Fay blinked owlishly, fingering her father’s necklace around her throat.
“What is this?” she asked quietly, holding it slightly aloft as the bluish glow coated her palm.
“An object I’ve been searching centuries for. Something that could give you a decided edge over my sister—the last tie to her immortality.”
“Her tether,” Fay whispered, her voice echoing between us. Kaos let the statement hover in the air. He neither needed to confirm nor deny her statement—even I could feel the truth of it, the rightness.
“Why are you here, Kaos?” I asked, my voice hesitant.
“Because it’s time for me to die.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Ellowyn
Iblanched as Fay sucked in a startled breath of air.
“What?” she sputtered, hand still clutching Holt’s necklace.
She held an artifact this entire time and had no idea.
“It’s time for me to die, Rune Master,” Kaos reiterated even as Fay shook her head, curls bouncing around her face.
“Only a god can kill a god.”
“And one is on their way here now,” Kaos said quietly, his admission falling like a lead weight. For all the chaos he’d caused in Elyria, I didn’t think the God of Truths was inherently evil; he’d saved me on more than one occasion and was here now, alerting us to Solace’s impending presence.
“She felt it, didn’t she? Her tether when it returned to its place of creation?” Fay asked, and I could see her fingers twitch as if she desperately wanted to inscribe this entire conversation in her journal.
Kaos nodded jerkily. “A tether can only be destroyed in the place it was created.”
“And a sacrifice is needed to destroy it,” Fay mused as she frowned, desperately trying to solve the puzzle.
Fay’s eyes found mine across the room, widening simultaneously as we came to the same conclusion.
“As I said,” Kaos said quietly, “it’s time for me to die.”
I chewed my lip as Faylinn pushed both of her hands through her hair, her fingers grappling for purchase against her scalp.
“Fine,” Fay spat. “I’ll destroy it as soon as she kills you.”
A small grin split Kaos’ face. “Unfortunately, Guardian, you cannot be here”—he turned to me—“but you can. And, if memory serves, you have a bargain with me to uphold.”
The blood drained from my face, and my extremities went numb at his insinuation.
“Bargain? What bargain? Ellowyn, what is he talking about?” Faylinn pressed urgently, but I just stood in numb shock.
Kaos advanced toward me, but I made no move to retreat. In two smooth strides, we were toe-to-toe, his breath fanning across my face. “I told you that the next time we see each other again, I would ask something of you. Do you recall now?”
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat, unbelieving thatthisis what Kaos wanted from me. Did he know all those months ago?
Mutely, dumbly, I nodded my head. Kaos’ face relaxed into a mournful yet triumphant grin as he backed away, leaving the scent of burnt forests in his wake. The God of Truths approached Faylinn, gently reaching out to wrap his massive hand around her bicep.
“We’re leaving now,” he said, but Faylinn shook her head, violently trying to wrench herself from his grip.
“Faylinn,” I called, stilling her movements. “Listen to him. I’ll be fine, Fay.”
Fay started to sputter a protest, but Kaos simply gripped her arm tighter. “Why don’t you give that tether to the godling there, and we can be on our way?”
