“Emergency portals have been set up within the safety of the garden. Please follow the light and make your way to our designated safe landing platform before you attempt to travel home.”
He raised his arms and white tendrils of light fell from his fingers, ranging over the ground and weaving between people until they reached the far end of the garden, where they began to climb into the air again, forcing an outline of what I assumed were the “emergency exit” pockets. I had no idea what had caused the commotion, but a quick check told me that Yael was still safe—standing only a few feet away. I turned my head to check on the panteras, and that was when I saw them: an army of servers brandishing weapons.
We’d decided earlier that the gods would be too arrogant to use weapons, but none of us had considered that servers would. It was the best way to attack. Weapons weren’t magic, they could be used inside the garden. This wasn’t even Staviti’s first attempt at sending armed servers after us—Emmy had told me about the attack on her and Cyrus. Weshouldhave realised that he would do it again while we were in a place protected from magic. I quickly pulled Pica’s note from my pocket where I had shoved it after getting dressed. The name of her server stared back at me, and I shouted it quickly as Siret’s arms tightened around me and he started to herd me from the stage.
“Wait,” I urged him as the server popped up before us. She looked straight to me and reached for my arm. “Wait,” I said again, but this time to her. “Take the others first.”
“I am sorry, Sacred One. I have orders,” she informed me before her hand closed around my arm and I was yanked into darkness.
Moving through the pocket seemed to take longer than usual, and by the time the pressure disappeared and I could see the light again, I had run through a ton of worried scenarios of what my guys were dealing with back in the garden. I should have been the last one to leave, not them.
Staviti had sent servers brandishing weapons—forged from Crowe in all probability—and they were capable of doing serious damage to the gods I had left behind. He hadn’t come himself though, which was a relief … and also a worry.What was he waiting for?
“Please make yourself comfortable, Sacred One.”
I turned my attention to the server, finally noticing that her skinsuit was a garish neon pink. Even the bald sheen of her head had a pink tinge to it. How creepy.
“Are you going to get the others now?” I demanded, deciding not to waste any time on pleasantries.
As much as I hated to be rude to a being that lived their afterlife dealing with arrogant gods, I didn’t have time to talk in circles. I needed to know that the others were safe. She just stared blankly at me, as if she couldn’t compute my question, indicating that my attempt to have this conversation as quickly as possible had been wasted. I tried another tactic. “I need you to go and get Abil’s sons now, please, and bring them here the same way you brought me here.”
The blank look remained.
What the hell is going on?
“Can you fetch me something to drink or eat?” I asked, my brow wrinkling as a worrying thought hit me.
She sprang to life all of a sudden, her mechanical voice once again filling the room. “Of course, Sacred One, your comfort is my number one priority.”
Twirling tendrils of panic started to unfurl in my chest, pushing at the edges of my sanity. I was exhausted already, and the truth of what was happening completely drained the last of my energy. “You’re not going to bring anyone else here, are you?” I asked softly.
The server shook her head. “I am here to serve you and keep you as comfortable as possible until the most sacred of all the gods arrives here.”
“The most sacred of all the gods is … Pica?”
I wasn’t sure at this stage if I preferred Pica or Staviti—it was starting to look like they were almost as bad as each other with the lying and the manipulating.
The server nodded her head jerkily. “Oh yes, the most sacred. The most loving. The most generous—”
I cut her off. “I get the point. She’s the most everything.”Including the most lying bitch of all the bitches.“And what is Pica going to do with me when she arrives?” I asked, wondering how much information I might be able to glean from her server.
I needed to know exactly what I’d stumbled into. Or even better, I needed to know where the hell I was. The room looked a lot like all of the marble rooms I’d been in before, which was why I hadn’t been alarmed at first, but upon closer inspection I noticed there were long, thick silver bars on the door, and there was very little in the way of furniture. There was only a fluffy rug, a small bed in the corner, and an arched doorway leading to a bathing room—though there was no door for privacy.
The server hadn’t answered my last question, so I tried again when I returned my gaze to her. “Where am I?”
She opened her mouth to reply, but it wasn’t her voice that I heard.
“You’re in my safest, most perfect home.”
I stared blankly at her, trying to figure out what had happened.
“Did Pica just speak through your mouth?” I asked dumbly.
“No, my silly Willy.”
This time the voice was closer, and it definitely hadn’t come from the server. I spun around to find Pica standing a few feet away, her hands filled with flowers, face flushed and eyes sparkling.
“I’m so happy right now,” she exclaimed.
