Ice froze my veins. “Leave them be. They’ve been through enough.”
“All right. Kill the human, then.”
My hands clenched. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need you to accept and use the power I’ve given you. This is the only way I know how to make you do that.”
“What are you going to do with him?”
“The human spy, you mean?”
“Are you…” I nearly choked on the words, bile rising in the back of my throat. “You and the others…are you…?”
I couldn’t say it. I could barely even think it. It was as if my mind wanted to wrap bandages around the truth to protect me from the horror of it. But the memories bled through. In my mind, I could even hear the voices of the elders when they’d lectured the children of Teine on the horrors of the Mist King. Their words were so loud it was as if they were in this very room.
The Mist King decided to invade the Kingdom of Light after burning down human cities in the lands beyond the sea, mimicking the ancient myths of the five banished gods: powerful beings who fed upon the burned flesh of fae and mortals alike.
But Kalen had never done such a thing. Those warnings had only been stories and nothing more, a way for Oberon to control us. But I couldn’t say the same for the gods. The humans were the entire reason they were here, as far as I could tell.
Andromeda had the indecency to smirk. “You’re asking if I plan to roast the flesh of this man and feed him to my brothers and sisters.”
The spy whimpered.
“Aren’t you?” I asked.
“No. The idea of feasting upon flesh disgusts me, cooked or not.”
I blinked. “What?”
“This is the problem with lore, Tessa Baran. The years erode the truth, leaving nothing behind but a smudged portrait of the real history. We will not feast.” She placed her boot on the man’s back and shoved him face first onto the carpet. “Now kill him.”
My blood roared in my ears. “I don’t understand. You and the other gods, you came here for the humans. You even said yourself that they’re all you care about. You need them to survive. What do you want from them if not their lifeblood?”
For a moment, Andromeda didn’t answer. She merely stood there with her hands clasped in front of her brass bustier, her hair stirring around her shoulders from a breeze that touched her and nothing else. I’d feared the gods from the moment I’d learned they were real, knowing what they wanted and what they were capable of. But this feeling—theunknownof it all—took the breath from my lungs.
What could they want from us? The fear held me motionless as I awaited her answer.
At long last, she cocked her head. “Perhaps I will tell you once you’ve proven yourself to me. As it is, I do not trust you with that knowledge.”
“Prove myself by killing this innocent man?”
Her smile returned, curving her red lips. “This man is not innocent. He is a spy from Talaven, and I’m growing bored of this conversation. Kill him, daughter, or I will allow Sirius to loose his plague on Dubnos. Either way, there will be death on your hands. It’s up to you who lives.”
My heart pounded painfully in my chest. “I said I wouldn’t do it.”
She stared at me for a long moment, then shook her head with a laugh. “You won’t do this for the people of Dubnos? Well then. I’ll make you a better offer. One I know you will not refuse. Do these trials for me, become one of us, and I’ll release you from your vow.”
The world around me vanished as I stared into the cruel eyes of the God of Death. Her words echoed in my ears.I’ll release you from your vow.
My breath shuddered from my lungs. Surely I hadn’t heard her right.
She arched her brow in question. “Well? What will it be?”
I shook my head, still in disbelief. When I found my voice, I said, “Now I understand where Oberon learned his cruelty.”
“Oberon.” Andromeda scowled. “Do not speak his name to me. He’s the reason things have gotten as bad as they have.”
“Gotten as bad as what?”
