All that was left was to reach out to Cassius and make amends with him, something he would soon do once he decided on a proper approach. Just arriving, unannounced, to his new home in Augustus—it felt too invasive, and a guaranteed way to get hexed by Finnian.
He sighed just as a familiar energy nipped at his skin.
His body recognized her, and a jolt of euphoria blazed through his chest.
Ebony pinpricks expanded in blotches around him, like ink spilled across paper. Her nebulous tendrils took form and locked around his arms.
He grinned, making no move to escape the clutches of her Night.
The binds yanked him off his feet. His back hit the ground, and his arms were forced over his head, the shackles of darkness pinning him to the cracked stone.
“I must say,” he declared, looking around in amusement to find her, “I haven’t been this excited since you bathed my entire realm in your shadow.”
Marina fabricated above him, pinning him with her heels that planted beside his ribcage. The ends of her long, wavy hair brushed over her waist. The little skirt hugging her physique and the dangerously low-cut neckline of her lace blouse, all married with her silver jewelry, enraptured him.
The metal rose pendant in his pocket slipped to mind, and he imagined how it would look resting against her sternum. Perhaps he could forge a matching set of earrings, and a bracelet too?
Pride lined his insides at the thought of seeing something he’d crafted with his own hands against her skin.
Marina kneeled over him, bringing her face close enough that he could spot the fear swimming laps in her eyes.
His stomach twisted. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t play stupid.” Her expression was barely able to keep its blank composure, her tone unnatural and rigid.
“I’m not.” Acacius ripped his arms up, breaking through her divine power. The shackles of her Night shattered and dissolved into broken smoke.
He went to sit up, but Marina shoved him back by the shoulder with her boot. “I told you that if you came after Ash, you would have to go through me.”
He hit the ground with a dramaticthud, the breath evicted from his lungs.
What the fuck is going on?
Acacius remained down, surrendering. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding during their last exchange.
“And after you left, I commanded my Heralds to leave the city.”
She glowered down at him, searching his face, as if she were deciding on whether to trust his words. After everything they’d been through thus far, she had every reason not to believe him. However, with something stirring her suspicion, she’d come to him, and that was enough. Even if just to lay his eyes on her again.
He stared back at her, solemn. “You said you made your father a vow, Marina.”
At the mention of her full name, the rigidity on her lips gave way into a soft frown.
A beat passed.
No longer able to take the corrosive silence, Acacius nudged against her boot. “For the love of all gods, Rina, will you tell me what is going on?”
She removed her foot from his chest, and he sat up. “I saw one of your Olethros for myself, moments before I came here.” She held onto his gaze, her expression too grave for comfort. “A Daemon.”
Acacius blinked at her, baffled at the wild confession. “Impossible.”
“You heard me.”
“I would know if a piece of myself was in Hollow City right now. They’re all gone, for you.”
She crushed the lids of her eyes together and sighed a heavy breath. “I want to believe you, but I know what I saw, Acacius.”
He climbed up, staggered by the information. “Whatever you saw was not a creation of mine.”
