The confusion in her expression gives way to hurt, but it’s when that pain turns to anger that I know I’ve truly lost her.
“It sounds exactly like something a dark and wicked god would do for sport.”
“You want to talk about a wicked god, Selene? Then let’s talk about the one you are set on following into war.”
Tears streak down her starlit cheeks as her breath turns ragged. Fury builds with her every inhalation as she exits the bed. “You cannot play both sides in this. If you send me away, I will go to war.”
I bite my tongue until blood pools in my mouth. There is nothing I wouldn’t give to be able to tell her the truth. To stay here, she must give up her life. She will be forever held captive to the bounds of the Under Realm, never able to leave and never able to fulfill Taura’s vision.
Without Selene, the rebellion ends before it truly begins and the prince dies.
I wave my hand and a shimmering gold gown appears on the bed. The goddess dresses in a huff, her rage multiplying by the minute.
It was selfish to bring her here, to think I could grant myself one last desire. Did I really think I could show her my world, worship her, and then let her go? Did I think I could taste her, devour her, consume her, and not spend the rest of my dismal fucking eternity missing her?
“I told you that you would hate me.” It’s a miserable excuse, but it’s the only one I can muster.
She wipes her eyes with the backs of her hands before moving toward the swirling shadows I’ve created to send her back to the god realm.
“That’s the worst fucking part of all of this. I don’t hate you, Drayven. But I do pity you. You can send me away, but you will never be rid of me. Every time you walk your realm or look up in your study, you will see my power and think of me.”
She steps into the black mass of magic, letting it spin around her feet. “And you will look back on this moment for the rest of your life and wish you had told me the truth.”
“I have told you the truth,” I lie, diverting my eyes as the tear threatens to crests my lashes.
“No you haven’t.” She sighs as the shadows cover her fully, her words piercing through the night. “You never told me you loved me.”
CHAPTER 10
DEATH
Three months later
“We have already looked there, sire.”
“Well then why isn’t it marked off the fucking list?!” I throw the red marker at the raven that perches on the edge of the table.
“Perhaps because I do not have hands, sire?”
My fingers tangle in my hair as I grip it in frustration. “Perhaps I should remove the feathers I gave you, Corvus. Would you like to go back to being a skeleton?”
The bird hops from the table and returns a moment later with the marker in his beak. Corvus strikes 7924 from the list, crossing off the second-to-last realm before flying to my shoulder.
“You can remove my feathers, but it won’t change the fact that we have searched every realm.”
Fuck.
The raven is right—infuriating, but right nonetheless. I check the pocket watch for the tenth time in five minutes. The lastReaper should have been here by now. If she doesn’t have the missing god blade, months of searching will all be for nothing.
“Why do you need this blade, Your Majesty? Isn’t there already one in the god realm?”
My teeth grind against one another, every muscle in my jaw flexing as I bite back my anger. “I understand that you are a bird and therefore your brain is very small, but do you honestly think Nobus would willingly hand over the only weapon capable of killing him?”
“Maybe Arcasia could smuggle it to our queen?”
I swat at the raven, shooing him from my shoulder as I turn my attention to the sky above. A month ago, the sight of these stars or mention of her would have sent me into a fit of rage, but it’s desperation that takes hold of me now.
Every time I close my eyes, I see her—her face, her glowing golden eyes, the constellation of freckles across her cheekbones. And every time I open them, I see her again—her stars, her suns, the hint of shimmer that runs along the veins in my forearm now. She is impossibly interwoven into the fabric of my realm and into the very essence of who I am.
