His eyes shifted back to me.What is your meaning?
“Leviathan tried to turn me against Callum, and now they’re trying to break the divide between us. I feel like I’m the one they want.”
If that were the case, then why wouldn’t he say this to you directly?
“I don’t know. I wasn’t remotely receptive to him when he visited me,” I said. “I told him to leave, so I dismissed him. Callum made it sound like once you dismiss a god, they can’t come back to you…or something of that nature.”
Zehemoth continued to stare at me.
“If you knew something, would you tell me?”
Of course. But if you still feel unease, why don’t you ask your father?
I continued to stare at the green hillsides far in the distance, but I pictured the castle in my mind. Pictured my father in his uniform in conference with Aunt Eldinar or one of his generals. “Yeah, I think I will.”
The moment I stepped into my father’s study, I could feel his smoldering rage. His shoulders were stiff, and he released a sigh so loud it sounded like the hiss from a snake. It didn’t seem directed at me or anyone else, because no one was there.
I stepped into the room. “Dad?”
He was in his armor, what he wore every time I saw him now, but instead of looking kingly, he just looked pissed off. His stare scorched me, even though I’d done nothing to deserve it.
“Everything okay?”
He didn’t blink as he stared me down, facing off with me like I’d just drawn my sword at him. “I have a lot that requires my attention right now, so if you need something, assuming it’sunrelated to your never-ending saga of boy trouble, make it quick.”
I’d never heard my father speak to me like that…ever. He said painful things in the heat of the moment, but nothing unnecessarily provocative. “Okay… What did I do to piss you off? Because you’re being a fucking asshole.”
He winced slightly like my pushback cut right through him. He worked his jaw for a moment before he cleared his throat. “You didn’t do anything, Lily. Someone else pissed me off.”
“Who?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He took another breath, like he needed to dispel his lungs of the hatred. “What do you need?”
I came closer to the table where he stood. He must have been staring at the map of the Southern Isles again, trying to think of a strategy for the battle we couldn’t really prepare for. “Something’s been on my mind, so I wanted to ask you directly.”
“I’m listening.”
“You said the underworld is coming for us because they feel cheated. Well, what if they’re coming for me?”
He continued to stare at me like he expected me to say more, and when I didn’t, he responded. “Why would they be coming just for you, Lily?”
“Well, Leviathan did come to me.”
“We’ll never know what his motives were, but it seemed like he was trying to hurt Callum instead of you.”
“Maybe. But I was the one who escaped, and I just wonder if it’s me that they want.”
The only change in his expression was the slight increase in anger that started to simmer.
“Is there something you know that I don’t?—”
“No.”
“Did Leviathan say anything to Queen Eldinar or Riviana?—”
“No. The portal is being compromised as we speak because they seek dominion over the mortal world. That’s it, Lily. It doesn’t have anything to do with you, specifically. And even if it did, what difference would that make?” He started to get angry again, his voice rising and his tongue turning lethal like he was having a really,reallybad day.
“Well, I could return to the dead island, if that’s what they wanted. If that’s what would stop this imminent attack from breaching the barrier between us.”
