“He’s not here. We’re meant to reconvene at the safe house.”
As Kai started to move away from her—away from Gwenhael and the promise of freedom—desperation seized her again. “Where areyougoing?”
“I’m not letting a single Eclipse-born stay in here.” Fury was written all over Kai’s face. His eyes cut to the Unhallowed Seal on her hand. “And once I’m sure everyone’s out, then I’m gonna tear this place down. No Eclipse-born will ever again go through what we did.”
Theodore extended a hand to Emory, motioning for her to get on Gwenhael next. But Emory shook her head, taking a step toward Kai. “I’m not leaving here without getting Sidraeus out too.”
“Then I’m staying with you.” This came from her mother as she slid off Gwenhael and landed next to Emory. “I’m not abandoning you again.”
A swell of emotions rose in Emory—and then, a wave of power hit her. She fell to her knees with a scream. She recognized this power as Atheia’s before that cold voice of hers sounded behind her.
“You’re not going anywhere, Tidethief.”
Emory turned pleading eyes to Luce and Theodore and Kai. “Go,” she managed. “Leave before she—”
But Theodore was looking wide-eyed at Atheia.
At this deity wearing his daughter’s face.
“Rosemarie,” he breathed, taking a careless, mindless step toward her. “My brave girl, if you’re still in there…”
Romie’s features contorted with Atheia’s hatred. Power gathered around her. And Emory, fearing she would unleash it upon Theodore, threw herself between them.
“Ro, please.” She knew Romie would never forgive herself if any harm came to her father by her own hand. She had already hurt enough people she loved; this would be too much, the drop of water that would make the whole dam explode.
She might have imagined the flicker of brown in Atheia’s kaleidoscope eyes, a moment of horror that was all Romie’s, before Atheia’s anger took over again. In a flash, she was standing a hairsbreadth from Emory, both hands wrapped tightly around her neck, squeezing with a force that lifted Emory off her feet. Distantly, Emory was aware of Kai and Luce and Theodore trying to reach her, but they froze, held there by some kind of compulsion wielded by Atheia.
“I should have killed you the moment I took your blood,” Atheia snarled at Emory. “Keeping you alive is more trouble than you’re worth.”
Emory flailed against her hold and then sputtered out a scream as that bright, burning light shot out of Atheia’s hands, singeing the tender skin on her neck. She couldn’t muster up words now, could only claw at Romie’s arms, hoping against all hope that her friend was still in there; that she would wrest control of her body and stop Atheia.
But the pain was too much. The hunger in Atheia’s eyes too real.
Emory was going to die at the hands of her best friend, with both of them powerless to stop it.
Her feet struck the ground, her limbs folding beneath her, sending her sprawling on the floor. Emory gasped in pained breaths, scrambling backward to get away from Atheia. But Atheia wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. In her slip of attention, her compulsion on Kai, Luce, and Theodore must have severed, because they were kneeling at Emory’s side. The four of them watched Atheia snarling at the object of her distraction: a boy with blond curls and eyes of shifting colors who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
The sound that spilled from his lips was unnatural, a layering of disapproving voices that slithered down Emory’s spine. “So this is the business you said you’d take care of? Revenge is such a mortal emotion. We thought you’d rise above it.”
“You had no right to stop me,” Atheia hissed. “Now get out of my way so I can finish what I started.”
“We can’t let you hurt the girl.” The boy studied Emory with interest, and she couldn’t help but think she’d seen him before.
“Why not?” Atheia said through gritted teeth. “She’s a Tidecaller—the last remaining one.”
“And it’s come to our attention that Equilibris wants her dead for that very reason. If she perishes, he’ll find a way to finally end the worlds, reset everything. Surely you don’t want that any more than we do.”
Fury distorted every feature of Atheia’s. She looked like she was about to hurl herself at Emory again, until Kai drew himself to his feet in front of Emory.
The boy smiled wickedly at Kai. “We see you’ve found a way out of the abyss.”
“No thanks to you assholes,” Kai sneered. “I’m including Farran in that statement, in case your vessel can hear me.”
Emory’s sneaking suspicion solidified at their exchange. These were thegods—and this boy they were using as their vessel was Farran Caine, who was meant to bedead.
The gods squinted at Kai as if trying to figure him out, that smile never slipping from their face. “Those tattoos of yours,” they said. “Where did a mortal like yourself learn the language of the gods?”
Kai arched a brow. “They’re old Luaguan symbols.”
