The Myths of Ophelia (The Curse of Ophelia #4)

Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four

Ophelia

The Gates of Angeldust glimmered as if coated with the magic of the divine beings they were named for. It was reminiscent of the gold brushed through Sapphire’s white-feathered wings, tucking in as Tolek and I dismounted.

In the time it took us, Jezebel, and Erista to get back to the cavern for Sapphire and the khrysaor, the others had gotten a head start to the gates on horseback. It barely wasted any precious time, and I wanted the creatures nearby in case something went wrong with this trial tonight.

It almost didn’t seem possible that anything bad could happen within those gleaming gates, though.

Regardless, the heavy presence of wandering spirits clung to this place.

The toes of my boots met the line marking the entrance to the labyrinthine complex. Towering alabaster walls carved a perimeter around the gallery’s land, that shimmering gate designating the entrance ten feet on either side of where I stood.

Wrapping a hand around the bar, the presence of storied histories washed over my skin. A ghostly hand brushing across my own, a lingering hint of life.

“Do you feel it?” I whispered to Jezebel beside me.

She nodded minutely, setting her hand on the bar beside mine. “Must be our Soulguider blood.”

Though we never trained that heritage—couldn’t, given we chose the Mystique line—it would always flow through us. Weaker, but alive .

In the distance, deep within the heart of the complex, streams babbled. Those weren’t drinking waters, though. No, these streams were laden with magic. Much like the cyphers, the thin network of waters trickling through the land was a conduit. It bore spirits to their final resting places, weaving patterns through the deserts as they carved the sands.

And these—the Gates of Angeldust—were a well of that power.

It was intricate magic, details remaining private among the Soulguiders, but with simply the blood in our veins, that presence spoke to my sister and me.

I gazed up to the top of the gates, the metal sculpted like a pair of flourishing wings. And on either side, perched atop the stone walls, a carved woman’s head watched over the rising and falling dunes.

“Follow the sphinxes,” I muttered. They could have easily been female warriors if I didn’t know better.

Jezebel whispered, “There they are.”

Waiting for us. A clue from the constellations.

For a mile in any direction, all they saw was sand, streams, and scattered cyphers. An old defense from the age of Angels, leaving the land closest to the sacred site bare of dense hiding spots for any nefarious thieves or attackers.

But Lendelli, with its prosperous markets and packed rows of apartments, stretched beyond to the east. A steadfast of warriors providing another boundary.

Turning my back on the glimmering bars and sphinxes, I faced the group. They looked at me with determination in their eyes, weapons strapped to muscled bodies.

“I don’t know what will be waiting in there.” I summoned every bit of strength I could, used all the twisted rage Damien’s vague warnings sprouted within me. Deathly catacombs and platforms bursting in the sea flashed before my vision. “I won’t deny any of you who wish to come inside, but I want you to know what the possibilities are before you agree. We’ve lost good warriors to these trials.” My eyes landed on Mora. On the festering wound wrapped beneath her tunic. “Some have been gravely injured. Assuming we’re right, and this is where Xenique’s emblem is hidden, we’re likely to face very dangerous threats.”

“Actually,” Erista interrupted, clearing her throat, “the fae can’t come.”

“And why not?” Lancaster growled.

Erista straightened, curls bouncing as she flipped a sharp look on Lancaster. “I advise you watch your tone. You believe in the Goddess of Death, do you not?”

Lancaster and Mora both nodded. We all conveniently ignored a restrained Brystin as he mumbled beneath his breath.

Erista seemed to choose her next words carefully. “Then trust me when I say her magic is woven deeply into this earth. Partnered with Xenique’s, it ensures any enemy of the warriors who enters the gates will fall on their swords immediately.”

“The fae will die if they step foot inside?” Barrett asked, wide-eyed.

“Magic can be cruel when it comes to riddled things” was all Erista said, her expression twisting.

I didn’t try to evaluate the haunting twist to her words or the way my sister looked questioningly at her.

“Mora,” Tolek said, digging in his pack, “can you wait out here and search the coded scroll for more patterns? We need to figure out if it’s giving away anything about the Ascension after what Vale read tonight.”

The female nodded dutifully and took the rolled parchment from Tol.

“The fae remain out here,” I said. “And a few of us will need to stay as their guards.”

“I’ll do it,” Cypherion offered. All of our heads whipped toward him.

“Are you sure?” He’d been hurt when I told him to escort Vale back to her territory rather than staying with us in the mountains for the final battle, pain flooding his blue eyes when he thought we felt he was unnecessary.

Now, though, his stare remained sure. Calm. And he said, “As your Second, I will guard the fae out here while you retrieve the emblem.”

Spirits, I truly had made a wise decision in appointing him, hadn’t I? Despite his initial doubts, Cypherion was truly stepping into this role and all it meant. Even if he would rather cross through the gates with us.

“Thank you,” I said with a nod, and for an unexplained reason—perhaps because we’d all come so fucking far since last spring and that growth was digging into my chest—my eyes stung.

Hearing the heavy weight behind my words, Cypherion said, “Of course, Revered.”

“I think I should go inside,” Vale said, loudly enough for us all to hear, but it was clearly intended for Cyph. Not asking for permission, but ensuring he was okay with that choice.

He was silent for a brief moment, swallowing as he searched her silver-tinted stare. “You should, Stargirl.” Then, he kissed her forehead, adding in a whisper I barely heard, “Remember—you belong to no one. Us against the Fates.”

“The least you could do is make the pretty Starsearcher stay, too,” Brystin interrupted.

Shooting him a glare sharper than his scythe, Cypherion tugged the rope around the fae’s wrists so he stumbled forward, grunting.

“I’m pretty enough to entertain you,” Cyph growled, watching where blood leaked from Brystin’s shoulder—cypher stake still intact—to the sand. “Look at her again and more than the ground will be stained red.”

Brystin had the sense not to respond, but an amused glint that I didn’t like entered his eye. One that had Malakai saying, “I can play guard, too.”

But I spoke up. “No, Malakai. I think you should come with us.” His brows pulled together. “You’re the only other one who can detect the emblems. I need you in case?—”

In my memory, cold, skeletal fingers curled around my throat. Air snapped from my lungs.

But Tolek’s arm wrapped around my waist, a silent reassurance.

I found my voice again. “I need you in there.”

That sense of purpose seemed to fall over Malakai like a well-suited pair of leathers. Like a sword’s grip worn perfectly to his hand, one he wrapped his fingers around and gave me a confirming nod.

“We’ll remain out here,” Barrett said, exchanging a glance with Dax and Celissia, and that sent a flutter of comfort through me. Though Cypherion was more than capable, at least he wouldn’t be outnumbered by the fae.

“Everyone else?” I asked. Tolek, Jezebel, Erista, Santorina, Lyria, and Mila.

They all nodded in turn, ready to enter the sanctity of history and legends of the Soulguiders.

Fear gathered behind my ribs, but I shoved it down. “Better not waste any more time, then.”

I made to turn back to the gates, but a hand locked around my wrist.

My eyes flicked up to find Tolek’s burning into me, and just like that, the rest of the world fell away. The hushed conversations of our friends melted into the desert winds.

“Yes?” I asked, my heart fluttering.

“Take a breath,” he reminded me. I did as he said, the crisp air filtering through my lungs as a soothing reminder. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” We didn’t have time for me to feel any other way.

But Tolek only lowered his chin, waiting. I groaned, dropping my voice to ensure no one else heard. “I’m worried about what’s inside these walls. I’m afraid of…” I summoned a small bead of Angellight to my palm, dimming it before it flourished out of my control. “After tonight, I’m even more uncertain about what it can do or why.”

We hadn’t fully talked about what I did during the Rites. How much power I’d summoned or why it pushed back the storm.

“It can work miracles, Alabath. You are pure power and strength.”

A lump formed in my throat at his words, but I swallowed past it.

“I’m tired of being strong without answers, though. The questions…they’re piling upon my shoulders, and I fear I may crumble.” Ire heated my voice as I added, “And I am so tired of having to be resilient. It’s exhausting getting back up every time I’m knocked down. Pretending it doesn’t hurt me or scare me.”

“Don’t pretend with me, apeagna ,” Tol said, twining his fingers between mine. “I get why you put up a facade for everyone else—for yourself, sometimes. But not with me.”

I breathed in that thought and allowed his presence to be my infinite tether to the world.

“What else?” Tolek asked, brushing his thumb across the back of my hand.

I watched the place our fingers locked. “I’m really fucking angry that everyone is either giving me cryptic commands or trying to harm us.”

Tolek smirked and gripped the back of my neck, kissing my forehead. “There she is.”

“What?” I tilted my head to peer up at him.

Tol retreated an inch but kept his grip firm. “Be fucking furious, Alabath.” His gaze cut sideways to Brystin. “Spirits know I am. Let that rage take wings and soar all the way to damn the Angels.”

I grinned up at him. “You’re not telling me to be smart?”

He shook his head, thumb stroking my neck. “You’re making as wise of choices as any leader could when they don’t have all the answers. We’ve been smart. We’ve been careful. Now, let’s fight.”

“Spirits,” I breathed with a laugh.

“What?”

“I just…really fucking love you, Vincienzo.”

“Infinitely.” And he sealed his lips to mine.

Then, in a move that felt as intimate as anything we’d done, Tolek pulled Starfire from her sheath at my waist. He took a step back and held her before me across his palms. Chills danced along my skin.

“Now, let’s retrieve our final token of the Angels, Revered.”

I shivered at that title on his lips and wrapped my fingers around the handle of my short sword. Her presence and familiar strength settled into my arm. Briefly, my memory flashed back to the day I’d gotten her. A gift from my father on my tenth birthday. When her weight was too mighty for me, but I was as determined as ever to wield her.

Though I’d lost him to this war, I still had this constant.

And combined with Angelborn on my back, I truly felt I could send the world to ruin.

Erista used the crescent moon tattoos on her palms to open the gates, something only Soulguiders of a certain status were privileged enough to have, she explained. After a wrenching goodbye to my pegasus and a final glance exchanged with Cypherion, we filed inside after the Soulguider.

A long stretch of sandy path awaited us beyond the walls, but cyphers bloomed on either side, elthem flowers closed to the night. The air was rich with their floral scent, almost out of place after weeks traveling through the dry desert, and those streams babbled faintly, out of sight between the ash-white trunks.

It was as serene as a temple, but a place of worship didn’t lay within these walls.

Silently, our party walked up the path toward the stone gallery in the distance. Tolek was on one side of me, Jezebel on the other.

Voice so low it was barely distinguishable, my sister asked, “How do you know this is where the emblem is hidden?”

My heart thudded, and I considered snapping up that brave mask, but one look at Jez from the corner of my eye had my defenses dropping. We were tied to so much unknown together, she deserved to hear when I was faltering.

“I don’t.” I shook my head. “I’m going on the faintest of whims here, Jezzie. Whatever it is in my gut that tugs toward the emblems, combined with Erista’s knowledge.”

Damien and Valyrie had told me to come to the Lendelli Hills to find out the truth, to learn my magic. It all had to mean something.

If it wasn’t within these gates, we’d journey to the next city, and the one after that. All the way to the capital if needed. We were finding this emblem, though.

Jezebel tucked her hand within mine. “Let’s prove you right.”

The alabaster steps loomed ahead, leading to this house of spirits and souls, the heart of replenishment for the magic of death’s hands.

I searched my gut for any hint of that Angel instinct, finding it concernedly quiet.