My refusal works better than hope. The grey thins, shredding into wisps rather than walls. The ground beneath us turns from obsidian to the cracked stone of the original entry point. “We are close,” I state and keep going.
Chapter 28
Nyssa
“Bored now,” I mutter as my face gets even wetter with this infernal fog. Where did it even come from? I wipe the moisture from my eyes. It sticks to my lashes. I hate this place. I hate the damp. I hate the silence. I want out. I want to go back to my cottage, eat more toast, and pretend I’m not wearing a crown made of snakes and bad omens. I am all alone, and while that was the point in storming away from the gods, and in particular, Dreven, now I feel lost. All hope is gone that I will ever get out of here, that I will ever see anyone again. I will die here of old age, still wandering around in the fog. Okay, so it won’t be old age that gets me. Dehydration will kick in after a few days. Unless you can hydrate yourself with fog… I’m fucked.
“Grrr!” I growl and then pause as I feel the sense of despair lift, and hope kicks me in the arse again. “Right, realm. If I am your so-called ruler, let me out!”
“Don’t think it works that way,” a seductive voice purrs at me out of the mist.
“Lust,” I snap as the sexy goddess with her long red waves of hair and curves to die for swims into view. “What do you want?”
She runs a hand down her silk dress, smoothing fabric that doesn’t need smoothing. “I want to know why the Chaos god looks at you like you are the only thing that matters.”
“Because I’m terrifying,” I say flatly. “And because I haven’t tried to sleep with him in the last five minutes.”
She pouts. It’s a practised expression. “He likes the chase. I can respect that. But this fog? It’s damp, and it is ruining my hair.”
“I don’t care,” I snap. “If you know the way out, point. If not, move.”
“You made the maze, darling. You have to unmake it. Or are you too afraid to drop the walls?”
I grip my blade. “I’m not afraid. I’m annoyed. There is a difference.”
“Is there?” She tilts her head, red hair cascading over her shoulder. “You ran away because the Shadow god told you the truth. You rule this place. You just refuse to take the position.”
“It isn’t a position,” I mutter. “It is a cage.”
“Everything holds you if you struggle against it,” she says, offering a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “But if you stop fighting, maybe the fog lifts.”
I hate that she makes sense. I hate it even more that a goddess who probably thinks calculus is a type of foot infection is lecturing me on emotional regulation. I close my eyes. I force my shoulders to drop. I stop trying to find the exit. I stop trying to run from the heavy, cold responsibility Dreven keeps trying to hand me.
I just stand there.
Nothing happens.
“Well, that was a success. You got a name?”
Lust smiles. “Aurora.”
“Well, Aurora. My name is Nyssa, and we need to work together to get the fuck out of this fog.”
“I can’t help you with that. This is your doing.”
“Shut the fuck up and move. Standing here isn’t doing anything.”
She shrugs and falls into step beside me as I walk to the left. It feels warmer there for some reason. Or rather, less cold than the patch we are walking away from. All good in my book.
“How did you kill her?” Aurora asks suddenly.
“Who?”
“Aethel.”
“I stabbed her in the face.”
“Ouch. How did she break the veil?”
