Calix sighed, shaking his head. I smirked back at him. His people wanted to make him happy, despite his wish to be treated like everyone else when he was out. I wasn’t surprised to see some still jumping to assist when he showed up.
The hostess came back swiftly and led us to a table in the fire section, fittingly. She knew at least one dragon sat here, but I could only imagine her shock if she knew another sat with him.
Chapter Eleven
Calix
WatchingAsteria as she sat among our friends,our family, and laughed along with the others as we ate dinner, something settled deep inside my soul.
Since the moment she was taken, I was on edge and volatile. It was only seeing her here now, safe and happy, that truly soothed me.
She never laughed enough. She had never felt safe enough to let her guard down enough to be happy, not to mention having to deal with tumultuous emotions she didn’t understand because her mother had suppressed her magic. It had left her feeling like she didn’t belong in her own skin.
Oh, I was sure Aurelia had a good reason. There had to be something I was unaware of that was dire enough for her to carry out such an extreme act. I was at a loss for how she even learned to accomplish such a powerful feat of magic.
I was thinking of this as we walked out of the restaurant and headed over to the bar. I watched Asteria with a smile as she had fun with the others, happy she was able to at least let her guard down with us. Even if Baach bumped my shoulder, wiggling his brows at me as he tilted his head toward her.
I shook my head at him, opening my mouth to tease him back about Ilta, when I stopped short.
My sister was standing outside The Otherworld Bar. That wouldn’t be so strange if she hadn’t told me she couldn’t come tonight.
“Liv, I thought you weren’t able to make it?!” Ilta bounced up to her, but Liviana just looked past her, at Asteria, and then at me. I recognized the look in her silver eyes then, and the sudden hush told me the others had as well.
I moved forward, putting my hand on the small of Asteria’s back as I came up beside her. Worry about what might be coming rushed through me.
“Once you have gained control of the stars, you must follow Arawn’s instructions,” Liviana intoned, her voice layered with many others. It sent a chill down my spine, as it always did when she spoke prophecy or delivered a message from the gods.
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but the way Asteria’s back went ramrod straight, and her breath caught in her throat told me that she might.
“Youbothmust journey through the Otherworld,” Liviana spoke again in that strange multi-layered voice, silver eyes swirling as she looked between Asteria and me. “Find your way through Tartarus and Elysium, until you reach the city of the gods.”
I drew in a sharp breath, unable to believe what I was hearing. No one was allowed into the Otherworld, and certainly not the city of the gods.
“Only the stars can lead you home. You will know when the time is right.” Liviana finished, before her silver irises stopped spinning, and as she collapsed, Titan was already there to catch her.
Asteria’s breathing was all I could hear as she let out a harsh breath, like she’d been holding it in too long. I rubbed my hand along her back but kept an eye on my sister as she stood up, with Titan’s help, and made her way to us.
“I’m sorry.” She gently grabbed one of my hands and one of Asteria’s, her entire bearing apologetic. “The gods were quite insistent on the message being delivered.”
“I suppose Arawn is a bit impatient,” Asteria grumbled. “It hasn’t beenthatlong.”
Liviana laughed, to my confusion, having no idea what Asteria meant. “No, it hasn’t been. But the gods aren’t exactly known for their patience.”
“I suppose I better try to get my magic under control a little harder.” Asteria gulped but the worry in her eyes quickly shifted into annoyance. “How in the Otherworld are we supposed to actually traverse the damn Otherworld?!”
I couldn’t help the small laugh in my throat. “Why don’t we start with what you’re even talking about? Arawn’s message?”
Asteria looked up at me, surprised, like she expected me to know what she meant. She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment, leaving me waiting in anticipation. “When I was dying, before my magic kicked in, Arawn came to me.”
I blinked in surprise for a moment. “What?”
It wasn’t every day the gods made their presence known. I couldn’t remember a time since they’d closed the portals and left us in charge of their protection that’d appeared so directly to anyone. “What did he say?”
“He told me that I must make my way to the Otherworld, but not by dying. That the gods needed to speak to me. He said that the fate of the world depended on the information they must give us. I honestly kind of thought I might have hallucinated that bit.” She admitted sheepishly.
I blew out a heavy breath, running a hand through my silvery-white hair. This was unheard of. As was the number of visions Liviana had of Asteria. I was becoming increasingly sure that whatever was coming, Asteria was the key to it. Liviana had said before that she would not only be the catalyst, but the reason and the answer.
I couldn’t help feeling like we were getting closer to figuring out what this all meant. What our roles in this coming war would be.
