“Yeah,” Malik said, his jaw flexing. “He can.”

  Her nose scrunched the way hers did. “What?”

  “The Dark Lord,” he said, and Kieran’s upper lip curled, “over there, as you called him, can kill Revenants.”

  Her gaze shot back to mine. “Oh.”

  I smiled at her, baring my fangs.

  “Shit,” she whispered.

  “We need Callum,” Kieran stated, drawing my attention back to him. “We need him alive for however long it takes for him to break.”

  “It won’t take long,” I said.

  “Maybe it won’t.” Kieran held my stare. “But I’m not willing to take that risk.”

  Irritation flared, cold and biting. “And what exactly are you willing to risk, wolfie-boy?”

  His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch.

  “In case anyone is wondering, I agree with the wolf.” Millicent chimed in, having slipped both arms free of Malik’s hold and the cloak she’d been wearing. “We need Callie alive.”

  “Callie?” Kieran repeated.

  “That’s what I call him.” Her head snapped down, mouth latching onto Malik’s arm.

  “Motherfucker,” he growled, releasing her.

  “Good gods,” Jasper said under his breath as blood stained the sleeve of Malik’s white shirt.

  “Thank you.” Millicent popped to her feet with a blood-smeared smile. She spun toward me. “Do you know how long it took me to find his annoying ass?”

  I didn’t.

  I also didn’t care.

  “Weeks. It took weeks,” she went on as Malik rose behind her, shaking his arm. “And do you know where I found his trick-ass?”

  I frowned, having no idea what trick-ass meant. “You need to wipe your face.”

  She ignored that. “Where I had to go? He was in a cave full of fucking spiders in the fucking Blood Forest.” She shuddered, causing the silver chains around her waist to jingle. “And do you know what it’s like traveling with him?” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “With Callie?”

  “I imagine it’s only slightly more annoying than this right here,” I replied.

  Kieran pressed his lips together as Malik’s head swung in my direction.

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Millicent shot back as she planted herself in front of Callum. “He’s a talker. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to talk about anything useful. So, I’m going to be real pissed if you kill him before we get something useful from him.”

  “And I’m about to be real pissed if you all don’t get the fuck out of my way,” I warned, jaw throbbing as Malik decided he wanted to join the party of fools.

  “Not going to happen.”

  My stare shot back to Kieran. “You need to move.” Essence pulsed, and I let it surface. Shadows spilled out of me as my flesh started to thin, the inky darkness pooling on the floor by my feet. A tremor ran up my spine, but I kept the wings back. “Now.”

  No one moved.

  No one spoke.

  Until Millicent. “I don’t know why,” she said, gaze lingering on my left cheek where I knew the bone was visible. “But you’re really kind of hot”—she waved her hand in my direction—“like this.”

  Malik stiffened. “For fuck’s sake, Millie.”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Just being honest.”

  “Have you met Seraphena yet?” Attes asked.

  The damnedest thing happened. Millicent fell silent, her face paling. She shook her head.

  “She’s going to absolutely love you,” he said.

  I had no idea if he was being sarcastic or not, but knowing my luck, she probably would enjoy her granddaughter’s…unique personality.

  “I’m not going to ask again,” I said to Kieran, each word carrying frost.

  Attes’s gaze snapped back to me, sharpening. I felt the rise of essence in him.

  “Good.” Kieran’s chin lifted. “Because I don’t feel like repeating myself.”

  Anger sparked, igniting a cold fire in my veins and loosening the restraints on the urge I’d kept leashed until then. The mist thickened and rose. I lowered my chin. From the churning mist, shapes began to take form. Small bodies, sleek and feathered. Ravens flew out, the beat of their wings silent. They circled above as a darker, stronger essence pulsed within me. Thin strands of crimson appeared in the mist as the air turned stale.

  I knew the moment they saw it. The urge. The chaotic promise of violence. Attes’s features hardened. Jasper’s eyes widened and then narrowed. His flesh thinned as the shadow of fur began to appear. Malik had moved to block Millicent, hands fisted at his sides, and Kieran…

  The golden essence whirled through his eyes and slid over the skin of his hands. Faint mist blurred the edges of his fingers as I took a step toward him. He didn’t budge; our stares locked.

  Don’t, I willed. Don’t make me do this.

  Kieran didn’t blink. Tendrils of gold-tinged silver mist swirled along his hands, and—

  And then he inhaled deeply.

  The mist at his fingertips evaporated. The golden threads vanished from his eyes and retreated from his flesh. His shoulders loosened. There was a flash of relief, so quick I almost didn’t see it, but I tasted it. It was refreshing, like a cool drink on a hot day. And then I felt nothing as his expression settled. He stared at me like he was…

  Kieran looked at me like he was bored.

  “Father? Attes? Why don’t you help them?” Kieran tilted his chin toward my brother and Millicent. “Make sure they put our guest somewhere safe and secure.”

  Neither moved. “You sure?” his father asked.

  “Positive.” He didn’t take his eyes off me. “Go.”

  The others may have moved all at once or one at a time as that dark urge became a low-level buzz in the back of my mind. I only knew that I was staring at the spot where the sack had been. They were gone, along with Callum, and I…I could’ve stopped them. Could’ve done so without lifting a finger. But I hadn’t.

  “I was wrong.”

  My gaze returned to Kieran as the oily, churning mass of energy pulled back. The mist slowed and thinned before it disappeared.

  He exhaled, eyes closing briefly. When they reopened, there was a sheen to them that made the blue even brighter. My chest constricted and stomach knotted. “I see.”

  I blinked. “See what?” I asked, my voice quieter, not as cold.

  “You,” he answered, with a thickness in his throat that hadn’t been there before. “I see you.”

  THE GOD OF BONE AND ASH

  Casteel

  Essence thrummed, waking me before I could reach a deep enough sleep to find her.

  I was no longer alone.

  A god had entered Wayfair’s Great Hall, and only two gods would dare to do so. This was neither of them.

  I remained where I was reclined, my leg draped over the arm of the throne—the very same one that was about to have a new addition.

  My senses sharpened as I opened them, picking up the quick, pounding rhythm of a heart. I tasted tart unease tinged with the bitterness of fear.

  Whoever the god was, they had the intelligence to be afraid but weren’t smart enough to steer clear of my domain. Wouldn’t be the first, though. There seemed to be a plethora of fools serving the true Primal of Death who were willing to die for him. How many had come? This would be the sixth or seventh, either sent by Kolis or who’d come all on their own in hopes of proving their loyalty to him by taking me out. And all of them were old and powerful, able to shadowstep into Wayfair.

  None of them left.

  The god crept closer, mindful of the tangle of vines covering the floor and climbing the dais.

  Interesting.

  Somehow, they had discovered that the vines were connected to me. They weren’t careful enough, though. They hadn’t looked up. If they had, they would’ve seen dark eyes lit by the silver glow of eather watching them. Through those eyes, I saw the intruder.

  The god was female, her skin pale as bone and stark against the muted black cloak she wore. She stood at the steps, her heart calming as she got a good look at me in the gloom of the Hall. I was sure I looked pretty harmless while at rest and without the other new additions on display.

  Let them think that.

  She ascended the stairs, her footsteps quick and light as she reached into her cloak with a gloved hand, parting the fabric. There was a brief flash of an unnaturally vivid red cloth and then the too-bright white flare of a dagger.

  A bone dagger chiseled into a fine point.

  The god moved like a ghost, blending in with the shadows and avoiding the slivers of moonlight that reached the dais.

  I severed my connection with the ravens as she neared the throne. A second passed. Her heart remained calm as the nutty flavor of resolve coated my tongue.

  She didn’t hesitate.

  I had to give her that.

  The blade whispered as it sliced through the air.

  She gasped when I caught her wrist, stopping the dagger just as it nicked a brass button of the fitted surcoat I wore.

  The humming in my thoughts ceased. The pressure relented.

  I cracked open an eye, and a series of gravelly croaks came from above as the ravens took flight.

  “First, you interrupt me while I’m resting.” Glancing down at my chest, I frowned and then raised my gaze to her amber-hued eyes. “And now you scratch my button?”

  The god recovered quickly, her surprise vanishing as a scowl twisted her mouth. “Fuck your buttons,” she spat.

  “That sounds uncomfortable,” I replied, giving her a closed-lip smile. “So, I will have to pass on that.”

  Her nostrils flared as she jerked on the arm I held. When that didn’t work, she started to twist at the waist as she leaned her weight, lifting her other hand. The air charged, rushing over my flesh.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  Eather flared in her eyes and crackled over her knuckles. Like the six or seven before her, the essence behind her pupils was normal. I hadn’t seen another with the essence of death in them since the female god had vanished from Pensdurth.

  Eather sparked to life, crackling and bright—because of course, she didn’t listen. They never did.

  Sighing, I turned my wrist.

  The crack of bone was like thunder, breaking her concentration. She clenched her jaw, choking off her cry of pain as her fingers spasmed open. The bone spike fell with a dull thud against the floor.

  Lifting my gaze once more, I winked.

  Then, I pushed.

  Not with my hand. I didn’t want to waste the energy in doing so. I pushed with my will.

  She flew backward through the air, crashing to the floor with a nice fleshy smack.

  Swinging my leg off the arm of the throne, I rose as a raven flew in front of me. I walked to the edge of the dais. “Did he send you?”

  Groaning, she rolled onto her side as several ravens circled above her, their wings cutting silently through the air.

  “Or did you come all on your own?” I asked. “Hoping to prove your worthiness to the worthless.”

  The god spat out a mouthful of blood. “What do you know of worthiness?” She rocked back, then staggered to her feet. “When you dare to speak of the true Primal of Death?”

  “I wouldn’t consider it daring.” My gaze flicked to the closed doors, sensing the quiet throughout Wayfair. I wondered what kind of distraction she had created to pull Attes’s and Kieran’s attention from the castle, because I knew they weren’t within these walls anymore. They would’ve arrived by now, one of them—or both—accusing me of toying with my prey. “Nor would I call that bitch of a god daring.”

  “He will have your tongue for that,” she seethed, throwing her head back. The hood of her cloak slipped, and my jaw locked at the sight of her hair.

  It was red.

  Red.

  I quelled the icy rage before it could escape. It had taken leveling a city, collapsing a building or ten, and an explosion of a god or five before I learned how to find even a shred of calm. “He will have my foot up his ass for that.”

  “You speak with such disrespect.” She faced me as she unclasped the cloak, letting it slip away from her bare shoulders. “And you think you can replace him?”

  “I have no desire to replace him.” I eyed the crimson corset that cinched her waist and pushed her breasts upward until they appeared as if they were seconds away from popping free of the stays. “I only desire to shatter each bone in his body.”

  Her laugh was throaty as her hand dropped to the slit in her black skirt. “As if you could—”

  “I wasn’t finished,” I interrupted. “After I shatter each bone in his body, I will slowly dismember him, starting with his fingers and then moving on to his hands, then his forearms.”

  She unsheathed another dagger, this one longer and made of shadowstone.

  “Then, I will remove the rest of his arm,” I continued. “I will do the same to his toes, his feet, and his legs. Then I’m going to cut off his balls—that is, if he has any.”

  “Insolent bastard,” she hissed, her grip firm on the hilt. “You won’t get close enough to touch a single hair on his head.”

  “Considering I did far more than that the last time I was close to him…” My gaze flicked over her features, noting that the color of her brows was much lighter than that of her hair. “We will see about that.”

  “What you will see is the realms restored to how they should be,” she shot back.

  “And, pray tell, what is the way they should be?” I humored her, having heard it—oh, about seven fucking times now. Well, not seven. I lost my patience with at least three before they got to that part.

  “The False Queen stripped from her throne in Dalos. The gods installed by her who rule the Courts struck down,” she said, her voice filling with the type of fanatical belief fueled by cultish devotion and idiocy. “And punished for their treachery.”

  Tilting my head, I feigned interest. “Tell me more.”

  “Instead of Kings and Queens,” she went on, essence—or perhaps madness—flaring behind her pupils. “We will rule the realm of mortals.”

  “You mean he will rule,” I corrected. “And you will serve, enslaved like the mortals but with prettier chains.”

  She sneered. “One cannot be enslaved when they willingly serve a god—” Her gaze shot up when the ravens descended, their wings casting flickering shadows as they landed on the vines spanning the Hall. “A god who deserves such loyalty.”

  “And how does one, who has been entombed for a thousand years, evoke such loyalty?”

  “Easy. He promised never to force us into slumber.” She sauntered forward, each step dripping with ignorance. “Nor bar us from entering the mortal realm, allowing us to weaken and be forgotten and replaced by cattle.”

  “And what has he promised you?”

  “I will be given a Court,” she said. “In appreciation for giving him your head.”

  Amusement unfurled within me. “Is that so? Well, I wish you luck with all of that.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “And how will your King accomplish all of this?” I asked, glancing at the hair piled and pinned atop her head. The color wasn’t natural, likely achieved with henna and intended to mimic… Anger pulsed in my chest, and the space between my shoulder blades prickled.

  She smirked, her chin lifting. “He has already begun to do so.”

  “Was forcing you to dye your hair red one of the ways he has begun to do so?”

  The smug tilt of her lips faded.

  “Does he want you to look like her?”

  She didn’t answer.

  Disgust curled in my gut as the anger deepened. “You follow a god, who has allowed his obsession for a woman who never wanted him, to rule him for millennia.”

  Her jaw worked. “A woman who no longer has his love.”

  “I never said love. I said obsession. Are you also incapable of telling the difference?”

  “Does it matter?” she countered.

  It didn’t. I was done with this conversation. I exhaled slowly. “Where has he hidden himself away?” I waited. “Are you going to make me ask twice?”

  “You can ask as many times as you like.” Silver eather spat from her fingers, spinning down the length of her blade. “The answer will be the same.”

  I let out another sigh.

  The god moved quickly, jerking her arm back. She let the dagger coated with essence fly.

  But I was quicker.

  I disappeared in a shroud of smoke and shadows that shattered the dagger and swallowed the bolt of eather. She jerked back, her gaze darting over the Hall.

  I reappeared behind her as I let my hold on the essence snap. The tingle between my shoulders began to burn as bones snapped and fused, slipping through the tears left in the thick material of the coat from the last time. My flesh thinned and hardened. The shadow of twin arcs sweeping upward appeared in the glow of the moonlight reflected off the floor.

  I let her whirl around.

  Let her see me.

  After all, the shock splashing over their faces and the ensuing fear that followed was quite satisfying. Witnessing it gave me something to look forward to.

  The god didn’t disappoint. Her mouth dropped open as she stumbled back, tripping over a tangle of vines. She lost her balance and went down on her ass, the scent of her fear coating the air.

  My lips curved up on one side. “What was it that you said you would do?”

  She stared wordlessly, her gaze darting from the wings to the crown and its staggered spires shaped like antlers.

  “I’m sorry?” I tilted my head. “I can’t hear you over the sound of your pounding heart.”

  Her throat bobbed on a swallow. “What…what are you?”

  If I had a coin for every time I’d been asked that, I’d…well, I’d have a shit ton of coins. “You don’t want to find out. So, tell me where he is.”

  She scampered back as I strode forward, the vines retreating to clear a path.

  “Tell me.” I knelt before her as a raven landed on my shoulder. “And I’ll make this painless.”