“Don’t die,” she said faintly. “We promised…together.”
Darkness consumed her.
“Sora, wake up!”
Ana’s face hovered over her, panic twisting her features in the near dark. She had no idea how her friend had gotten into the fortress her mother called a home. The high stone walls had always been a mockery to her—heavily warded, and though her mother had never said it, they were meant to keep someone as powerful as Kronos at bay. It was ironic, given the fact that she had willingly signed away her own blood to him.
“How are you here?” she asked Ana, sitting up and letting the carefully placed shadows fall away from her left hand, revealing the marriage band.
Ana took a shaky breath. “Your mother let me in.”
“My mother? Why?—”
“You’ve been summoned. I was chosen to escort you.”
A pit dropped in Sora’s stomach. There was only reason Kronos would call on her at this hour, and with no warning. But it couldn’t be…not yet. Not so soon. She wouldn’t let herself believe it until Ana said the words to her.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and dressed quickly in a gown she knew Kronos liked. She would need any leverage she could get if the worst came to pass.
In the entryway, her parents waited. Her mother’s beautiful face was tight with worry, and Sora could see strands of barely concealed ether running under her umber skin. The power was trying to escape, but, like a coward, she wouldn’t let it.
Her father stood next to her, always a dog at her mother’s beck and call. But even his black eyes were pinched, and she swore he looked paler than normal. His gaze flicked to her left hand, and his mouth tightened.
There was no way he could see past the concealment. If he could, he would have said something days ago.
“Be respectful,” Nyx said. “And remember, he merely wants something. If you can find out what it is, you will be fine. It is always a game of need with Kronos.”
Thanatos stepped forward, and Sora stiffened as he pulled her into an embrace. Her father almost never showed her affection, much less hugged her. But she found herself leaning into him, holding on tightly. These could be the last moments she shared with him.
Just before he released her, he murmured in her ear, “Death is merely a bridge for gods, daughter. You know how our souls are.”
She hid the catching of her breath with a delicate cough. Ana glanced at her, but she kept her eyes ahead as they walked out into the waiting night air.
He knew.
Her father somehow knew he was sending his daughter to her death. Someone had betrayed them, but she was nearly certain it was not him. He probably just sensed it.
Imminent death had a taste, a scent, even a feeling. Thanatos knew them all intimately .
As soon as she and Ana reached the road, Ana hissed, “He has Vane, Sora. He knows.”
She tamped down a violent wave of panic and kept walking, her arm in Ana’s as she whispered, “Someone betrayed us.”
“Yes. I don’t know who yet, but?—”
A portal blinked into existence, pure silver ether swirling in a giant oval in front of them. Arcadia was massive, and Kronos had never allowed her to ‘spend herself’ walking to his palace. Ana gripped her arm in a death grip, and Sora gave a short nod.
“I will try to protect you.”
Ana shook her head. “Just find him and get him out before Kronos kills you both.”
She didn’t give her space to argue, pulling her into the portal. Warmth enveloped them, lasting for a few seconds before everything tunneled, and they stepped directly into Kronos’ throne room.
He was sitting there, sprawled back in the golden seat she hated so much. He had made her sit in it once while he had kissed her neck and called her his queen, minutes after leaving her cheek bruised. The memory made her want to vomit, but it was nothing like the way she felt when she saw the pool of blood at the bottom of the dais.
“Where is he?” Sora snarled.
Kronos’ features grew twisted. “Dropping the pretenses so soon, beloved?”
