Ignoring Jason’s sudden shout of alarm, I threw my weight backward. The steep slope of the bank dragged me down into the dark, and the thick water swallowed me whole.
I went limp, letting the weight of the lake pull me deep into its cold, waiting arms.
Finally, I was free.
2
The Bronze Guardian
Aion
Death spheres sometimes felt like they were alive. It was something strange, a secret I’d only ever shared with my father. But on days like these, when I came back from a harvesting mission, their song troubled me.
I couldn’t have said why. The spheres didn’t communicate in any language the people of Asphodelia truly understood. They spoke the way the city did, in pressure and frequency. It was a song that started at my palms and moved inward, and today it carried something within each note. An unease without a source.
The Stygian Docks stretched ahead of us, and I felt the heavy, familiar impact of each flagstone beneath my steps. I recognized the roaring flames of the bronze braziers by the deep vibrationthey cast into the air. I had walked this dock thousands of times. It was mine through long, patient contact. Even its fire seemed… nervous.
“It was a rich harvest,” Theron said, walking on my left. He cradled three death spheres under one clawed arm, his hellfire dancing over their smooth surfaces in hypnotic patterns. He hadn’t noticed anything different. “The Moirae will be pleased.”
“The energy hung thick.” Skaros flexed his wings, stretching the leathery membranes with a grace I couldn’t help but envy. “I could still taste it on the way out. Like copper and cold water. An excellent vintage.”
“Only you’d ever comment on the taste of a harvest, Skaros,” Theron offered.
Skaros looked back at him, flashing his fangs in a way that, to anyone else, would have been threatening. “That’s because I have excellent taste. Besides, I think you should be celebrating too. Callista will be happier to have you home more often.”
It was true. Theron’s mate would definitely be pleased to lock him up in their den more often. But Callista wasn’t the only one relieved at our presence.
I turned my gaze to the dark water to our left and forced back my restlessness. The lake was as quiet and still as always, a welcome respite after the chaos of the Korinos Wilds. “Asphodelia is just as happy,” I said.
Skaros shot me an amused glance. “That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said about the city. And you’ve been at it for forty-seven years.”
Forty-seven years. Some days, it seemed like a lot. Other times, barely the blink of an eye. Skaros and Theron were like my own family, almost as close to me as my father. I’d known them since those early days, when I’d gained my consciousness as a true person living in Asphodelia. I’d never been able to properly explain my existence to them. Most likely, I never could. But some days, I wanted to try.
It would not be today. All of a sudden, the familiar routine of our conversation came to a grinding halt. The unease in my spheres spiked. The contained death energy buzzed with frantic anticipation. It was almost as if it were listening for something.
I stopped walking and turned away from my friends. Theron and Skaros froze, mere feet behind me. “Aion?” Theron prodded. “What is it?”
I set my spheres down on the flagstones, deliberately and carefully. “I’m not sure. I think… There’s something in the lake. Whatever it is… It feels. Alive. Born. Not… woven.”
Skaros and Theron stared at me in disbelief. They knew what that meant, the impossibility of what I was saying. How could anyone except a child of the Moirae be anywhere near here? Anywhere near the lake?
But they’d also never doubt me. When it came to the Acheron, the only person who was a better judge was my father.
Together, we ventured deeper into the mists. And that was when I saw her. A woman floated face-down on the lake, silver hair spreading across the still surface like fragments of floating bone. Almost instantly, the death energy flowing through my veins started screaming.
“I’ll go see,” I said. Leaving my friends behind, I rushed forward and stepped off the dock.
The water swallowed me. The sheer weight of my bronze body dragged me instantly into the deep.
“There, there,”the lake offered, a heavy, ancient certainty settling directly into my awareness.“We see her. We can taste her. Find her, Son of Charon.”
The voice guided me forward, but I almost didn’t need it. There was something more powerful building inside me, something I didn’t even dare to think about.
I waded forward, following the frantic resonance. She lay caught in the submerged asphodel roots, her ruined clothing drifting around her like pale mist. Her hands were severely bruised, one wrist broken and swollen. I reached into the tangle and turned her over gently, bringing her face above the surface of the shallows.
The moment I faced her, I knew. The recognition slammed into my chest, so fierce it was almost blinding. If I’d been human, my heart might have stopped. Instead, my core pulsed brighter, vibrating with the absolute certainty of simple knowledge.
This woman was my mate.
