“I wouldn’t exactly call it dancing,” I said quietly. “That would suggest some kind of enjoyment on my part.”
Nellie rubbed the knots on my shoulders. It was difficult not to turn and stare. I could scarcely believe she was herself again.
“There is one thing I haven’t told anyone yet,” Kalen eventually said. He heaved a sigh, closing his eyes. “Before Perseus knocked me unconscious, he murdered Bellicent Denare.”
“What?” Shocked, all I could do was stare at him. Why hadn’t he mentioned it before now?
“But I thought Bellicent was Andromeda’s anchor,” Toryn said with a frown. “That’s what Niamh told us she discovered from Talaven. She’s the one who had to die for us to be able to banish the gods. Have we misunderstood?”
I wet my lips, thinking. “I don’t think he told Andromeda he killed Bellicent. Perseus helped me escape.”
“SiriusandPerseus,” Fenella said, twirling her dagger. “So two of the gods are working against the others. Interesting. Very interesting. This could get fun.”
“So what does this mean?” Nellie asked.
“It means the anchor is dead. We can rid this world of Andromeda,” Toryn said. “We just need to figure out how.”
Fenella tipped back her tankard and slammed it onto the table. The sound reverberated through the mostly empty hall. Unlike in Dubnos, Gaven had been able to find enough space for the refugees elsewhere. The barracks were packed now, but it was better than everyone camping out on the Great Hall’s cold stone floor.
“I know we’re all trying to be sensitive to feelings since this whole thing obviously sucked.” She twirled one of the miniature daggers on her necklace. “But I’m going to ask what we’re all wondering. What did you find out when they were tormenting you, Tessa? How can we destroy the gods? If there’s no anchor protecting Andromeda, we need to kill these fucking monsters now.”
I smiled, pulled the Mortal Blade from my hip, and dumped it onto the table between a slice of cake and a half-empty tankard of ale. The gemstone glimmered ominously beneath the candelabra overhead, the deep color swirling from crimson to black to crimson again.
Toryn plucked the dagger from the table and examined the gemstone.
“Careful,” Fenella said, scooting away from him. “One scratch and you’re ash.”
“I’m not mortal,” he reminded her. “It won’t work in my hands. What is this gemstone, Tessa? I’ve never seen one like it before.”
“I think it holds a god,” I said.
He dropped it. It hit the table hard, the sharp tip punching the wood. The steel sang where it remained upright, vibrating, singing, whispering doom throughout the hall. I gritted my teeth and winced.
Gaven sat forward. He’d been mostly silent so far, but his keen eyes took in the dagger with the same ferocity I often saw in Kalen. “You’re right. Can’t you feel it? That’s definitely a god.”
“Which one?” Fenella asked eagerly. “How did you trap it? Why did you put it in the Mortal Blade? Does it do the same thing Oberon’s gemstones did?”
“I don’t know. I think it’s one we’ve never met. I didn’t trap it or put it in the blade. Sirius did. And yes, it does the same thing.”
“Sirius did?” Gaven asked, cocking a brow. “I think we need to hear the rest of your story.”
And so I explained as best I could. I told them about Callisto. There was a lot of shouting at that point. They were exuberant now, determined this was the answer to winning it all. Until I explained the gods could just come back, like they always did.
“I think their beings, their essences, are in these stones. Somehow, they can be drawn out and put into fae bodies. It’s like what Oberon did with Bellicent.” I looked around the room. “We need something more permanent. Something that will change the nature of the gods, so they’re more like Sirius. He doesn’t want to destroy us. If we can make the others see things the way he does, we won’t have to risk our lives fighting them. No one will have to die. And we won’t have to worry about them coming back if we merely trap them again. People have already tried that. It doesn’t work forever.”
Ruari caught my eye, understanding where I was going with this. I’d explained to them what Sirius had said, that Nellie’s attack was the reason he’d softened. It was as if the forced healing of his body had healed the darker side of him.
“You want Nellie to attack them all?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “You’re saying we shouldn’t risk our lives to fight them, but you’re willing to let her do it instead? Your own fucking si—”
“Ruari,” Nellie said quietly. “Stop.”
“No,” he breathed. “I swore to protect you. If that means protecting you against your sister’s machinations, then so be it.”
I caught Kalen’s gaze across the table, expecting him to step in, but that uneasiness in the bond was back. “You would risk Nellie?”
I sighed and tried to answer, but Nellie cut in.
“Ruari, I appreciate what you’ve done to protect me. Truly. But this is my decision, not yours. And if I’m the one who can stop this, I’ll happily do it.”
