Darian nods, a wide grin on his face, and they immediately move toward the center of the room. I consider using my Mark of Shadow to go directly to the stairs upward to the bedrooms, butI quickly disregard that thought. I need my Marks for the later trials.
My mind runs through my various Infusions. I have an arsenal of them on me, and no one would notice me taking one. The Cat would be useful, but it won’t do anything to keep people from noticing me. The Chameleon would be perfect, but it’s a power that almost no one in this room has, and it certainly won’t last long enough to get me all the way to the stairs. No, there aren’t any ways to make my way out of this room any less conspicuous.
Instead, I move toward the wall, skirting any larger groups of people. They barely take me in since I’m not wearing anything that’d mark me as someone to fear or take notice of. It’s exactly what I want. I move through the shadows as often as possible, doing my best not to look like I’m skulking.
“Look who actually showed up,” a familiar voice that I definitely didn’t want to hear. I turn to see the Corpsebinder with long black hair tied back in an intricate braid. Serica Dramont. “Fiona, wasn’t it? Are you leaving already? Don’t you want anything to eat or drink first? Maybe we could make a plate and bring it upstairs?”
She reaches for my hand, and I pull back. Her eyes go wide, and she takes a step back, her pale face going almost ghostly white. “Serica, darling,” a seductive voice says from behind me. “You said you wanted to go upstairs?”
She stammers, and Azric glides around me toward her, his feet seeming to be held up by the shadows beneath them. His hand goes to her cheek just as it did to mine when I was in his chambers. The backs of his bright red nails run from her temple to the crookof her neck, and he leans down to get closer to her. “I didn’t know that you enjoyed a woman’s company. Are you sure you aren’t interested in men as well?”
She shakes her head, absolute fear claiming her and rendering her speechless. “That’s too bad. We could have had a bit of fun before you have to run along to your trial.”
Then he turns away from her, and it’s like she’s been released from chains, a feeling I know all too well. He holds my gaze, and Serica immediately turns and nearly runs away from us. Azric takes two steps toward me, and my heart races.There’s no violence in the Great Hall. No one breaks the gods’ rules.The thought keeps me from running, but it’s not enough to keep my body from shaking.
I knew he recognized me. “Look, Uncle Darian and Rhion are about to give you a chance to escape the party.” I turn to look at them. Darian is walking into a group of Burning Ones with Rhion on his heels. Immediately, they scream at him, and the sound makes me cover my ears.
Darian holds up his hands as if he didn’t mean to offend them, and Azric whispers softly in my ear. “Now, no one will notice you leaving with me.”
He puts his hand on the exposed skin of my forearm, and suddenly, we’re in that darkness outside of Nyth.
Chapter 10
There is more power in Beauty than most understand. Before I was the Goddess of Death, before I held the Godhood of Endings, I held the Godhood of Desire. It was Desire that conquered Endings, darling. Not the other way around. Remember this as I imbue you with its powers. Remember that Beauty and seduction can be far more terrifying than Death, and it isalwaysmore memorable.
~Conversations between Lysara and the Prince of Bones
Fiona
I don’t have time to be afraid as we appear in the center of a luxurious bedroom lit by the orange glow of candles and the silver of the moonlight streaming from a window.
I turn to him and snarl as I draw my daggers from their sheaths. “Not willing to break the rules of Nyxthos? Had to take me out of the Great Hall to get your revenge for stealing from you?”
His expression doesn’t fit the atmosphere. I’m ready to fight, and he looks like he’d be more worried about a stain on his coat. “My revenge? Darling, if I were so bothered by the theft, I would have caught you before you left the outskirts of Averna. Instead, I made sure you had a peaceful stroll. Did you notice that not even the Mindless interfered with your leaving? Wasn’t that strangely convenient?”
I pause. A shadow climbs my body to slowly caress my cheek, and I pull away from it. Disgust fills my mind, but as I stare at the Prince of Bones, I can’t help the pounding in my chest that is decidedlynotbecause of fear or revulsion. I remind myself that he’s the Champion of Beauty as well as Death. Every bit of desire I feel toward him is because of those powers, and it has no basis in reality.
Still, when he takes a step toward me, I can’t seem to convince my body to move. His blood-red nails run down my cheek achingly slowly as he stares into my eyes, leaving a trail of goosebumps and making my heart beat even faster. The shadows that glide through the air from him to me find every inch of uncovered skin, a soft mist on a warm night.
“How did you know I couldn’t shadow walk out of Averna?” I finally ask.
“I didn’t. But I do now,” he says with a smirk. The bastard. The knowledge that I’ve given up a secret of the Order already fills me with a combination of anger and shame, and it’s enough to pull away from the seduction he’s weaving around me.
I reach out my hand in anger, and his eyebrow arches, the smirk never fading. Dragonfire erupts from my fingertips, but this time,instead of flowing in a stream of power that can incinerate nearly anything in Nyth, it just floats in front of me as if encased in bubbles. Little baubles of destruction I now have absolutely no control over.His father is the King of Flames, and he has far more control over them than I do.
“Now, now, little Priestess. If you want to play rough in a few minutes, I’ll be more than happy to show you just how much fun that can be.” A shadow crawls up my leg and sensuously slips under my tunic. Instinct tells me to pull away from it, to use my Mark of the Lantern, a power he has no control of, to defend myself from the invasion. Instead, I do my best to remain calm. How many secrets am I willing to give up to the Prince of Bones in this confrontation? I can ignore his shadowed touch.
His smirk turns into a smile as he gestures to two chairs. He snaps his fingers and the bubbles of flame disappear as if I hadn’t just tried to incinerate him. I look from him to the chairs and grit my teeth. It doesn’t look like I have a choice, so I sit down.
“What do you want from me?” I ask.
He leans back in the chair. “Now, why do you think I want something from you? Couldn’t I just be interested in why a little Priestess is competing to become Nyxthos’s champion?”
“I’m here for the same reason all the other competitors are. To become an ally to my kingdom.”
He shakes his head slowly. “Maybe. But no Priests attended the previous trials. And you are… well, you’re a Priestess. That is interesting all on its own. Has your Order become more accepting?Or just more desperate? Did old Rhaskar finally realize that women are for more than breeding and cooking?”
I want to snarl at his remarks about my father, but I know he’s goading me into revealing more information than I should. Instead, I stay silent and do my best to remain unbothered by his words.
