“Who do you think put me down here, Raelyn?”
A sob erupts out of her at the confirmation. The questions we hadn’t wanted to voice: how much he’d known . . . how much he’d been involved in this.
“He’s not here,” I answer the god. “He raised Raelyn as his own, and she only recently found out the truth. He suppressed her powers for years, and any time she would come close to figuring things out, he would erase her memories.”
The sun god lets out a growl that would terrify the largest predator in our realm . . . but perhaps I’mlookingat the apex predator of our realm . . . of many realms.
“I will tear him limb from limb,” he roars.
Large tears track down Raelyn’s face, and I so badly want to pull her into my arms, but something makes me pause.
“How do we get you out?” she repeats.
The god leans weakly against the side of the pit. “You’re the key, daughter,” he admits.
“Good! Just tell me what to do,” she says.
“We can’t use our rope to haul you out of there?” I ask.
The god shakes his head. “As I said, dark magic.”
“What can Rae do?” I ask.
The god ignores me and looks directly at her. “Daughter, I need you to come down here. I have need of your blood.”
A flicker of fear lights in her eyes. “Can’t I just drip some down to you like Kian did?”
Kyros’ growly chuckle is disturbing. “I’m afraid not. There is a ritual we must complete, and we must both spill blood together.”
I look to Rae, shaking my head. “I don’t know . . . Something feels off.”
“Nonsense,” she insists. “You can lower me down with the rope, and gods willing, haul me back up when we’re through. Then I can help you haul up my father.”
My heart rate picks up, and something is screamingDon’t do this!in my head, but it’s clear Raelyn’s mind is made up.
“Should we maybe get Sera and Alex first? We might need their help,” I ask, hoping to delay the inevitable.
Rae shakes her head. “No, we need to do this now.”
Kyros lets out another weak laugh. “Don’t worry, son of Silenius. I can barely hurt a fly in my state.”
I secure the rope around Rae in a harness-like fashion and explain how to rappel down the wall of the pit.
Rae bites her lip again, and before she can stop me, I drag her in for a kiss. “I love you, Rae,” I whisper.
She smiles at me, the crease between her brows wrinkling. “I’m going to be fine, Ki, but I love you too.”
Taking a deep breath, she drops her legs over the edge of the pit, and I pull the rope taut, then allow her the slack she needs to slowly make her way down. Damn, I should have brought gloves. My hands are burning as the rope slides through them, making the wound tear even further.
“Can I get a little more slack, please?” Rae calls out, and I loosen the rope as she kneels down next to the sun god.
Chapter Fifty-One
RAELYN
This can’t be real. I can’t possibly be looking at the sun god—my father. For a moment, we just stare at each other, both taking the other in. Long, blond hair hangs limply around his shoulders, his skin so pale, it rivals what mine once was. His golden eyes sink into his emaciated face, and his jaw is so pronounced, it could cut glass. His face is foreign to me, but there’s a hint of familiarity in his presence. I think we have the same mouth. A shocking warmth radiates from him, even in this dank pit.
The ball of light followed me down, and when I look up toward Kian, there’s barely an outline of him. I will the light to lift a little higher, and to my surprise and relief, it responds.
