“Love,” I manage to force out. “Hope. Respect. Joy. Acceptance.Pleasure.Who is worth saving? My beautiful Omega. My rebellious Blood Lover. And the best friend who was the first person to see me for who I truly am. So, get. Out. Of. My. Mind.”
I slam my head against the floor. My warm blood trickles down my temple.
I slam it against the stone again.
The voices howl in fury.
“Stop this, beast, or you’ll kill yourself before I need you as a sacrifice.” Ruin rolls me onto my back.
I look up at him through dazed, pain filled eyes.
Scarlet cakes my hair, running down to make my eyelashes sticky.
“I c-can’t g-get the voices to s-s-stop…” I rasp.
“The Void Devils are talking to you.” Ruin straddles me. He studies me like I am an experiment. “Such an honor.”
Ruin wouldn’t say that if he knew that the Void Devils were tempting me to allow them out to devour him.
“S-s-top them,” I hiss.
Ruin sighs, before muttering an incantation under his breath. The pyramids on his robe glow brightly.
At last, the voices die in my head.
My hands fall from my ears.
The silence is crushingly loud. I wish that I had my animals here with me. I blink, listening as hard as I can for the scamper of rats in the outside chambers.
My shoulders slump.
“What did they say?” Ruin leans closer. “Were they angered by the High Priestess’ death?”
I take great delight in smiling. “They didn’t even mention it.”
Ruin frowns. “Oh…well…”
“Let me up.”
I flinch, when Ruin pats my cheek. “Don’t worry, the Void Cult can step into the hole that you have created. I should be thanking you for increasing our power by removing my rival.” My eyes narrow. The Void Devils weren’t wrong about the thirst for power. “I will make sure that the Blood Court and kingdom run smoothly after your sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice,” I force my voice to remain steady, “sounds so much more noble than my death.”
Ruin pushes himself up, glancing at Nebet’s bloody body dismissively. “Lazarus was trained his entire life for the honor of jumping into the Void and sealing it with his blood. He waseagerto do his duty and save the realms. Do you know what would happen if the Void opened between the pyramids? What the Void Devils would do to us? They would not merely open a hell upon us like the Shadow Devils would, but rather, an abyss from an ancient world before the shadows came into being from the fae. A gaping void would devour us and create a new world. A world where we did not exist, despite anything the Void Devils may have told you.”
He levels a glare at me, and I meet it frostily.
“I’m not my twin.” I push myself up onto my elbows. “I’m not in your cult.”
“But you always knew that this day was coming.” Ruin raises his arms. “You’ve spent the last three years knowing that only your blood can save the realms.”
And I have.
The night of the Blood Moon is the night that the Void will gape open, threatening to devour the Shadow Kingdoms.
The night of my wedding is also the night that I will die.
I tilt up my chin. “Then maybe you all shouldn’t have treated me like the dirt beneath your sandals. Because I only care about saving three people in the entire realms. You may have the power when I am gone. You will make an unbreakable Blood Oath today, however, over this sacred shrine if you want me to murder myself for this kingdom. When my death seals the Void, the fae and the wolf will reign here safe, happy, and in luxury as the widow King and Queen, under your guidance.”
