“Rollie, are you okay?” Elysia examined his drained face in concern. He stumbled to her in a daze.
“Too much magic, but I think I should be asking you that,” he mumbled. “You were supposed to leave. Why didn’t you travel?”
The bear-man interrupted them, bringing them all back to his question. “Son of mine, why did you wreck this empty place?”
“We hoped the destruction would act as a true offering and call to you.”
The god’s expression remained impassive but considering. “Why? I am not a god who seeks offerings. Feel a breeze. Plant a tree. Tend to an animal friend. This is what pleases me.”
Rollie put one palm against Elysia’s statue and cut in. “Because we seek to warn the gods.”
A ground-shaking laugh carved a smile onto the giant’s face. “You would warnus? Of what could you possibly warn the immortal, timeless gods you come from?”
Topp’s voice went gravelly. “Of my father—he aims to eradicate magic from every land he can reach.”
Blue-green eyes went back to Elysia now. “Aidan finally reached his counterpart despite your fates-crossed path, and here you stand on my ground, spent with misused magic that would have killed a lesser mortal. Tell me, lady of the dead, is this true? Does my brother fear this end as well?”
“He fears it so much that he struck a deal with me that if I succeed in my voyage and bring his talisman to him, then I am free to return to mortal lands as much as duty allows. He even stabilized the death realms at great cost to himself to prevent the dead from overtaking the earth.”
“Unfortunate how the fates are handling this… My boy never deserved their wrath.” His frown twisted into an odd smile. “But yes, I imagine the talisman will be key in the days to come if what you say is true.”
Elysia took a great breath. “Grim and Aidan invented a new technology. It will allow the gods to see what is happening across the mortal realm in real-time. All the big players—Topp’s father, my friends from Kava, perhaps even the gods. He’d like to set up a gambling game.”
Both Topp and Rollie swiveled to stare at her, but she didn’t say anything else, her eyes fixed on the reaction of the terrifying god weighing her words.
The silence thickened and Elysia grimaced.Great. They’d managed to get a god to show up and she’d blown it.
He finally gave a slow nod. “I am older than most. I stand as the only original fate-made god, lasting through their many purgings. Again and again, they have made new gods when it pleases them.” The giant gave a weary sigh. “Nothing gives me greaterpleasure than caring for the little mortals of storm and fauna, so while I remain cautious for fear of my godhood, I will hear what my favorite and youngest brother has to say.”
Rollie pushed sweaty hair out of his face. “If the fates oversee the gods, and have the power to eliminate gods, then who could stand against them?”
The rain came down harder as the god looked off into the sky. “I hope Aidan is ready for the chaos he chases.”
Putting a hand on the back of both Rollie and Topp’s necks, he steered them in the direction of the gaping, vine-covered hole. Except now that Elysia looked again, a broad-leaved forest had sprung up all around them. Lush and green, the forest looked like it had stood in the White Sands for centuries rather than seconds. A red deer disappeared behind a tree, and Elysia shook her head.This is too crazy.
The god stopped, his bear pelt swinging as he turned back. “Tell Grim he’s welcome and let your future husband know I’ll be seeing him.” With that, he carelessly threw down his hand. The earth cracked, icy water rushing and overflowing into a river that disappeared deep within the new forest past where she could see.
“Happy traveling.” He winked and turned back to the boys, lifting them by their necks and jumping into the hole.
Elysia hopped on one foot to the water. She stared at the beautiful, fresh river, and tried to decide if a broken ankle or a pissed-off death god was worse. She took a breath and jumped.
Chapter 29
Elysia foundit suspicious that she had made it through the night with no one knocking on her door or barging in and demanding to know everything. She laboriously changed into a loose pair of cozy black pants and a soft oversized sweater. Maybe they had already watched everything on the grid, but somehow, she doubted this considering neither Grim nor any of his reapers had responded to her call. Something had gone wrong, she just didn’t know what.
Her ankle was multicolored and bulbous, and the bruising continued up her shin and calf, marking out the ugly map of her pain. She poked at it with a wince. Seeing Maya was the first thing on her agenda today. She’d arrived in a state of exhaustion so deep that she hadn’t even stripped off her river-drenched clothes before collapsing into the armchair and passing out. Unfortunately, bathing was still out of the question—it was a small miracle she’d managed to change her clothing now, hopping around like a strange one-legged bird.
Tediously, Elysia hobbled through the house, following the sound of the daily breakfast din and clamor to the dining room. The table was full with Aidan at the head when she entered. Mouth tight and with bluish-purple under eyes, he snapped outthe paper he was reading a little too aggressively, tearing it down the middle.Okay, then.
Grim sat two chairs down sporting an obvious black eye while he ate a hearty bowl of porridge in pointed silence. His volt, the official name for Grim’s flock of reapers, picked nervously at their food, afraid to converse with one another. Releasing the doorframe, she unceremoniously hopped into the room, making a beeline for the closest chair. One of the reapers quickly kicked out Elysia’s seat, so she could grab onto the tall wooden post and slump down into the heavily embroidered seat.
She shot the woman a smile of relief. “Thanks.”
Grim looked even more miserable as he took in her appearance while Aidan unconsciously bent the metal spoon in his hand.
“Seems like a rough morning?” She tentatively dropped the question.
Aidan’s glare turned arctic. “You left a note.Again.”
