“When I could be sure my intervention didn’t carry a price others would pay.” He paused. “I wish you didn’t even have to think about that or be in this position.”
I nodded, forcing my grip to loosen on the railing. “I’ll be able to do whatever is necessary.”
“Because you’ve killed upon your mother’s request?”
Unable to speak, I gave a curt nod as I opened my eyes.
“Just remember, no matter what happens, a part of you is good. That cannot be tainted by what may come. You are not a monster. And you will not be one when we return.”
That damn knot swelled once more in my throat, replacing the sour taste of bile. “Maybe I’m not a monster, but I, like you, am capable of monstrous acts. And when I really think about that, I’m not sure there’s really a difference between the two.”
“Then all of us, those good and bad, are a little monstrous,” he said.
Preparing myself, I turned to Nyktos. “I’m ready.”
He took my hands in his, and the charge of energy danced up my arms. He fitted me to his chest, and the contact sent a startling rush of sensations through me that I ordered myself to ignore.
“Hold on,” he said, his voice roughening.
Inhaling sharply, I placed my hands against the front of his tunic, breathing in the scent of citrus.
His cool breath skimmed my cheek. “A bit tighter than that, Sera.”
“I don’t remember being required to hold on tighter before.”
“You held me as if your life depended on it before,” he remarked.
“I don’t recall doing that,” I muttered.
Nyktos chuckled as he folded an arm over my lower back. His head dropped, and his breath touched the curve of my neck, eliciting an unwanted shiver.
The air charged, and Nyktos’s body hummed against mine with power. The white mist I’d seen in the Great Hall in Wayfair didn’t come from the floor this time. It came from Nyktos, heavy and thick. It swirled around us, laced with dark shadows. My chest tightened as the swirling mist reached my hips. I locked up.
“Breathe with me,” he said, dragging his hand to the center of my back as his chest rose against mine and held for a count of four, then exhaled. I matched his next breath as the mist churned at my shoulders. “Breathe.”
Nyktos’s lips touched the same spot Jadis had kissed as the mist swallowed us. The Shadowlands fell away, taking me with it.
And I held on.
I blinked.
That was what it felt like this time.
I simply blinked, and when I opened my eyes, we were standing under a shimmery canopy of golden leaves. The branches above our heads were so heavy with them that the glow cast upon us didn’t come from the patches of blue sky but from the sun reflecting off the leaves. I’d never seen anything like them.
Cool fingers touched my cheek as I heard the soft trill of birds calling to one another, a sound I hadn’t heard since arriving in the Shadowlands. Nyktos drew my gaze to his wide, swirling eyes. “Sera?” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
He was quiet as he stared down at me, and I began to grow concerned. “You barely went unconscious.”
I hadn’t realized I had gone unconscious at all. “Is that a bad thing?”
His jaw flexed. “We need to get those embers out of you,” he said, still whispering. “Soon.”
My heart tripped over itself as I stepped back, looking around. The trunks of the cluster of trees we stood in glittered with specks of gold. “They’re beautiful.”
Nyktos’s hand fell away. “They’re called trees of Aios.”
I glanced at him. “I assume the name isn’t a coincidence?”
A wry grin appeared as he looked up at them. “No. Aios grew them with her touch.”
My mouth fell open. “She can do that?”
“She can create many beautiful things when she wants to,” he said, and I wondered if Aios had grown these trees after she’d fled Dalos. “We’re at the very gates of Dalos. Once we leave these trees, we must be very careful.”
I nodded.
“Do not allow anyone to lure you away,” he continued. “And trust no one.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good,” he said. “They will already know we’ve arrived. It would’ve been felt.”
My heart kicked against my ribs. “I’m ready,” I told him, and I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. Regardless, we began walking through the shining trees, our steps strangely making no sound.
I took the time to focus on making sure my emotions were locked away and that my heart and mind were calm. I breathed in the balmy breeze that reminded me of home, held my breath to the count of four, then exhaled. I did this as we reached the edge of the trees, and the Rise around the city of Dalos came into view. The wall was as tall as the one circling the House of Haides and Lethe but constructed of polished marble that glittered with chunks of glittering stone. Diamonds.
Fancy.
But what caught my attention was the thick mist above the Rise, a shroud much as I’d seen in the Vale that obscured all that lay beyond.
Warm sunlight bore down on us, and when I looked at the sky, I saw no sun, just like in the Vale. Nyktos was quiet as my gaze fell upon the gate of the Rise, which lay open to us. A dozen guards stood at the sides of the gate, and they immediately reminded me of the statue of Kolis in the Great Hall of Wayfair.
Golden chestplates engraved with the same symbol that had been carved into Nyktos’s palm were worn over white, knee-length tunics. Greaves covered their calves. Swords with golden blades were sheathed at their waists. Their heads were bare, but some sort of thick golden paint adorned their faces like a mask—one shaped like wings.
Something about it struck a chord of familiarity in me, but I couldn’t place it as a shadow fell upon us. I sent a quick look over my shoulder, and air lodged in my throat. Massive statues of men carved from marble rose beyond above the trees of Aios, standing with their arms at their sides, in a line that traveled east and west as far as I could see. They were taller than any building in Lasania, even the Temples, and cast an imposing shadow on us as the guards by the gate knelt.
We passed them in silence, crossing into the City of the Gods, and I saw what the Rise and mist hid. I knew my mouth was hanging open as I took in Dalos, awed by the size of the city. It was far greater than Carsodonia, the capital of Lasania.
Trees similar to those in the Vale lined a road shimmering with crushed diamonds, their low, sweeping branches falling in a canopy of white blossoms that stirred gently in the breeze. My gaze followed the road to an immense structure behind a glittering wall shorter than that of the Rise, not too far from the entrance. Its four staggered towers rose from the middle of the dome, seeming to drink in the beams of sunlight. I could see the tips of ivory and gold canopies rolling just beyond the inner Rise. Despite the warmth, my skin chilled. Instinct told me that was where he, the true Primal of Death, waited in the sprawling diamond and crystal fortress.
I dragged my gaze from the fortress and looked out over the sparkling city. Buildings large and small dotted the many hills and valleys as far as the eye could track, some flat and square and others round with sweeping colonnades, their sides diamond-bright. Throughout the city, crystalline towers rose upward in graceful, spinning arcs that disappeared into wispy, white clouds. Vines appeared to grow over many of the buildings, crawling their way up the spires.
“It’s beautiful.”
“From a distance, it is.”
A bolt of unease skittered through me. I glanced at Nyktos as he led me down the center of the narrow road, the only sound that of the breeze playing with the trees’ graceful, arching branches and the whisper of wind. A frown pulled at my lips as I glanced around, seeing no one and…and hearing no one. Not even the birds calling to one another in the trees of Aios could be heard here. Tiny goosebumps spread across my flesh with each step that brought us closer to the fortress.