At the top of the steep stone steps descending into the dungeon, I find Kenzie and Luka. She’s pacing and looks frustrated while he folds his arms stubbornly. Unsure if they’re annoyed with each other or me, I smile at Kenzie.
“There’s the sexiest pregnant lady I know.”
She lights up, preening. “Aww, shucks. Watch out, monk, or I’ll try to add you to my quintet.”
Luka grimaces. “Don’t even joke about that.”
Kenzie swats his arm before turning to me seriously. “I want to help with the attack.Reallyhelp. And I get that keeping an eye on this safe haven is really important and if anyone needs to retreat here, we’re in charge of getting them healed and stuff—but I’m just so fucking worried about how this attack will go. We’re outnumbered, May.Reallyoutnumbered. We don’t even know how many shadow fiends there are, but Reformist numbers have just been going down ever since the Upheaval started, so if even just one or two more people could help, I can?—”
“Shecan’tbe in the battle,” Luka cuts in, looking at me.
“Kenzie can handle herself,” I point out coldly, disliking the idea of him underestimating her.
“No shit,” the vampire huffs. “But she’s not supposed to shift while she’s pregnant. It’s too fucking dangerous.”
I’ve never even considered if shifting while pregnant was a thing, but Kenzie sighs. “It’s highly discouraged, but I’m still not that far along. They say the second trimester is when it’s a big no.”
Luka shakes his head. “It’s a big no already. I’m not risking you or the baby, Kenz. I’m just not.”
When Kenzie looks torn and frustrated, I clear my throat. “Numbers won’t be a problem. We have backup.”
“From where?” Luka frowns.
I glance behind them at the hallway full of ghosts and think about all the corpses Silas is about to reanimate all around Everbound. With how many legacies have died while training at Everbound University, I’m more than willing to bet we’ll have plenty of Undead soldiers to spare. Not to mention, ravens have been flocking to Everbound like they’re aware I’m going to need them.
“The restless dead,” I finally reply, looking at the other two living people in this hallway.
Kenzie’s eyes get round. “Oh, shit. Are you about to pull some kind of demigoddess trick? Gods, that makes me feel so much better. I know people have rallied here for you, and I totally trust your plan—I was just getting worried. But if you think we’ve got it...”
“We do,” I nod, more determined than ever.
With Kenzie’s concerns eased, she reminds me to say goodbye to her before the actual attack, and then she and Luka leave. For a moment, I watch the ghosts wandering these halls in anticipation. With the ghosts and Undead, the Reformists and others who have gathered here to help, and the reanimated changelings…
It will be a brutal battle, but it all comes down to ending Amadeus.
Before, I would have settled for him merely falling from power. So long as he was no longer a risk to my quintet, I would have let him fade into obscurity peacefully.
But Amadeus sent me a warning through that first changeling. I didn’t listen, so he took away Lillian.
Now, I don’t just want him out of power. I want him gone. After taking away a light like Lillian’s from this world, he deserves whatever will happen to him in the Beyond. And in order for us to kill him, he needs to be mortal again. Based on what I learned from Galene, Amadeus also has no heart. He has nothing but corrupted magic keeping him alive—but if I put a heart back in his chest, I’ll be giving him the very weakness I couldn’t identify in him before.
And once Amadeus is dead…
Godsdamn it, I really fucking hope that whatever blood oath I made doesn’t ruin the happily ever after I’m working so hard to have with my quintet.
Turning to walk back down the stairs that will take me back to the dungeon, I absentmindedly check to make sure Pierce is in its place in one of my sleeves. Cuttrina is hidden near my waist—but the moment I touch my etherium blade, a new memory washes over me, dragging me back to my time in Paradise.
Arati and I are standing on a golden balcony high in the air overlooking stunning views. There is a beautiful white-and-gold city far below, filled with winged angels and nature spirits and countless other Paridisians going about their divine days. A multicolored mountain blooming with flowers and plants I can’t identify rises far in the distance. Constellations still dance in the sky above. An idyllic forest rustles in a soft breeze far below toour right. Just beyond that, a lake shimmering like millions of liquefied stars sparkles in the sunlight.
I realize that I’m cupping my hand in this memory as more golden blood—no,ichor—drips from my palm.
“Here,” Arati says, offering me a bandage she seems to have summoned from nowhere.
I wrap my hand and notice she’s doing the same to one of hers. This must be right after our blood oath to one another. As much as I don’t recall what I swore to do, I also don’t remember what the queen of the gods swore to me in return.
My aunt sighs, looking out over Paradise once again. “Very well. Now that the deed is done, I will tell you how a Paridisical being once gave up his divinity and descended to the mortal realm. I will warn you, he barely survived.”
Ignoring her warning, I prompt, “He?”
