He trailed off, his eyes lighting up as he began walking the bank of the river.
“Calix?” I asked, brows raised.
“The only other way across would be a boat,” he murmured. “There must be one around here, right?”
“How exactly would a boat help when the entire river is on fire?” I called to him, my brows creasing.
“If there’s one around, it must mean there’s a way,” he responded, clearly sure of his idea.
I shrugged, not seeing any other option, and we both looked up and down the banks. Finally, Calix shouted, “Found it!”
I rushed over to find him pulling a small boat out of the weeds along the bank. There was a long pole inside the boat, along with a long, sharp spear. We both looked at one another with questions in our eyes, turning to face the raging flames before us.
Calix put the boat on the fiery water, and I cringed, expecting it to burst into flame itself. Instead, a path appeared through the flames, leaving the water completely clear on the winding path through.
“Come on, my dorchadas, we might as well.” I shrugged, jumping into the boat.
He looked unsure, despite this beinghisidea, as he glanced between me and the flames. He sighed long-sufferingly, making me grin, but he got in the damn boat. He even grabbed the long pole, sticking it into the water and pushing us off.
I sucked in a breath as the boat veered toward the flames, but Calix used the pole to direct us away, my shoulders dropping in relief.
“What, do you doubt my skills, my réalta?” Calix smirked, looking down at me from where he stood, balancing with the wooden seat between his legs as he directed us down the winding path.
I couldn’t help but laugh, shaking my head. “Far be it from me to ever doubt yourskills.”
The look he gave me was as scorching as the heat from the flames surrounding us. I bit my lip, pressing my legs together as I wished we were literallyanywhereelse.
It was a vivid reminder of a time when I couldn’t touch him. It was still hard to believe he was mine to touch as much as I pleased. And I pleased…quite a lot.
But instead, I was forced to keep my hands to myself as he guided us down the river. The echo of screams reached us, the agony in them sending shivers down my spine. It was easy to forget where we were. We’d mostly been in relatively safe and somewhat empty areas, but there was a wide realm out there full of souls enjoying their eternal damnation.
Souls of those that deserved it, I reminded myself.
And soon, Cyrus would be joining them.
That thought brightened my spirits considerably. We were here for a reason, one that would help lead to exactly that outcome. We just needed to get through this journey, and then we could take the fight to that monster.
And I could finally repay him for every single thing he did. I tried not to cringe, remembering it, my breath coming a bit faster and earning a concerned look from my mate. I waved him off, dropping my head down to breathe slowly. Willing the images of Cyrus on top of me to disappear.
I gulped, the sound of my dress ripping open echoing in my ears, along with Tavarius’s screams.He would pay.I repeated that to myself over and over, until rage replaced the hurt and despair. Until I felt my blood heat and the magic in my veins rise in the air around me.
“Asteria,” Calix said softly, a hand landing on my shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
I gasped, embarrassed, as I realized Calix had felt all of that. I opened my mouth to apologize, but he shook his head sadly, bringing me in for a hug. I put my arms around his waist, breathing in the calming scent of night and fire.
But as the boat rocked, we quickly pulled apart, watching as a bout of flame appeared before us. The heat of the flames was nearly suffocating, and I coughed as sweat began to bead across my forehead. Calix cursed, moving us quickly to the left, where another path had simultaneously opened. Sweat rolled down my back, and I looked back to see the distance between us and the fire increasing. I sighed in relief, but that was too close a call.
As we continued down the new path, we watched as the flames began to move once again. This time, two paths opened, like a fork in the road, as the one before us closed. We looked at each other in concern, trying to figure out what we needed to do to get past this. I couldn’t figure out what the test was here, but there had to be something to this.
“Maybe the one that leads toward the other side of the river?” I suggested carefully.
“It could be, or it could be another false path,” Calix said, clearly concerned, his jaw working back and forth. The boat rocked hard, and we both swayed back and forth, grabbing onto the edge of the boat to steady ourselves.
“What was that?” Calix murmured, lilac eyes surveying the water carefully. But we’d apparently been still too long, and the flames began to close in on us.
“Fuck,” I whispered, turning to Calix with wide eyes. He grabbed the pole and sent us sloshing forward, turning toward the path that seemed to lead toward the other side of the Styx, instead of away from it—hopefully, anyway.
Flames flickered before us, as more paths began to appear in the water. They cut across the water in random bursts, until an entire maze of flames rose before us. My breathing picked up, but my eyes were forced elsewhere as I heard a strange sound from the water. I looked to the right just in time to go flying backward as the boat rocked to the left. I cursed as I hit the side, but just caught the end of a serpentine tail flicking out of the water before it disappeared.
