Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

MALEKAI

“ T hank you for coming.” I infused every bit of urgent gratitude into those words. Miroslav hesitated, his gaze warily flitting between Mareina and me before shaking his head in resignation. “Where is it that you’d like me to take you?”

“Mors’ Temple.”

Miroslav’s brow furrowed.

“For what? To beg him not to take her life? Her life force is strong.”

Forcing my expression to remain neutral, I silently deliberated just how much to disclose. Of all people, I’d have assumed he’d know Mors is her father. Erring on the side of caution, I merely tugged at Mareina’s sleeve to reveal Mors’ sigil. The inverted torch with wings symbolizing the extinguishing of life and the liberation of the soul.

“She bears his mark. Surely, he will know something.”

Miroslav’s brows pinched before relaxing in resignation. Wordlessly, he extended his hand.

My heart leapt with relief as I turned scooping Mareina off the bed, into my arms. Miroslav laid his palm on my shoulder, and a breath later, we were standing in front of Mors’s temple.

“Send one of his acolytes when you’re ready if she still hasn’t woken.”

Miroslav’s eyes dipped to Mareina, his stoic features briefly belying his concern.

“Thank you, again.”

The male nodded silvery eyes burning with that piercing knowingness as he hesitated to leave.

“Zurie’s guest… Thalia. I do not trust her. I cannot read her as I do others. She is something… Other… And even more unsettling, she wasn’t in a single one of my visions. I do not believe she is what or who she claims to be. ”

Wariness crept in, but it only further cemented my decision to bring Mareina back to Avernus. “I will speak with her.”

Miroslav’s expression darkened. “Do not interrogate the female. We do not need to make any more enemies. Especially ones as powerful as her.”

Impatience was making my fucking skin crawl. “I have no intention of making enemies. Believe it or not, I’m actually quite good at making friends. ”

Miroslav hardly seemed reassured, but Mareina didn’t have time for this. If I determined Thalia was in any way a threat to Mareina, I would have my beast devour her whole.

I turned on my heel only for Miroslav’s hand to shoot out and grab my arm. “Malekai, the path that you all have chosen doesn’t guarantee?—

I shook my head, not wanting to be reminded of his predictions.

“It doesn’t matter. I will always do what is best for Mareina.”

Understanding filled his gaze before he folded away. “I hope it is enough.”

With Mareina still in my arms, one of the large doors to the temple swung ajar. I stepped inside, the space cool and dimly lit with the same flickering fire-lit torches as when Mareina and I had been here, little more than a day ago.

One of Mors’ shadowy, hooded Pharalaki hovered a few feet away. It turned and drifted down the hallway leading to the hidden doorway of Mors’ realm. Avernus.

It seemed to be in a rush because I practically had to jog to keep up with it. When it revealed the doorway, I made my way down the steps alone.

The only light illuminating the stone stairwell was the distant glow of Avernus’ threshold. As I stepped through, three suns showed brightly in the sky - one large, two small. Silken grasses of vibrant green undulated against a summery breeze. At first sight, Mors’ house looked exactly the same as before.

As we approached, an unfamiliar winged male stepped outside of Mors’ house, standing even larger than my six feet eight inches. He bore dark grey wings tucked tightly against his back and an even darker set of stormy grey eyes. Long alabaster hair reached past his dark, broad shoulders.

“There’s a spare room you can stay in. Watch out for the broken pots and door splinters. I’ll have it taken care of shortly.”

Dread tightened my chest as I took in the sight of the obliterated door and my boots crunched against shards of clay pots. “What the hells happened?”

“Keres happened,” he called back as he turned down a hallway.

Mors’ sister?

Sunshine poured into the floor to ceiling, darkly wood framed windows lining the left wall of the hallway to reveal a spectacular view of the fields and mountains in the distance. Elaborate tapestries and paintings hung from the opposite wall between doors. The male disappeared, stepping into a room at the end of the hall. As I stepped inside, he turned to face me from the center of the large, spare bedroom decorated in neutral tones of linen and terracotta.

There was a stillness to the house and a distinct lack of energy that told me something was wrong.

“Where is Mors?”

The male’s face became stricken with emotion as he gestured vaguely at the bed, the covers already peeled back. “Gone.”

My heart stalled in my chest as I carefully laid Mareina on the bed. “Gone as in… Busy with work? On vacation? Or…”

“As in Keres murdered Soteira, somehow persuaded Mors to drink from The River Oblivion, and dumped him on some beach in the Bellorum realm. Nippies Piss Thilis or something like that.”

What in the fuck.

“Do you mean Nissi Tis Pillis?”

The male waved an unconcerned hand again as he scrubbed the other down his face, emotion welling in his eyes.

“That.”

“And who are you, exactly?”

The male drew in a shuddering breath, his palm still covering his face, voice cracking with barely restrained emotion.

“Lathrimos.”

I tucked Mareina beneath the covers as he sidled next to me to stare down at her.“Somnus already told me you might be coming.”

“… Mors’ brother?”

Lathrimos’ lip quivered as he nodded in affirmation.

“Is he here?”

Lathrimos shook his head, taking shaky breaths to calm himself.

Fuck me.

I wasn’t the best at handling emotional upset. Unless it was for Mareina. I’d had my fair share of mental breakdowns, but it had always, thankfully, been in private. Or with Mareina.

Tension knotted in my chest as I deliberated whether or not to try and soothe the male. I settled for clapping him on the back.

“Well, he’s not dead, at least.”

A choked sob broke free, and Lathrimos threw his arms around me, crushing me against his chest. It was a bizarre and highly emasculating sensation.

“There, there…,” I managed awkwardly, whilst patting him on the back as I settled in to hug him.

“He was my best friend,” Lathrimos sobbed, hiccuping.

“… He’ll be back. Nissi Tis Pillis isn’t that far from Atratus. Maybe I can find him and bring him back.”

Lathrimos heaved a shuddering sigh as he finally straightened, swiping away the evidence of his emotion.

“He’s not there. Somnus went and got him. And it’d be pointless anyway. The River Oblivion wiped his memory completely. He won’t remember me or our thousands of years worth of memories, let alone his entire realm. Thankfully, the effect isn’t permanent for a god. We just have to wait for his memories to return.”

“How long will that take?”

Lathrimos shrugged, chin wobbling as though it were the crumbling cornerstone of his emotional foundation.

“Years. Maybe even decades. Who knows? This has never happened before, as far as I know.”

My eyes drifted back to Mareina.

“Do you know what she needs? How to heal her? Make her wake up?”

Lathrimos only threw her a cursory glance, making my hackles rise. “She’ll be fine. She just… Her soul is tied to this realm. Being outside of it is draining.”

“She’s lived her entire life outside of this realm.”

“She’s a goddess. Not a mortal. It won’t kill her not to be here, but she certainly won’t be at full power if she doesn’t spend significant time here.”

Mareina was already, inarguably, one of the most powerful beings in Atratus. We’d fought in a war together. I’d witnessed her power and fury in all its jaw-dropping glory.

How much more powerful could she get?

The thought made my beast growl his excitement.

“Not to mention, she needs to be here. Especially with Mors being… indisposed. The entire realm will disintegrate without at least one of them here.”

His words yanked my gaze back to his.

“ What?”

The male looked at me like I’d just sprouted a few extra heads.

“Just as it is with any other god, the realm is tied to their life force. They sustain it. Just as a tree requires soil and rain. Without those things, the tree will gradually wither away and die.”

“How long can she or Mors be gone for before that starts to happen?”

Lathrimos furrowed his brow thoughtfully, scratching his bristly beard. “It wouldn’t happen overnight. It would take perhaps years, but it would be an inevitability without them.”

How the shit is Mareina supposed to rule a kingdom and an entire realm?

“I mean, you didn’t plan on going anywhere, did you?”

I huffed a laugh.“You’d literally have to kill me.”

Lathrimos gave me an appreciative smirk. “That’d be no small feat, killing a creature like you.”

I stilled with apprehension. In my 200-plus years of existence, I hadn’t revealed my true nature to a single soul. I had only ever allowed myself to shift when my beast became most desperate and well away from any prying eyes. It was too great a risk of potentially being seen. My kind was a distant and tragic memory in this realm.

“Gift of an Archestratim. Discernment. You can’t lie, hide, or glamor anything from us. It’s a curse at times. The truth is often a burden.”