what she was to him now.
The light caught on the shimmering strands, and Elysia’s attention stumbled as a rush of both attraction and fear overwhelmed her. She’d made her decision and now everything she had to lose was smirking at her from across the room.
Unaware of her thoughts, Aidan grinned and stretched his arms in front of him, making both the floral torch and the golden strands from her oath obvious. Maya clomped her feet onto the rug, looking disgusted. “Funny how she still seems to be dancing around you like you have a disease.”
Elysia’s glare turned icy. “Deal with your shit, Maya. I’m moving at a pace that works for me, and I won’t apologize for it.”
A dimple appeared on Maya’s freckled face as if both surprised and pleased at Elysia’s backbone.
“Well, good for you. I’ve been meaning to catch you—my offer still stands about teaching you necromancy.
I know we’ve stalled with moving past ripping into transmutation, but I really am the best at all things necro.
We could have your sister here in no time.
Can’t say what state she’d be in, but there are always options. ”
Aidan didn’t even look angry, just annoyed. “One, you almost got her killed, so your mentoring permissions are permanently revoked. Two, you know you’re not allowed to practice necromancy anymore. And three, Elysia is not your conduit just because you’re banned.”
Frowning, Elysia glanced at Maya. “Why can’t you practice necromancy anymore?”
Slumping into her chair, she pouted. “Because people are prejudiced against unsavory types of magic!”
Aidan drilled his fingers against the back of the couch. “Maya.”
Sighing, she relented. “And because I reanimated a corpse and sent it to murder my father—that’s how I died as a mortal.
Then after I died, I realized I could travel realms, so I tried again.
” Her smile was bone-chilling. “That time I pulled a spirit all the way from the death realm and shoved it into a corpse. That was a mistake. Much easier to simply animate a corpse and steer it. The fates didn’t like my murder beyond the veil attempt, but they did realize my potential, so I was let off with a light punishment.
As king of the dead and master of necromancy, Aidan is my babysitter.
One day I’ll get my full powers back from the fates, but until then I’m studying everything else. ”
Elysia couldn’t manage to school her face as she blinked. “That explains a lot,” she said slowly before abruptly turning to face Grim and Aidan. “The fates are why I called a meeting. I need to know how much I can tell you. Do they see everything? Know everything?”
Grim sat up even straighter, if that was possible.
He’d been on edge ever since she’d returned even though she’d assured him that he couldn’t have done anything.
A fates kidnapping was a hard thing to stop.
“Their magic works in broad strokes. For most people, the threads that are sewn never change. In a situation like this, they’ll be watching for changes in our individual tapestries, but it’s difficult for them to notice minor changes—just because you have a thought, the threads don’t change. Concrete action can be a problem.”
She chewed on this, sliding up her sleeve to stare at the golden strands winding around her light skin. Holding up her arm, she said quietly, “Then we have a problem.”
Aidan’s voice became bland. “Maya, go to my office. Grab ledger seventy-eight, please.”
Maya looked at Aidan like he had grown another head. “Do I look like your maid?”
He leveled her with a cold stare. “I wasn’t asking.”
Glaring, Maya disappeared, traveling out of the room.
Aidan gestured for Elysia to continue.
Relief filled her that Maya was gone. She’d asked Aidan to divert her before coming in here, and he’d agreed easily enough, always happy to irritate the witch of the woods.
But now she had to admit the truth. The fates had asked her to kill him, and in her grief and panic, she’d considered it.
Her stomach tightened while the gold glinted reassuringly on her wrist.
“We have to find a way to trick the fates into believing I’ve accepted their offer to rule the Deathlands and kill Aidan. Maya has the scissors somewhere in the Deathlands. I can feel them, but I haven’t found them yet.”
Aidan and Grim’s gazes met only for Aidan to hold out his hand expectantly. Lifting off the chair, Grim dug in his black tactical pants. Sitting down, he slapped a pewter pocket watch into Aidan’s waiting palm.
Aidan clicked the top and the face sprung open. He smiled in satisfaction, clicking it shut and tucking it into his own pocket. “All these years, and you still think you can win a bet against me.” He shook his head, but his mouth was smiling.
“Are you serious right now?” She told them she’d been asked to assassinate one of them, and this was their response. She’d been expecting surprise, shock, anger even.
It was Grim’s turn to smirk, his tone low and easy. “That watch has gone back and forth between us since we were mortals. We made a bet on what the fates wanted from you. We were already well-aware of Maya’s…lack of trustworthiness.”
“You do understand how his magic works, right?” she asked.
Grim interlaced his fingers, relaxing a little. “I’m his reminder of the three percent.”
“The three percent.” She glanced over at Aidan in question.
Grim nodded. “Three percent error margin.”
Hope drained out of her, leaving her a husk. “I thought it was more variable than that!” Elysia fought to keep the hysterics out of her voice. She’d made the wrong decision. She should have agreed to off him. The scissors couldn’t be that hard to find.
“You made it here, didn’t you?” Aidan murmured.
“First time he’d been wrong in a long time. That’s how I got the watch back.” Grim looked like he was two seconds away from clapping her on the back.
She threw Grim a weird look but kept talking. “The fates promised me they’d handle Garrison. That they’d restore Kava.” Despair drenched the tiny flame of courage she’d walked in here with as she realized how stupid and emotional her decision had been.
Aidan’s gaze remained steadfast on her, unfazed by the torrent of fear and doubt driving her response. “That’s quite the deal you’re turning down. Goddesshood. A whole realm. Your kingdom restored.”
Her hands fisted as she stared at the luxurious hand-woven rug beneath her feet and muttered. “Maybe I shouldn’t. The smarter choice would be to do what they asked.”
“To kill me,” he prompted helpfully.
“Yes, to kill you,” she spat back, her brown eyes flashing murderously.
“You’re welcome to try. Keep them guessing till the end.”
Elysia pinched the bridge of her nose, the heat of the fireplace suddenly suffocating. This meeting was not going how she wanted it to. She’d come in here ready to discuss her plan, and now, she doubted any length of planning would matter in the end.
Elysia glared at him again. She didn’t want to kill Aidan. She wanted to be locked in a room with him for a few solid hours without any interruptions.
Steadying herself, she slowed. She needed to trust her decision.
In the past she had pushed past her natural revulsion of ending someone’s life, her tips and leads bringing innocent people to their deaths.
She didn’t want to do that anymore. Surviving wasn’t living, and unfortunately, she knew that now.
She was grateful to still stand here, but she’d changed—half in love and tumbling closer, the thought of throwing Aidan at the feet of the fates made her ill.
His burning blue eyes didn’t flinch as she worked through her tumultuous confusion. She swallowed hard—what if she was wrong? What if protecting herself and ridding the world of Garrison in one fell swoop was the right choice?
No, love might have been a liability and affliction, but Beatriz, the most selfish person she’d ever met, the very woman who had imparted those words of wisdom, had said she’d choose Lily. Elysia’s chest loosened as she reaffirmed her choice.
“There is one other option. We kill the fates.”
Silence overtook the room. The only sounds were the sharp crackle of wood burning in the fireplace and shallow breaths.
Grim and Aidan spoke simultaneously.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Elysia leaned back on one hand from where she sat on the rug in front of the fire, waiting for them to get it all out of their systems.
Turning to Aidan, Grim lifted a shoulder. “You know we considered it in the past. We said if things ever got dire enough that it was on the table.”
Aidan’s body was stiff, his answer unyielding. “That was before.”
Grim argued in his unruffled way. “She knows what’s at stake. We don’t have time for the gods to interfere anymore. The hourglass is close to running out.”
“No, we stay the course. We’re releasing the grid to all the gods soon. They’ll get involved, and it will change the available paths.” Aidan’s jaw was so tight, Elysia thought his teeth might grind through.
Thick chest puffing, Grim pushed back. “Tell her. Then she can decide with all the facts in hand. It’s her life.”