Their attire bent reality at the edges. Fabric orbited bodies instead of clinging to them. Veils, like cosmic black holes, absorbed all light that touched them. Jewelry pulsed faintly with living magic. Some bore their true features, eyes reflecting galaxies, skin traced with sigils that shifted when looked at directly. Several had no faces at all.
The sheer density of power in the room pressed against my senses, familiar and heavy, with the weight of memory.
For a heartbeat, I was back in Egypt.
Back when we did not hide. When temples rose in our honor, and prayers were spoken aloud. When humans knelt and believed with a fervor that burned cities to the ground. I remembered the wars that followed. The blood that filled the Nile until it became necessary to retreat into myth and shadow.
That was why this place existed.
Why even now, when the humans believed in us again, we remained restrained.
Miranda fell into step, several paces behind me. I felt more than saw her posture shift smoothly into that of a predator on alert. Despite being a mortal in an elegant gown with a sword ather hip, to the room, she read as a statement. A reminder. I had the favor of a fae blade and its wielder.
Assirak paced at her side, head high, eyes glowing softly. Miranda could not see him, but she adjusted her stride unconsciously to accommodate him anyway.
Good.
I let my power rise.
Not unleashed. Never that. Just enough to be felt. Enough to settle into the marble beneath my feet, into the air, into the chests of every being watching me descend. The murmurs died. The chandeliers slowed their rotation.
The swirling galaxy of light that hovered over my right shoulder pulsated as blue hieroglyphics shed from my skin in faint embers.
If the gods did not respect my authority, if they did not find me worthy to take up Grim’s mantle and lead in his absence, this could all break into bloodshed and chaos.
Grim once said a third of the gods didn’t give a shit who was in power as long as it didn’t interfere with their business, and another third were looking for someone to blame and break for why we did not live by the old ways.
The last third was the most dangerous. These gods and demigods were hungry, foaming at the mouth to break down the barriers to the new ways they wanted to live.
Even now, I could spot the different hungers simmering, barely restrained by certain figures in the crowd. They were waiting for me to slip up. To show any glimpse of a soft underbelly so they could leap and rip it out with their teeth and claws.
I was the thing standing between all the chaos and the modern world. If they didn’t buy my authority, if they didn’t see me fit...
I made myself hard inside, locking down every stray thought, every fracture that had formed in the last two days.
At least I wouldn’t see Aaron here.
The relief was quickly cannibalized by disappointment. Despite everything, Aaron made me feel powerful in a way that had nothing to do with fear or control. He made me feel like myself, and like that was more than enough. Unfortunately, I had to be far more than that today.
I buried thoughts of Aaron for the hundredth time today and continued down the steps.
This wasmyConvergence. My watch. My responsibility.
I reached the floor of the ballroom and stopped.
The silence held.
I lifted my chin and owned it.
“Welcome.” My voice didn’t boom, yet it broadcasted to everyone present as clearly as if I stood next to them. “Eat, drink, and let us revel in the alignment, not only of the stars, but of our great forces?—”
The hairs on the back of my neck all rose at once as my eyes caught on something across the room. My stomach clenched in tandem with my heart.
Not something. Someone.
Behind me, I felt Miranda and Assirak tense. They saw him too. It wasn’t my wishful thinking.
Aaron was here.
