And yet, Aidan stood, ignoring her offer. “Come on, you did well, and assuming you maintain yourplatonic co-rulingduties, then I’ll never have to do it again.” He stalked off, hunched against the wind. Elysia’s eyes narrowed. She was damn-well familiar with wallowing in your own shit, and the stench ofI’m not worth itwas rolling off the god of the dead in undeniable waves.
She stood, fingering the tiny ruby she’d kept in her pocket as she watched him. One day he would let her help him, but she knew better than most that he’d have to be the one to decide he deserved it.
Chapter 26
There wasa lightness in Aidan’s step that she hadn’t seen before. Focused and difficult to pull away from his work, Aidan was not what she would describe as easy-going, but watching the rocks transform into precious jewels had relaxed something in him.
She smiled as they walked through the spindly trees with their bony fingers scratching skyward. It was nice to see him like this. Soon they were back on the cobbled streets of the local village. Past all the brick houses and buildings, hills rolled and somewhere in the valley was the estate. Her feelings about Aidan remained conflicted, but it satisfied the gnawing anxiety eating at her to do something helpful for the Deathlands. Caught up in the moment, she hadn’t asked for a better explanation, but now she puzzled over the mechanics of her magic.
The road curved, taking them into the business district filled with everything from candy shops with brightly lit glass windows to large red-brown brick warehouses with iron-paned windows. Elysia spotted a familiar man walking up to one of the warehouses across the way. Distracted from her questions, she nudged Aidan and tipped her head. “Isn’t that Grim?”
Aidan’s mouth opened, then shut. She looked at him with araised brow. “Is it a pleasure house or something? Even Kava has one, you know.”
His eyes flitted back and forth, the debate inside his mind evident. “No, not a pleasure house.”
Elysia pushed her hands deeper into her coat pockets. “You’re being weird.” Music started somewhere inside her then, giving her pause as she considered him carefully.Oh, he has a secret.
Aidan made a face at her, unaware of the magical scrutiny he was under, and pushed his hair back. “It’s just work stuff that you don’t need to worry about. You’ve done enough today.” The music grew louder now, pulling her attention to the beautiful warehouse.
She drew back, slowing her steps. “Shouldn’t I know aboutwork stuff? As your deeply platonic future co-ruler?” Her words were a dare, giving him the chance to correct his mistake.
Aidan pointed at the street that would take them out of the city and onto the well-worn path back to the estate. “Funny, but as much as I enjoy your sudden interest in the workings of the realm, it’s really not that exciting. Let’s go home.”
Elysia stopped and looked at Aidan bluntly. “I’ll give you one and you just used it.”
Glancing over his shoulder, confusion furrowed his face. “One?”
“One lie. Hope it was worth it.”
And then she spun on her heel, darting across the street, quickening her pace as the warehouse loomed closer. A vibrant, tumultuous song filled with roaring excitement and pounding fists pulled at her feet. It was a song of both vengeance and dangerous, unlikely hope. The front door flew open, her feet barely touching down on the expansive wood plank stairs, her hand grazing over the iron handrail. Swaths of muted light shone in through the enormous iron-paned window onto the hardwood floors, and a ruckus of shouting and noise filled the warehouse. Huffing for air, she stopped at the top of the stairs with Aidan barely avoiding colliding into her back.
The back of the warehouse had a grid marked off on its white wall. Within each grid was a glimpse into the mortal realm—of some very familiar faces. Topp and Rollie stalking through the halls of the gaudiest temple Elysia had ever seen. Her sister yelling and waving a potion bottle in the face of a cowering man. Garrison stomping through the Relaclave castle. People she had never seen before filled even more grid spaces.
Grim spotted her, his posture straightening as he made a beeline through the mass of people all shouting and gesticulating at the grid. He looked between Elysia and Aidan warily. “We good here?”
Elysia looked at Aidan with death in her eyes. “Thisis how you know so much about me?”
Aidan appeared pained. Like he wished he could evaporate rather than deal with the small tightly wound package of fury in front of him. “This is not how I wanted to introduce you to this…”
Grim took one look at the two of them, and turned right back around, aiming for the group of reapers he had been minding. “I’ll be over here if you need me.”
“Traitor,” Aidan muttered before glancing down at Elysia again, his face turning wary. “Please, will you allow me to explain?”
Plopping down onto the light-toned hardwood floor with her feet on the stairs and back to the grid, she gestured for him to get on with it. She’d already known the reapers were trailing her occasionally, but to have their lives thrown up on a wall for people to watch without permission was incredibly invasive. Anger writhed beneath her skin, convincing her there wasn’t a single reason he could state that would make this acceptable, but she waited with her mouth clamped shut and fists tight.
Aidan sank down beside her, unbuttoning his winter coat and kicking one long leg out. “The more Grim trailed you the last few years, the more concerned we became about Garrison, but mysiblings, if you can even call them that, can be difficult. We neededto find a way to show them the chaos that’s on our doorstep if Garrison proceeds with his plans to exterminate magic. Because the godswilldevolve into their basest forms. The fates assigned us roles because every time they didn’t, the gods inevitably started fighting, destroying realms and mortals and whatever else got in their way. Instead of being stewards, they become tyrants.”
He wove his fingers together, his scars turning silvery as they popped against his tightened skin. “They didn’t listen when I explained that the death realm was on the verge of collapsing. They consider me the most responsible of the bunch and trusted I could handle it. They also assumed I was blowing it out of proportion—that my anxiety was getting the best of me.” His mouth tightened.
“They didn’t believe you or want to hear it,” she summarized succinctly.
Fires blazed in his eyes as he met her gaze. “Exactly. It doesn’t help that they’re terrified of the fates. No one wants to lift a single finger that could be misconstrued as going against the fates’ design.”
She nodded as a slice of fear cut through her. Even thegodswere afraid of the fates. “You told me the death realm was stable.”
“It mainly is now—I didn’t want to burden you when I was managing it.”
Swiveling to face him better, she hardened her voice. “Honesty goes two ways, Aidan. You can’t expect these things from me and not return them.”
