Edmund screamed.Our father did not bother to stop him. His son’s anguish had no effect on him.
But when the darkness came so did the silence. Both sudden. Both absolute. My senses blurred so that I could not make out what was happening around me or to me, only that I was being taken somewhere. It felt similar to when Syleris had transported us from outside the presence chamber back to our bedroom earlier in the night, but not as harsh.
Before I could exhale, the world solidified again.
My feet were on solid ground. Solid black obsidian that stretched out in every direction. There was no definition in any direction. I could not identify a light source. But the stone beneath my feet was solid, and I could see well enough to know that I was not alone.
I reached for Koryn by instinct, checking that she was real.
Ireachedfor Koryn. I was no longer trapped by my father’s compulsion. “What is this?”
“Syleris,” Koryn breathed.
He materialized in front of us from the darkness itself. The ground, the sky—if the ephemeral black could even becharacterized that way—they all coalesced together to create his familiar form.
Koryn launched herself into his arms without hesitation. She had been here before. Wherever here was.
“How can we move?” I checked for my weapons. Everything was in place.
“Your bodies remain in Balar Shan,” Syleris said over Koryn’s shoulder. He clasped her hand to his chest between them, but his eyes were on me. He knew what had just happened. “Only your consciousness is here with me, in my realm.”
He held out his hand that did not hold Koryn.
My stomach and heart twisted together inside of me. The Dark God was offering me comfort for the death of my sister. The absurdity of it barely registered—not with Koryn in such obvious distress.
I moved my chin an inch side to side. It wasn’t a rejection but a request to focus on our bonded.
Koryn clung to the front of his vest.
“Syleris, stop it,” she begged. “Please, you can stop this.”
His tongue slipped out and over his bottom lip. He did not have many tells, but that was one of them. Usually, it was effective at distracting Koryn and me both. But this time it bought him no more than the time it took to complete the motion.
Koryn stared up at him, and even from behind her I could feel the force of her plea. I took a step closer to them. This was not going to end well.
Alize was already dead. Syleris was the Dark God. He presided over the afterlife, but he could not bring someone back from it unless?—
You are making witches.That was what Koryn had said.
My father had not handed over Alize simply to punish her. He did it so that Maura could resurrect her as a witch.Everything became clear to me in an instant. Koryn was already there, her mind way ahead of mine. Maura wanted an air-bound witch so that she had one from each bind of power to finish each of the talismans.
Koryn wasn’t begging Syleris for Alize’s life. She was begging him to spare Alize from an afterlife as a witch.
“Please,” Koryn whispered again.
Syleris could not avoid her any longer. His jaw clenched beneath his beautifully arched cheekbones.
“I cannot,” he said.
Koryn did not accept that. She had to tip her head back to look up at him, the ends of her hair brushing against the lavender scales embroidered into the back of her gown. Syleris brushed his fingers along her curves with such reverence. As if he needed to remember. As if this might be his last touch.
“You are a god. What do you mean, you cannot?” she demanded. “Garrick, tell him he must not allow Maura to resurrect Alize.”
But she was not looking at me as she made the entreaty.
“Sweetling, if I could?—”
“Do not call me that.” She jerked away from him, but Syleris kept his arm around her.
