DIANNA
Istumbled as we landed on a vast, barren hillside. I coughed, my lungs threatening to burst from whatever the fuck he’d just taken me through.
Unir shifted next to me, darkness swirling around his feet. I hissed and whipped my hand out, claws extended. “You bastard,” I snarled, my hand sweeping through him. He glanced down with a look of pure, tolerant amusement. “What have you done? Where did you take me?”
“Away from Samkiel,” he said. “It seems my son’s attachment to you is hindering my efforts to gain the knowledge I need.”
“What does that mean?”
Unir didn’t answer. Instead, he swept his eyes over me assessingly, looking for something.
“Stop staring!” I snapped.
“My apologies.” He forced a small smile. “You just … are not what I expected. You are his amata. I felt it in the ferociousness he exhibited. I thought you’d be taller, perhaps? More muscular? Or just … more?”
“Hey!” I snapped.
“Perhaps, blonde?” he said. “Or male.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
Unir shrugged. “No disappointment. Your demeanor and the confidence you wield make you his match. I am happy he has found you.”
My lip curled. “Oh, yeah? Then why not take me back to him, huh?”
“I cannot.”
I took a step forward and the grass around my feet sizzled, proving I was too close, far too close to losing my temper and attacking my father-in-law. “I don’t know what they did on Rashearim in ancient times or what happens after you die, but you cannot just kidnap people, Unir.”
Unir, dead or not, did not back down. It reminded me so much of Samkiel, and I was desperate to get back to him. Unir’s dark brows drew together, Death’s misty shadows whipping around him. They licked at him as if trying to find a way in, but each time retreated as if burned, fire meeting the icy kiss of death. I understood exactly how it felt, and I knew fire had lived in me long before Kaden and my Ig’Morruthen form.
“You’re upset. I understand.” Unir said. “I merely need to speak to Gathrriel. He fled the same afterlife you speak of, inhabited your body, and I have questions that need answering.”
My head whipped back. “What does that mean?”
He waved his hand toward the bustling little town. “You must be famished from our trip. Come.”
I glanced toward the town nestled in the valley below. Smoke curled from chimneys, the aroma of bread and wine floating on the air. It all mixed with the scents of the townspeople, and my stomach growled. He moved away from me as if that was answer enough, heading down the hill, but I planted my feet.
“Now you’re going to feed me?” I scoffed. “I think I’ll pass.”
I spun away with every intention of finding my way back home, back to Samkiel, who, by gods, would cleave the very sky if he couldn’t find me. Again.
There was a whoosh, and Unir was in front of me. He grabbed my wrist, the mist that circled him enveloping me, and suddenly we were in the center of town. I groaned and grabbed my head as my knees hit the wet cobblestone. I blinked rapidly, bringing the bleak gray town into focus.
“You asshole,” I growled at the god before me, seething with anger. A few people sidestepped me, whispering and clutching their children tighter. Unir was a shadow in the world, people passing through him as he waited for me to recover, his form wavering and solidifying each time.
“They cannot see me,” Unir said. “To them, you are but a raving mad woman screaming in the rain.”
I ground my teeth. “So I gathered,” I gritted out and pushed to my feet, wiping at the mud on my knees. “I thought you were in the Valley of Kings or whatever it was Gabby said.”
“I am,” Unir said. “Unfortunately, my time here is short, but my daughter draws near a weapon that can ruin everything.”
“Of course she does.” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “It’s always a fucking magical weapon. Let me guess, she wants to destroy or rule the realms, and you need Gathrriel because he knows some ancient way to stop said magical weapon.”
He smiled at me with pride. “You are a clever woman. But you are not completely right.”
I nodded, puffing my cheeks out with air before releasing the breath. “Well, I hate to ruin this little trip for you, but you can’t talk to him. At least not through me. See, he’s on this huge revenge trip, and once he takes over my body, he kind of owns it. I can’t let that happen because, you know, it’s my body.”
