Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

ZURIE

T he fog gathering at our feet seemed to have a sentience of its own. Nissi Tis Pillis had always given me the creeps. It was a jungle island constantly shrouded in fog and a magic that made my skin crawl. You could be standing in an open space, and you’d still get the unsettling sensation of being watched.

It was somewhat reassuring to see the shifty-eyed looks of Nakoa’s olana kah-hei. It told me I wasn’t alone in my fear.

A visible tremor took root as I clutched the dagger in my hand. Keres’ hand settled on my lower back, rubbing soothing circles. Her voice lowered so that only I could hear her.

“Are you sure you wanna do this? Tell me you’ve changed your mind, and I’ll fold us back to Ishra, where they can never reach us.”

I looked up at her, wearing a tremulous smile. My heart filled with more gratitude and love than I’d ever known. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my entire life.”

She took a deep breath, gradually nodding. “I’ll be right here. No matter what shows up on the other side of the portal.”

Gods, this female.

I pushed up onto my toes and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “I love you.”

Her fingers carded through my hair, holding me against her briefly before I pulled away. Nakoa’s eyes felt like a guillotine on my throat. I couldn’t blame him. He was probably waiting for me to do something horrible, like stab him in the back.

Admittedly, it was a fucked-up, morally corrupt plan:

Open the portal, let gods know what creatures through, blame it on me, rally our his army, and start a war so my son had a real chance at saving his soulbound.

It might not say much about my character, but the only qualm I had with said plan was that it was dangerous. But this was my one Akash- given opportunity at redemption, and I wasn’t about to fucking waste it.

In case any of his drakonati had needed to return to his realm, Azrael had given me a blade laced with his magic. It seemed uncanny to me that he had been right in taking such a precaution. The last time I’d used this blade, a drakonati child who had survived King Hadriel and his genocide had flown all the way from Hades, hoping to seek shelter in my distant kingdom.

I hadn’t had the heart to kill him… And certainly not so soon after I’d given birth to Nakoa. At that thought, my eyes landed on Malekai. He’d fought as a soldier in my army for decades by the time I’d met him and promoted him to General. He and the child had looked so alike I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d been distantly related. If it hadn’t been for the drakonati child’s burn scars, I might have even thought they were the same person.

Perhaps they’ll cross paths now…

Taking a slow, deep breath, I stepped beneath the lone stone archway and drew Azrael’s blade across my hand. The blade seemed to have a hunger all its own, as if it encouraged me to press deeper than I’d intended, severing muscle and tendon.

I stifled my whimper, drawing the blade vertically down my hand, wrist, and forearm. The white-hot pain was all but forgotten as I watched in awe. Darkest gold and black shadowy tendrils of magic seeped out of the blade to join the blood spurting from my arm before spilling to the ground.

Keres snatched the dagger from my hands. “ Akash’s sake, female. What the fuck are you doing? It requires blood! Not your life! ”

Just as it had the first time I’d used it, my vision tripled and swayed, and I felt some of my life force drain from me. I forced myself to murmur the Vassileon words Azrael had taught me.

“Kh? hōs kaleídhi kai aíma hōs ragída, to péplo metaksy zo?s kai thanátou zō.”

With soul as key and blood to bind, I rend the veil ‘twixt life and death entwined.