I scramble backward, eager to get away, but my back meets the cold stone wall. Aster looks as if he’d be happy to shred Cyra to pieces, while she doesn’t appear even mildly concerned. She caresses his face with the back of her hand.
“You seem to remember how I like it,” she coos, her smug smile widening as she glances over his shoulder at me.
I fix her with a loathsome stare. What is wrong with the two of them? They’re supposed to be gods. Lesser ones, but gods nonetheless. Shouldn’t they act with grace and virtue and all of that? I shake my head. The world is doomed already if this is the current state of affairs.
Not wanting to watch another second of their sickening love game, I turn and march back down the corridor toward the entrance I came in. I’ll find another route to my chambers.
I’m ready to close the door behind me when Cyra’s voice stops me dead in my tracks.
“We all agreed to the plan, Aster. Void, you have spent the last twenty years convincing me you should have this power. Don’t tell me you are going to throw it all away.”
Stepping back into the hallway, I let the door drop with a thud, hoping they’ll think me gone. Heart pounding, I slip into the nearestalcove, pressing myself flat against the cool stone, willing myself to become invisible. How close do I have to be for him to sense my presence? Read my mind? With my mind as clear as I can make it, I pray the distance will be enough.
“I didn’t say that,” he says, his tone evasive.
“You don’t have to say anything. Iknowyou, Aster. Her soul shards, why you haven’t taken them yet?”
The blood drains from my face, leaving a cold, clammy feeling. Wait. What? I can barely suppress the strangled gasp making its way up my throat as the realization hits, and a wave of nausea washes over me.Asteris taking those shards?
“The shards need another moon cycle,” he says. “Until then, they are powerless and safer at Anam’gate than with me.”
She scoffs. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me that is the only reason you haven’t touched them yet?”
“You know bloody well this changes things,” he snaps. “Of course it does.”
“Aster.” Her tone makes his name sound like a threat.
“Don’t.” He lets out a frustrated breath. “I never thought about her as a person, Cyra. Just . . . a solution. A means to an end. Defeat Casimir. Reverse the Darkening. Llyr was clever, I'll give him that. Hid her with a brace all these years—inside the Void. Right under Casimir's nose, where no one would think to look. Probably wore one himself too, because I sure couldn't find him.”
Cyra chuckles. “I wouldn’t put that past him,” she says, and Aster actually snorts.
They’re quiet for a while, then Aster says, “You didn’t have to be such a bitch toward her.”
She scoffs. “I did. You are taking her soul, Aster. The farther she stays away from you, the better.” She pauses, then adds in a more solemn tone, “It’s as much for your sake as for hers.”
“You don’t have to pretend to care. There’s no getting around that she was born to die, and you will be all the happier for it.”
Hiswords make my blood freeze. I willdie?
“She will die,” Cyra repeats, “and the world will be better for it.”
Aster breathes out a heavy sigh. “What if there’s a reason, Cyra? Mah’s not known for being cruel. She always has a reason.”
“She dies to save all of Rea. How is that for a reason?”
Aster sighs. “Am I a fool for hoping?”
“Don’t you dare,” Cyra snaps. “You better not let your emotions get the better of you this time, or I’ll kill you myself. That is a promise. You are the reason we are in this predicament in the first place.”
“Don’t you dare use Casimir’s betrayal against me! Void, he was—is—my twin brother. I trusted him. And you know better than most how deep his betrayal cut. I lost everything, Cyra.Everything.”
“I know, Aster. I know. But don’t forget that I lost someone too. You. I lost you to her.”
chapter twenty-two
I KEEP ONLY HALF AN eye on the two Accepted sparring. The sun has just risen above the western horizon, and the steel gleams as the morning light floods the courtyard. Seniia is not present this morning, and neither is Fie. Although I’d love nothing more than to be happy for my friend, there is only room for one thought.
I will die.
