Flynn lifted his chin higher as I stood leering down at him, my rage rising. “No, but if you had come to me sooner, I would have—”
“Would have what? You let me think I was insane forcenturies,Flynn. How can I trust anything that comes out of your mouth now?”
“Xavier.”
“No,” I snarled. “You don’t get to have any excuses. You had every opportunity to tell me, to confide in me.” Shaking my head, I sneered at him. “You are just as bad asher.”
Flynn recoiled as if I had slapped him, but his brown eyes turned steely and his hand wrapped around the pendant around his neck. “This is much bigger than any of us, Xavier.”
“That sounds like an excuse,” I hissed, turning away from him and running my hands down my face. Taking a deep, shaky breath, I tried to calm down. I had only come here for his blood. I didn’t need to listen to this, to him. I would get what I came here for and leave. I had better things to do anyway.
Grunting, I swung back around to face my uncle, but froze as I saw his pendant outstretched before him, dangling in the air between us.
Tilting my head at him, I opened my mouth and then closed it in confusion. The commands I was about to bark at him vanished as I stared at the swinging black stone in his grasp.
“You must understand I did what was asked of me.”
Flynn threw the pendant at me, and I caught it on instinct. It was warm and practically vibrated in my hand, feeling ancient and powerful. My eyes widened as a wave of its power washed over me, like an icy tide swirling deep within its soft black stone.
My gaze cut to my uncle. “What is this?”
Flynn didn’t answer, and my throat bobbed as I looked back down at it. The pendant seemed to warm further, and something sharp twisted in my gut. In less than a breath, the ground fell out from under me, and I started to fall into nothing.
*
My feet landed on hard stone, and I blinked. What the fuck did my uncle just do? My eyes refocused, and my boots came into view. Below them, swirling marble appeared, and I blinked a few more times to clear my vision. Where had my uncle just sent me? That pendant was no longer in my hand, and I cursed at having lost it. That better not have been my way back.
I followed the smooth marble, an angry growl rumbling in my chest, and then I gasped. The blood drained from my face, my eyes widening as I took in my surroundings.
Glittering galaxies stretched all around me, stars and planets shimmering everywhere. An endless sky arched above and around, leaving me alone at its center, suspended in the air. The marble slab stretched out, nearly fifty feet in diameter, and I stood on it, suspended in its vast expanse.
The sky was a riot of color, too many shades to take in at once. Every hue I could imagine swirled together, beautiful and overwhelming. Yet beneath it all lay a dark, endless emptiness, a void so deep it made my throat tighten.
I turned in every direction, searching for something, anything.
Taking another shaky breath, I stepped forward, but as I did the stone only seemed to stretch farther in that direction. There was nowhere to go, no edge, no path, no door. Just me and the vast expanse of glittering stars around me.
My heart thundered, and as I turned again, I froze.
Three colossal stone thrones materialized in the sky, mountain-high and crudely carved. They lacked any grandeur or embellishments, but were still striking, ancient. The simple gray stone floated unattached, unmoving. Before I could take another breath, or even form a thought, there was a massive blue flash, and a man appeared on the middle throne.
The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up as violent energy pulsed through the air, caking my skin in a suffocating electric film. I staggered backward, tripping over my own feet. Catching myself from sprawling onto my back, I gaped up at the male—Fate staring down at me.
It couldn’t be… No, this made no sense. How was he? What was he?
Massive, glowing eyes peered down at me. Their icy blue light was piercing, their intensity so overwhelming that I had the urge to grovel, to bow at his feet. Wild, ashen hair stuck out from his black robe, and a long, pointed nose lifted into the air. My mouth parted, but I didn’t know what to say, what to do as a smirk danced across Soren’s expression.
Soren was a Fate.
The realization sent a wave of anxiety through me. Soren had been Mirronian's steward since my father's reign. He had always rubbed me the wrong way, with his garish attire and incessant chatter. For centuries, I'd found him unpleasant, selfish, and a gossip. I’d never truly been kind to him, always feeling he was meddling where he shouldn't. He'd always done just enough to keep my favor. I'd longed to dismiss him, to find a replacement. But my uncle consistently advised against it… and now, fates… now I understood why.
Had my uncle known all along?
A guttural laugh, ancient and echoing, filled my head, and my face grew even paler.
“Please have a seat, Xavier.”
The booming voice spoke again, and I winced. Lifting my head, I fought to suppress my surprise as my gaze landed on a large, wide-backed chair upholstered in rich emerald fabric. It was to my right, with a small wooden table before it. But my surprise was at seeing Soren. He was now normal-sized, and his shrunken throne sat opposite the wooden table, his glowing gaze locked onto mine.
