Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

MAREINA

I ’d been less resistant this time when Asterion had urged me to feed. The effects of his blood were unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I’d been dying to ask, but the male seemed so plagued by whatever was already going on inside his mind that I couldn’t bring myself to add to it by potentially stirring up the long-buried emotions tied to his origins.

This time, I’d managed to feed from him without tearing out any chunks of flesh, and we’d both dutifully suppressed the symptoms my venom induced. For the first time since I’d arrived to Vassileo, I felt some modicum of peace.

Asterion and I laid on the couch in one of my rooms, reading together with my head at one end and his head at the other, and our legs comfortably twined together. The comfort, intimacy—however platonic—and familiarity of the position managed to reduce the constant pain in my chest and the tether between me and my mates to a dull, throbbing ache.

The book I’d managed to dig up in Azrael’s library was breathtakingly licentious and proved a worthy distraction from my recent celibacy.

The presence of one of Azrael’s palace staff had Asterion and I peeking over the tops of our books at one another. At the sound of their knock, I called them in.

A hooded figure appeared, reminding me somewhat of my father’s Pharalaki . Except, apparently, these ones could speak. And in a surprisingly feminine voice.

“His Majesty requests your presence in his study.”

Well, that’s a first.

Since I’d arrived, I’d barely seen the male.

My gaze slid back to Asterion, whose brows were now lowered with unmistakable concern, instantly winding the tension in my chest. “I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these statues…,” I remarked, gazing up at the towering stone effigies lining every—single—wall. All of depicting the same female. Asterion gave a noncommital grunt, throwing the statues a cursory glance before his gaze returned to the palace staff member leading us to Azrael’s study.

“Do you know who it is? Are they sculptures of someone real or…?”

“They’re of his soulbound.”

My brows leapt. “Where is she?”

Asterion shrugged a single shoulder, the thing bigger than my actual head. “No idea.”

Ouch. I rubbed absently at my chest, just above where the rhyton was buried, as the pain in my chest burned anew at the reminder of my own soulbound.

I shifted my gaze from the creepy effigies to Asterion. The male was, at the best of times, dour. But this? The rigidity of his muscles, the tension carving into every feature? Was definitely not the norm.

“Are you ok?”

Asterion’s gilded gaze snapped to mine. “Yeah, why?”

“Ever since Azrael sent for me, your scowl’s become…. significantly more scowl-ly.”

A corner of Asterion’s mouth quirked, relieving a fraction of the tension in his features. When he held out his hand, I placed mine in his, and he tugged me into his side. “Sorry. I just… anything that involves Azrael puts me on edge. Azrael puts me on edge.”

Before I could ask him to elaborate, we arrived at a set of open doors, and our escort gestured for us to go in before they turned and left.

Asterion and I entered the study, far cozier than I’d have anticipated, to find the god himself sitting in a chaise longue reading near a crackling hearth. Thanks to his magic, the temperature inside his palace was crisp. A surprisingly delicate ceramic tea set decorated with flowers and vines sat on the low table in front of him. His gaze lifted from the book in his hand, bearing a title I couldn’t read. “Oh good, thank you for joining me.”

As we sat down on a couch across from him, Asterion promptly tucked me under his arm, and I couldn’t help but feel as if he was protecting me from something. From Azrael.

“What’s going on?”

Azrael replied with an enigmatic smile, eyes shifting between the two of us. “You two have grown close.”

At my wary silence, Azrael continued. “I’m told you’ve been unwell.”

My head turned to Asterion, failing miserably to hide the guilty look on his face. Gradually, my eyes return to Azrael. “I’m fine.”

Unconvinced, Azrael studied me for several moments. “Well, that’s a relief. I know you’ve been burdened with a lot since arriving… Tea?”

This is fucking weird.

Azrael gestured at the teapot, already pouring himself a cup. A dark, purple-y, red liquid pours from the spout, boasting tendrils of steam. The scent of ripe, tangy berries filled my nose, and my mouth instantly began to salivate.

“Yes, please.”

Azreal quirks a brow. “Asterion?”

Asterion narrowed his eyes for a moment before scrutinizing Azrael, before finally sighing and relaxing a little as he leaned back into the couch. His protective arm slid off my shoulders. “Fine.”

Azrael passed both of us our teas before taking another gulp of his.

“How have my people been treating you?”

Why even bother asking? I sighed around a gulp of what was perhaps the best tea I’d ever tasted in my entire life as the flavor of summer berries burst upon my tongue.

“They keep me well fed.”

Azrael smiled bitterly, studying me as I took another delicious sip of tea. “You’ve sent more people to the chasm in the few months you’ve been here than I have in at least a millennia… There are faster ways to kill me, you know.”

Numbness slid through my veins like ice water as dizziness overtook me. Asterion’s hand shot out to yank me backwards, preventing me from crashing face-first onto the coffee table. “Mareina…”

Asterion’s gold eyes glowed brightly before their light began to flicker, and his body swayed forward before Azrael lept up just in time to tilt his body backwards, where he sagged into the couch beside me.

I opened my mouth to ask my friend if he was alright, but his name got lost on the tip of my tongue. My eyes took in our surroundings, landing on the male sitting in front of us sipping tea.

“Truly, I am sorry about this. You’ve given me no choice.”

Anxiety was a crushing weight upon my chest when I tried to sit up and realized I couldn’t.

“What’s happening?”

“Currently, you and your friend here are experiencing the symptoms of a little cocktail I made just for you two. The first is Mortsbane. Lethal to a human, but only causes a lapse in motor function for a brief period of time and nullifies magic in immortals. Even those as powerful as yourself,” he adds, eyes dipping to Asterion, “The second, is the River Oblivion.”

River Oblivion, River Oblivion, River Oblivion, River Oblivion.

I chanted the name inside my head like a prayer, hoping it would tell me what it meant.

“Difficult to procure, but highly effective.”

“You poisoned me?”

Azrael tsked. “Nonsense. If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. What I want is for you to forget. Not everything, mind you. Hence only giving you a single drop. I’m not a monster. I just need you to be less… volatile. I want you to be happy. And, as I very well know, that’s an awful lot to ask of someone mourning the absence of their soulbound .”

Images flashed in my mind of Nakoa and Malekai, their faces and all our memories slipping away like water through a sieve. Tears sprung to my eyes. The word was a tremulous whisper.

“No…”

Azrael frowned. “Mareina, be reasonable. You’ll be happier spending eternity here if you don’t have them holding you back.”

Never in my life had I begged, but I didn’t dare hesitate now.

“Please, no…”

Azrael’s eyes glistened as he held my gaze and stood, stepping around the table to sit down beside me. “I envy you, Mareina. All the pain and longing that’s been weighing you down since you arrived will be gone. You’ll be happy now. You’re free. ”

Watery rage streamed down my face as I tried to lift my arms so I could wrap my hands around Azrael’s thick fucking neck and watch that burning light fade from his eyes. Instead, I only managed the twitching of my fingers. Azrael’s eyes dipped to my hands at the action. “… You’ll be right as rain by morning.”

Azrael leaned in, sniffing at my neck briefly before sitting back up.

“Fuck. I can still smell that Akash -forsaken drakonati on you.”

Drakonati? Realization hit me like a sledgehammer, and a new kind of pain pierced my heart. That’s what Malekai had been hiding all these years. Why would he hide it from me?

Not that it mattered now.

Azrael willed a glowing vial into one of his palms, uncorking it with unseen hands. Pale blue glowing fluid defied gravity, streaming into the air, rippling until each droplet trembled and the light illuminating it began to separate from the fluid itself. Azrael murmured in a language I couldn’t understand that seemed to guide the light towards me. A scream tore from my throat as it disappeared beneath my skin, burning like white-hot fire before dissipating.

My breaths came in short, quick pants as sweat trickled on my brow. Something felt wrong. Empty. And yet, I couldn’t place what it was.

A male sitting beside me sniffed my neck, growling his displeasure.“It’ll have to do.”

I willed my stubborn limbs to move but they remained fixed in place.

His fingers grazed my throat, frowning, and a moment later, I felt the distinct tingling, itching sensation of a glamor setting into place. “Can’t have these anymore, now can we?”

My words were a slur, my tongue uncooperative. I had no idea who the male in front of me was, but some innate hatred towards him burned bright. Inherently sensed that this wrongness writhing inside me was because of him.

“One day… I’m going… to… kill… you.”

Azrael gave me a sad smile.

“Perhaps, one day, I’ll let you.”