“You desired a go at me, brother.” Felix smiled without humor. “This is your only chance. But understand this. I won’t go down easy. This is my sole opportunity to dismantle the Tome Society and CURED from top to bottom. It’s the only reason I live.”

  “CURED?” Summit gaped as Lolli bellowed, “Traitor!” Both bristled and bowed up, gearing for attack.

  “Don’t you dare touch him,” Cyrus snarled at the pair. His exhalations grew choppier, verging on growls.

  Felix jutted his chin. “Grandfather paid Tabby to spy on me, did you know that? I gave her the world, and she betrayed me as soon as I gave my life to Soal. I was forced into treatment. You cannot comprehend what they did to me in there,” he shouted, spittle spraying from the corners of his mouth. “I would have forgiven my Tabby Cat. I loved her and understood she was as brainwashed as the rest of us. But to gain my release from the facility, I had to prove I’d turned my back on Soal. I didn’t, not at first. I waited for his help. But days of torture passed, and he did nothing. Finally, I had to accept the truth. I can trust only myself. The emperor watched, beaming with pride as I did what he demanded.” Agony contorted his features. “I killed her. I murdered the woman I loved.” Tears streamed down his cheeks. “She begged for my help. Pleaded for my forgiveness. I struck anyway.”

  Sympathy and resolve flittered over Cyrus’s features. “The emperor will be dealt with, but so will you. I won’t be dying today. I was born to rule, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll wield a power not even Grandfather can subdue.”

  No. He wouldn’t do this terrible deed. He hated CURED. Hated Astan and everything the god stood for. Cyrus wouldn’t murder his own brother. He was smart; he would find another way. “We have to stop this.”

  “We cannot,” Domino replied. “We offered each a way out. Like Giselle, they made their choice. Now they reap the consequences.”

  No. I didn’t accept that. “Cyrus,” I shouted, racing to him. Panic and fear overtook me. “Cyrus. Listen to me. Please.” I jumped in front of him. Waved my arms. Nothing. No response as he and Felix braced, preparing to attack. “Cyrus!”

  “You cannot stop this.” Domino’s sad assurance buzzed across our bond, sending me into a new tizzy of movement.

  “Please, Cyrus. Whatever Astan offers, say no.”

  “Arden Dawn Roosa.”

  The familiar feminine whisper hit my ears, halting my activities. Briar Rose. Confused, I turned and scanned my surroundings. She’d sounded so close, yet she hadn’t entered the dome.

  Then, I felt a tug. A tug so strong it yanked my spirit backward several stumbling steps. What the—yank. I stumbled back another three feet. “Domino,” I shrieked, digging in my heels.

  He bounded over and clasped my wrists in his intractable grip, but the next tug proved strongest, dragging him with me. Closing in on the dome . . .

  If I touched it, I would die. So would Domino, via our connection. I fought for our lives. Fought so hard.

  It did no good.

  Tug. Another several feet. Mere inches away. The next haul could be my last. “Try to save yourself,” I pleaded, accepting my fate. “Help Cyrus. Don’t give up on him. Look out for my mom and Mykal. Thank you for everything.”

  “I’m here for you,” the librarian snapped. “Always you.”

  “Survive,” I commanded him, wrenching free of his hold, hoping against hope. Momentum carried me to the finish line. Maybe he could recover. I braced—

  And slipped through the dome without difficulty.

  Astonished, I whooshed across the land, moving so quickly the terrain blurred. Then I was inside the castle, going through ceilings and walls. Into my suite. My eyelids popped open, and I gasped, jolting upright in bed. The thudding of my heart filled every inch of my body. Buh-bum. Buh-bum. Buh-bum. A war drum.

  Though I threw myself against the pillows and squeezed my eyes shut, I didn’t return to Cyrus and Domino. The librarian didn’t follow me or appear.

  “Arden Dawn Roosa.” Briar Rose called to me once more, a clear summons.

  I jolted upright again. Panting from exertion, I wrestled with the compulsion to visit her. If I could get to the garage, I could steal a vehicle and return to the dome in my physical form.

  And do what?

  Tears seared my eyes.

  “Arden Dawn Roosa. Come to me. Now.”

  No more whispers or kind requests. The goddess shouted a directive that reverberated through my cells.

  My limbs acted of their own accord, propelling me onto my feet. Though I resisted from the inside, my outside paid me no heed, padding into the hall, just as I was.

  The guards hadn’t abandoned their post. Nor had 999, the meta Cyrus had summoned before the field trip. At my appearance, the men snapped to attention, one rushing ahead to lead the way, the other following me. As we motored onward, the meta kept pace at my side.

  I’d always secretly longed for a pet of my own, but I had barely been able to afford cheap, awful meal bars for my mother and myself. This meta, I’d never have to feed, yet I couldn’t ditch it soon enough. Its metal frame and multitude of weapons were anything but adorable.

  No one had to be told where to go; somehow, they already knew. Along the way, other trainees exited their rooms, heading in the same direction. We didn’t speak. In fact, everyone else appeared entranced, staring straight ahead.

  Dread pricked my nape as we navigated the maze of hallways, taking an unfamiliar-to-me route. And yet, we ended up in a very familiar place: the temple of gods. Guards stationed at the open doors allowed us to sail inside without issue. I tripped over myself when the statues came into view. They looked to be flesh and blood now, full of color and life, the stone gone as if it had never been. Yet, none had moved from their perches.

  I pressed a fist against my thudding heart. Trainees spread out without prompting, approaching different deities. No one neared Astan, I noted with a shudder. The king of gods was a stunner in multicolored detail, his horns the deepest black, his wings the whitest white.

  As his glittering eyes tracked my every move, he smiled, his teeth as sharp as blades. I shuddered.

  “Finally, the day has come.” Glee emanated from Briar Rose as she shifted, slowly extending her arm toward me. Vibrant-green vines coiled around her fingers, spreading to her elbow. Flowers of varying colors bloomed with lovely petals, unleashing a sweet floral bouquet.

  A berry grew from the center of one of the flowers, reminding me of those produced by Tsuri. It glowed, though not with the same brightness. I witnessed the progression of it all, astonished.

  “Go ahead. Taste,” she urged. “Let me make all your dreams come true.”

  My chest clenched. For as long as I could remember, I’d yearned to be a grower, working alongside Ourland’s agricultural giants. I’d taken special gardening courses, took extra jobs to afford the proper tools, and poured all my energy into learning my craft. I’d done my part, paying taxes on the money I made, while also paying taxes on the money I spent, while also paying taxes on everything I supposedly owned, which I’d purchased with already taxed money. Yet CURED had other plans for me and demanded more. Demanded everything, including my life.

  When I was recruited for military service to pay off my mother’s back taxes—money she shouldn’t have owed—my aspirations died. It was then that I’d begun to wake to the truth that CURED wasn’t a remedy but a disease, corrupt at its very core. So join them once again?

  “No,” I grated.

  The berry evaporated. “My casing is gone, but I require a host to shed what remains of my prison. I choose you, Arden,” she grated back.

  My legs threatened to buckle under the weight of her tone. “I don’t care.”

  “Say yes,” she continued, “and I will grant you a power beyond imagining. You’ll own this world and the other. Create a garden oasis as you’ve always yearned. Feed the entire population. Live a life you’ve only dared crave in secret, with Cyrus at your side. He is Astan, and Astan is Cyrus. It’s already done.”

  Lies and bribery. It was such a human thing to do. In fact, she struck me as a woman desperate to live again, willing to promise anything to get it done. But I knew better than to accept a deal with a lying cheater.

  “No,” I repeated, shaking my head for emphasis. “I’m not interested in sharing my future with you.” Maybe I couldn’t grow flowers and berries with supernatural ability, but so what. “The emperor, Astan’s number one man, murdered a pregnant woman. I want nothing to do with any of you.”

  “Your only other option is Soal, a horror you cannot yet fathom. Let me show you what life will be like, once he is defeated . . .”

  Images invaded my mind in tightly coiled spheres, wrenching a moan from me as they unraveled. One scene after another consumed my attention, each stripping away a layer of calm.

  A throne room of glitz and glamour took shape, bright sunlight streaming through stained glass, causing colorful globes to dance within the crystal walls. Precious gemstones glittered in a floor as clear and blue as an ocean. Flowers bloomed from above, raining a petal here, a petal there. A chandelier of vines hung from the center, as big as a house and dripping with pritis stones. Knowing I was the one who’d created the beauty and splendor in this dream world left my heart fluttering.

  A massive dragon-like creature perched at the edge of an inner balcony. Bala, more ferocious than even visions of her promised. She awaited my command, ready to do anything I desired.

  Beyond the windows stretched a garden teeming with flowers, trees, fruits, and vegetables. Happy people tended the soil, conversing and laughing as they pulled weeds. Warmth spread through me. They appeared well fed thanks to my skills.

  When I spotted Cyrus, my entire being lurched. Shaded by leaves and limbs, we worked alongside people who adored us, pulling bright-orange carrots from the dirt. A dream come true, exactly as Briar Rose had promised. Me, gardening and growing. Belonging. Loved. Helping others.

  A gentle breeze lifted a lock of my hair, and Cyrus tenderly smoothed it from my cheek, leaving a small streak of dirt. He snickered and playfully kissed me, spurring laughter from me. We exuded utter joy.

  This couldn’t be real. It was too perfect, too special. Too attuned to my deepest desires.

  Cyrus was supposedly the host of Astan, yet in this vision he was nothing like the merciless brute who’d instructed an emperor to pit his grandsons against each other.

  I closed my eyes, but the action only shifted the scene, unveiling a moonlit field of dewy flowers, where Cyrus and I danced, the rest of the world forgotten. We gazed at each other with intense longing but also an air of playfulness. I wore a loose, pale-pink gown encrusted with diamonds, the hem swaying over a lush plain of grass.

  “You, sweetness, are my everything,” he rasped in my ear.

  “Am I?” I replied, a husky tease. “Prove it.”

  “You mean my adoring gaze, the two worlds I gifted you, and the things I did to your body this morning weren’t enough?” He tsk-tsked, six gold stars flashing in his irises, there and gone.

  “Excellent. You understand,” I quipped, and he barked out a laugh.

  “You are perfection itself. Never change.”

  “Never,” I vowed with a smile.

  He returned the smile. “You do recall those things I did to your body earlier, yes?”

  “Mm-hmm.” My eyelids turned heavy, sinking low as I poured myself into him. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

  “I’m about to do everything all over again.” He lowered his head, pressing his lips into mine.

  The scene changed. No, only the woman in his arms altered. No longer was she me . . . but Lolli.

  Cyrus twirled her around the ballroom, gazing at her with the same adoration.

  Real me bucked up, eyes open, ready to rumble. That is not happening!

  “It will,” Briar Rose said, pulling me from the vision, “if you refuse me.”

  In an instant, the ballroom vanished, and the throne room reappeared, now devoid of gemstones and flowers. A cry of denial parted my lips as I took in the barren tundra beyond the window, the colorful garden gone.

  A loud bang startled a gasp from me, and I craned my neck to see what had caused the noise.

  Summit and Lolli stumbled into the temple, bloody and bruised, their clothing torn. My heart kicked into a wild sprint.

  The door to the dome had been opened. Either Cyrus or Felix had died.

  “Where is Cyrus?” I breathed out.

  The royals didn’t hear me. Summit knelt at the statue next to the one Roman conversed with and ducked his head. Lolli came straight to Briar Rose, dropping to her knees at my side.

  “I offer myself to you, goddess,” she muttered. “If you accept me, I will serve you however you see fit and work to ensure you never regret your decision.”

  I stumbled backward several steps, fighting a tide of sickness. Where was Cyrus? He should appear any moment . . .

  Any second now . . .

  “Arden,” Briar Rose called, but I ignored her.

  Hot tears welled, and I pressed my fingers against my quivering lips. He wasn’t dead. I would know it. Sense it.

  Maybe he needed help. Yes, yes. I’d gear up, go out there, and find him.

  I hurried toward the entrance just as Cyrus stomped in. Oh, thank goodness! He was alive.

  His gaze found me and narrowed, his lashes nearly twining. He was bloodier than the others, the brand on his face taut, his eyes stark. Grim. A wound on his throat still leaked crimson. Gashes marred his blood-coated hands. His clothing was torn in multiple places.

  “Cyrus!” I rushed to him and threw my arms around his shoulders. “You survived.”

  “I did.” For the first time in our association, he didn’t hug me back. His arms remained at his sides, his hands fisted. He huffed every breath.

  I cut off a cry. “Felix is dead?”

  “He is.” His expression didn’t change, but his tenor flattened, becoming deadened. “He fought hard to kill me, but I took the necessary steps to prevail.”

  Domino’s words echoed inside my head. Fate forever changed.

  I patted his arm. “I’m so sorry, Cyrus.” The words failed to express the depths of my sympathy.

  “Come with me. There’s much we must discuss.” He pried me off, leaving smears of blood to cool on my skin, then turned on his heel and stalked away, expecting me to follow.

  I hurried after him, countless questions pawing for release. It was a miracle I kept them under lock and key, saying nothing. Not here, not now. I couldn’t turn off my mind, however. Had he rejected Astan’s offer? He must have. Except, I wasn’t so sure . . .

  Necessary steps.

  As we turned a corner, we came upon the emperor. He waited at the end of the hall, chin up, his arms behind his back. He hadn’t cleaned Giselle’s blood from his skin, and I shuddered.

  “I knew it would be you,” he said with a proud grin. “I always knew.”

  “Bow,” Cyrus commanded without slowing a step.

  The emperor lost his pride, his joy, and blanched. Though clearly grinding his teeth and stiff, he obeyed, bowing. “We’ll work together, you and I, and bring Soal to his knees.”

  “No. We won’t.” Cyrus stopped mere inches from him and, without hesitation, palmed a dagger and slammed it into the emperor’s belly. Not once, not twice, but three times.

  I pressed a hand over my mouth and stumbled away from the violence, my eyes going wide with shock.

  The old man gasped and toppled, twitching on the floor. Cyrus stepped over him and continued.

  My brain blipped. Had that just happened? Was it another vision? It must be. Because my Cyrus wouldn’t murder a man in cold blood, even someone as cold and callous as his grandfather.

  “Arden,” he snapped.

  Floundering, I gave chase. He led me to the catacombs of the palace, into a library. Not Soal’s but similar, with freshly polished wood, artifacts from eons past displayed in glass and a tree growing from the floor, blooming with shiny golden fruit.

  “C-Cyrus?” I asked, uncertain, drawing my arms around my middle. “Why did you do that? Why did you kill your grandfather?”

  He shot me a look, his brazen grin unfolding slowly. “Because I’ll share my throne with no one.”

  Six golden stars flashed in his eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  You will find me when you seek me.

  —The Book of Soal 1.24.29.13

  “You host Astan,” I gasped out, shock waves crashing through me. Astan, creator of the Madness and leader of CURED, now abided in Cyrus, who had agreed to house him. They were together, two now made one.

  A new swell of horror choked me, threatening to consume my entire being.

  “Yes. And no.” He massaged his nape. “I agreed to do it, and I can sense him. I even know his thoughts, except they are my thoughts. That makes no sense, I know, but there’s no other way to explain it. I’m still me, just better.” His expression softened. “Accept Briar Rose, and I’ll give you the worlds, Arden. I swear it.” He cupped my cheeks as he’d done so many times before. “Be my wife. My everything. Help me destroy Soal, as we have dreamed for so long.”

  The more he spoke, the more it felt as if someone had scooped out my insides and salted the wounds. “Do you even hear yourself?” Destroy Soal as we’d dreamed?

  He pursed his lips. “I suggest you watch your tone with me, sweetness.”

  Sweetness. Not Pink, or kitten, or even Bubble Gum, the very first nickname he’d bestowed upon me. But sweetness, the same endearment Astan had used with Briar Rose. An endearment Cyrus had used with me before this, and in the passage of my book. More proof Astan was at the helm.

  “Or what?” I snapped, uncaring about the consequences. This was my worst nightmare come to life. There was more of Astan influencing Cyrus than we’d realized. I loved this man, but he wasn’t my devoted, protective, tender fiancé anymore. This man killed without remorse.