Again—not a particularly welcoming omen in my book. I glanced at Kur, but he hadn’t seemed to notice any of it.
At the cave’s mouth, I paused, running my fingers over the arched, rocky wall by my side. I cast a nervous glance at the river of blood, dread pooling in my gut.
Awfully dark in there. So far, everything I’d seen of the Old Gods had been beautiful and full of life. The herbs growing in the forest, the gleaming silver bough, the scent of spring. Here, at the mouth of the underworld, I faced uncharted territory. Depths I really didn’t want to plumb.
Pushing aside my fears, I reached into the leather satchel and pulled out the Stones of Zahar. I’d brought them back to their original home. My forehead tingled at the sight of them, and again I fought the overwhelming impulse to press them against my head.
They glowed in my hand, casting a dull blue light over the cave’s interior.
Would the gods accept this as an exchange for Adonis’s soul? I had no idea. Bartering with the gods for souls was, frankly, completely unfamiliar terrain.
I’d think of it as a sacrifice. That was what Adonis would say. All gods required sacrifices, and that was what I’d come to offer.
Distantly, those faint, agonized cries floated on the mountain wind. The cries didn’t sound fully present, exactly. More like an echo, a memory of something from long ago.
My footsteps echoed off the cave walls. Fear began raking its talons through my chest, raising the hair on the back of my neck.
Something from my past flashed in my mind— blood running down a pale arm, streaming onto the pavement. Teeth piercing the flesh... A woman screaming, a look of horror… Something I didn’t want to think about.
Why did that memory keep haunting me? The dragon attack, maybe, of Marcus. No, it was something else, something with a woman. Whatever it was, the memory was a piercing staccato hammering at the inside of my skull, hot and crimson.
I slammed down the iron door. Not now.
As I moved deeper into the cave, Aereus’s words began whispering around me. There, you’d have to face the real monster.
The light from the Stones of Zahar began to dim, now a faint glow. They cast a dull light over the glistening rocks around me, and icy water began running over my feet, growing higher and higher with every step. I tried not to think about the fact that it had looked bright red, or that I might be bathing in the blood of the undead. Where were the Old Gods in here? How far did I have to go?
I whirled around, alarmed to find that Kur was nowhere around me. My throat went dry.
“Kur?” My voice echoed off the stone walls. “Kur?” I called out more urgently.
No response.
Shadows smothered the stone’s light completely. Darkness. Darkness all around me.
Icy fear raked its claws through my heart as slick, tight vines began snaking around my limbs, rooting me in place. Like a python, they climbed around me, threatening to suffocate me.
They dragged me under the water’s surface.
Chapter 37
As the vines pulled me under, I managed to cling to the stones.
Holding my breath, I clutched them to my chest. My lungs burned. After a few moments, the waters receded again, the vines loosening on my limbs. I kicked until my head rose above the water, and I sucked in a ragged breath.
What the fuck is going on?
I scrambled for a foothold to stop the rushing river from carrying me with it, kicking and bucking until my tiptoes skimmed over the river bottom.
Stable ground. Thank the gods.
I gripped the stones tightly in my palm as the water rushed over my body. Music pulsed around me—a low, rumbling bass noise that trembled along my bones. Darkness closed in, and all I could see was the thick glistening of the rocks overhead.
Slowly the water receded, and the ground sloped upward. Another presence lurked in here, a female presence. The stones began to glow faintly again, casting a dim, blue light over a figure looming above me in a throne made of glinting rock.
A cloak of moss hung over her, and the scent of peaty soil curled off her. I couldn’t quite see her, but for a moment, when the light of the stones flashed a little brighter, I had a sense of thin, wispy skin, like layered spiderwebs.
A voice echoed in my mind. Bringer of Light.
I cleared my throat. “I’m looking for Adonis.”
Archangels should never roam the earth, the voice boomed.
I clutched the stones tightly to my chest.
A wispy huff of laughter. Archangels should never walk the earth, Bringer of Light. His soul will remain here, with the other horsemen. See him if you must. You won’t be leaving here, either. You’re descended from the Old Gods, Ruby.
Long ago, the Old Gods mated with the fae, creating a race of Light Bringers. You belong among us, now.
A wispy substance skimmed over my skin. “I’m part…Old God?”
The goddess pulled off her hood, and white light beamed through her translucent skin. From the shadows, more glowing beings emerged. Their naked bodies blazed with light, skin as thin as shed snakeskin.
You belong with us, Bringer of Light, my child. You may serve me here forever.
She reached for me, and I took a step back. Oh, hell no. Okay, so—this was the sacrifice. And it was one I wasn’t willing to make.
The stones began to heat in my hands, held tight against my heart. Once again, I felt an overwhelming urge to press them against my forehead like a salve on a wound.
The goddess rose from her throne. Thin threads of silver hair curled over her shoulders, and her eyes shone like moonlight glinting off water. A cloak of moss draped over her shoulders, and a wreath of hawthorn encircled her head. Her lips looked parched, skin dry and flaky despite the damp air.
Give the stones to me. Within my mind, her voice had a sharper edge. Desperate, almost. I must drink from them.
Was she out of her ancient, mossy mind? I wasn’t giving over the stones just so she could trap me here.
I clutched them tighter to my chest, unwilling to part with them. At least, not until I regained some control over the situation. “Yeah, I’m not staying here with the army of the glowing, so we’ll need a different plan. How about I give you these stones, and you give me Adonis’s soul, and then I’ll be on my way.”
Rage blazed from the goddess’s eyes, and she took another step closer. I protected you. And now you want to bargain with me, for what’s rightfully mine?
When she stepped closer, I could see indentations in her skull—indentations that perfectly matched the size of the stones. She’d worn them once, a crown of sorts. These stones had once been a part of her, and they’d been stolen. Another step closer, her hands grasping for them—and my own skull ached to feel them pressed against it.
She heaved in a raspy breath. I’ve been trapped here for a thousand years, unable to leave without my powers. Give them back to me.