I lifted my eyes to the god’s cruel face. “She had a deal with Andromeda.”
“I am not Andromeda.”
I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. There was no warning, no twitch in the god’s form. The sword slid from his scabbard, and the blunt end slammed into my skull. The shadows that consumed my mind were darker than any night sky.
Three
Tessa
Aheavy knock sounded on the Great Hall doors, but the new arrival didn’t wait for an answer before shoving them wide and striding across the stone with a leather cloak flapping behind him. I stiffened, taking in the sight of him. He was tall and broad. His hair was the color of bleached sand, cutting across a forehead so pale he was almost luminescent. His eyes burned red, matching the buttoned doublet beneath his cloak. And when he swept his gaze my way, I couldn’t help but shudder against the waves of his unnatural power. Suddenly, it felt as if I had not had a drop to drink in years.
He curled back his lips, revealing the sharp tips of his canines. “What is she doing in here?”
“Orion,” Andromeda said with a snap. “She’s mine. Leave her be.”
Orion, I thought, remembering the details Kalen had given me about these creatures. He was the God of Famine, which meant he could starve every human in Talaven if he desired it.
Dragging his gaze away from me, he scowled. “You should kill her and be done with it. She threatens our entire plan just by being alive. If she—”
“I said leave her be.” Andromeda’s voice was as hard and cold as steel, cutting down Orion’s objections. She drew herself up to her full height, and despite her shorter statue, she seemed to tower over her fellow god. And then to me, she said, “Tessa, you’re dismissed.”
I cast a quick glance between them, then moved toward the open doors, where I expected to find guards or storm fae soldiers waiting for me. But the hallway was empty.
“You have earned an hour of freedom,” Andromeda called after me. “As long as you don’t cause any trouble, you might earn an hour more. Return to your room when the next bell strikes.”
My heart thumped against my ribs, just from that small morsel of freedom she dangled in front of me. If only I could escape Malroch, I could flee to Dubnos and reunite with Kalen, gods be damned. I might be able to do it, too, despite what I’d vowed. If my marriage bond with Kalen superseded everything else, nothing stood in my way.
As I walked away from the Great Hall, my mind churned. The temptation to run was almost overwhelming, echoing loudly in my ears. I ground my teeth and tried tothink, steadily putting one foot in front of the other so that if anyone saw me, they wouldn’t guess just how close I was to throwing all caution to the wind.
I steadied my breathing and kept walking.
A few months ago, I would have charged out of this castle, racing toward the gates of the city without a single thought to the consequences. But rashness had never been my friend. I’d learned that lesson the hard way. The gods were likely having me watched. If I tried to run now, only moments after being given my first taste of freedom, Andromeda would stop me. With force. I wasn’t strong enough—yet—to fight her.
This was a test, I realized. If not one of the actual trials, it was still a test. Andromeda wanted to see what I would do with this sliver of freedom. And if I was right and Ididmake it through the gates, I’d show my hand. She’d realize Kalen and I had a marriage bond.
Right now, she didn’t know. If I were to use my secret against her, I’d have to wait until the right moment. I’d have to be certain I could escape without getting caught. I needed to bide my time.
I release a tense breath and moved down a stairwell toward the ground floor of the castle. Torches lined the curving walls, illuminating the steps and chasing away the shadows. My every instinct warred against my choice. I hated the idea of spending even a moment longer away from Kalen. When I’d left him, he’d still been bleeding out on the rubble. I needed to see him, I needed to hear his voice and know that he still breathed.
But for now, there was nothing I could do but play this game. I would have to wait for nightfall and find him in my dreams.
* * *
Outside, a wall of mist surrounded the city of Malroch, though the skies overhead were clear and full of beaming sunlight. When I stepped foot on the cobblestone road that wound away from the castle, then down into the port-side city sprawled across the shoreline, I tipped back my head and drank in the warmth of the sun.
I loved Dubnos and the moonlight and the stars, but a part of me would always unravel beneath the sun. The tension in my shoulders loosened, and weariness released its grip on me—as much as it possibly could while I was trapped in a city full of monsters.
As if in answer to my thoughts, the sound of heavy footsteps snapped my attention away from the sky. I turned just as a towering figure clad in plate armor thundered across the drawbridge into the castle. Most of his body was hidden beneath the mass of plate, but his onyx hair glistened beneath the sunlight. He paused as he passed through the gates, and his crimson eyes latched on me. Suddenly, I felt very afraid. A shudder went down my spine.
“The God of Fear,” a voice piped up from behind me.
I jumped and whirled, coming face-to-face with a human woman who…no, she couldn’t be human. She had slightly pointed ears and horns peeking through a curtain of red hair, though her build was more like mine. Half-fae, then, perhaps. She wore a simple drab shift, like the other maidservants I’d seen. I was surprised she was bold enough to speak to me. Andromeda likely wouldn’t be thrilled by it if she were anything like Oberon. And shewaslike him—just worse.
“That’s Perseus?” I asked.
“Couldn’t you tell? He reeks of fear.”
“I thought they could only use their powers through touch.”
