He let out a terse sigh before explaining. “Marina spotted a monster that resembled my Daemon in the city. She came to me to see their true form to compare, only to realize that the ones in your city do not belong to me.” Acacius gestured around the room with a swivel of his head. “Now here we are, attempting to figure it out.”
Naia crossed her arms, tilting her head in a daring manner. “So, you are saying that you’ve never sent one of your Olethros to Hollow City?”
“I sent a faction of my Heralds. However, when Marina came to me and informed me of the vow she made with Vale to protect Ash, I commanded them to leave.”
He could feel Ronin’s intense stare of disapproval burrowing like blades into his face. Paired with the feisty winter god’s icy glare, they were only stirring his lust for Chaos to erupt.
“Why would you send your monsters to our city?” Emotion quaked in Naia’s tone.
“Why in gods’ name do you think, Naia?” Acacius scoffed bitterly. “Your child can kill us. The deities are growing more uneasy by that fact with each passing day. Mortals flock in your streets in hopes of locating you and begging for immortality. Do you think I haven’t noticed how you have wards set up all over the city to keep this section hidden?”
He shook his head, a cynical smile pulling at his mouth. “And the witches that crawl all over this place like insects either want Ash for a pension or to drain his blood and use it for their gain. The Chaos is already alive and beating in the arteries of this city, in the world around you. I sent my Heraldic Olethros here as a guide, for I have no desire to die at the hands of your child when he grows older and his animosity fuels him to murder us all.”
Naia glared at him, jaw jutting out as tears glazed her eyes.
Her silence, though, told him everything he needed to know—that she knew, on some level, he was right.
“But by all means, blame my Heralds,” Acacius said. “You and your husband created Chaos the day you conceived that child.”
“Our city was peaceful, until you sent your monsters,” she spit back.
He grinned. “Ironic, considering that my so-called wretches are no longer in your city. Little Goddess, it appears Ruin still lives among you.”
She whirled her attention onto Marina, hands waving up in desperation. “Sister, help me understand. Why were you trying to find an Olethros in the city if Acacius demanded them to leave?”
Acacius looked over at Marina.
Her shoulders were folded inward and head bowed, staring down at her lap. Her distant, unfazed demeanor had shed away, and it seemed her thoughts were overflowing.
Acacius nuzzled the toe of his boot against the side of hers. A small form of affection to assure her that he was with her.
She flitted her eyes to their touching shoes, peering at them for a beat.
“I hired an assassin to help protect Ash,” she confessed. “He reported the sighting of the Daemon to me.”
Ronin kicked off the wall and charged Marina. “You brought an assassin intomycity without telling me?”
Naia caught him by the crook of his elbow. “Ronin.”
Acacius flexed the muscles in his core, tugging on the briars embedded in his flesh. Agony rippled up his leg and through his arms.
“Are you fucking insane?” Ronin towered over Marina with a murderous glare. “Of all the stupid things. That assassin could’veeasilyturned on you and killed my kid.”
“Ronin,” Naia repeated louder, her knuckles going white as she tightened her grip around his arm.
Acacius’s pulse hammered in his skull as he clenched his fists. The steady flow of blood dripping down his wrists gushed out faster.
Marina lifted her head, meeting Ronin’s wrath. “I apologize for not informing you, but Soren has taken out several witchesthat placed bounties on Ash. He is an assassin, yes, but he is one of my closest friends?—”
“Wait.” Theon straightened from the wall. “What is his name?”
Ronin and Naia both looked to their trusted bodyguard.
Acacius did not like the concern folding on the god’s brow.
“Soren,” Marina blinked at him with a shortness in her tone. “He’s a middle god of slaughter, and a close friend of mine.”
Theon moved closer to Marina, the blue in his irises cracking from the light above. “What guild is he from?”
