“Cowards,” I spat, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You hide behind your loom, binding the fates of gods and mortals alike, but you don’t have the courage to face me.”
I released the withered threads, watching them drift away like ash on a breeze. A terrible idea began to take shape in my mind as I observed how they curled and darkened at my touch.
I didn’t need to break the threads to damage them. I didn’t need to end lives to alter destinies.
My fingers brushed against another thread, and it wilted instantly, turning from vibrant gold to dull black. The life it represented wouldn’t end, but it would change, warp in ways even the Fates might not predict.
“I will return,” I promised the silence, letting my power flare one final time. “And when I do, you will listen. Or I will end every thread you’ve ever woven. I will wilt the tapestry of fate until it rots at the foundation of your loom. You thought being bound to it was terrible? Wait until I fucking destroy you.”
“You do not have that power, Keeper,” they hissed, finally breaking their silence.
I turned back toward the tear, each step measured and deliberate. They wouldn’t help me. Not today, perhaps not ever. But I no longer needed their permission. As I returned to the fading twilight of Etherium, I felt something shift within me. A final barrier breaking. A last restraint snapping.
The Fates had made their choice.
Now I would make mine.
The airin Death’s Court carried the peculiar static of power that existed nowhere else, not quite living nor fully dead. Perpetual night shrouded the landscape, illuminated by twin moons that hung impossibly close in the sky. Their pale light cast everything in silvery blue shadows, giving the elaborate grounds an almost dreamlike quality.
As I walked toward the castle, I considered the people I might find here. A tiny ache in my heart hoped to see Harlow, but as I walked, I never saw another soul. And truthfully, that was probably for the best. If this plan was going to work, it needed to be done as swiftly as possible. The Fates could have no time to see what was coming. Or who, rather.
As if he’d been waiting for me, I found Death sitting atop a throne of skulls, thrumming his fingers along the arms of his seat as if impatient. But when I moved closer I realized his eyes were closed and those fingers tapped a perfect rhythm. He was conducting music in his mind.
I cleared my throat, but he didn’t startle. Only held up a finger and continued through whatever his mind was trying to work out. Aside from the fist clenched at my side, I didn’t bother to rush him. I needed him to do something reckless and that wouldn’t happen if I commanded him. For cautionary reasons, I took my twin brother’s face from his memories.
“Who are you?” he finally asked, stepping from his dark throne to look me in the eyes rather than down upon me.
“My name is Reverius Hawthorne Noctus. We’ve met before,” I answered, using my power to shine so bright in this dark realm, he had to shield his eyes.
“Keeper?”
“Yes. And I don’t have time for formalities. I know Paesha Vox was… is your friend and she needs help.”
He took several rushed steps toward me. “You found her?”
“I never lost her.”
And then I explained everything as quickly as I could. From her being my Ever, to the deal in Stirling. I told him of Ezra’s role in her history and of mine. And then I told him of the veil and every shit thing I’d done to save her. And how she’d married a king to save a realm and mostly, I told him of her madness. Of how desperately she needed help. And he listened. His dark eyes were not quick to dismiss me. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and looked away.
“I stabbed my wife once,” he finally said. “So, I’ll do my best not to punch you in the face for fucking with my sister, deal?”
It didn’t surprise me to find yet another soul she’d gathered like family. “I try not to bargain these days.”
“Probably for the best. But I do love Paesha and I’ll do what she needs me to. Name it and it’s done.”
“First, you must know, I’ll have to take your memories. You can’t know the path to Etherium. Death isn’t meant to dwell in an immortal land. That’s the divine law and the one we’re about to break. Can you handle that?”
“I’ll manage,” Death said dryly. “But what am I doing when we get there?”
“You occupy a unique position. Death is essential to the balance they maintain. They cannot harm you without disrupting the fabric of existence. Your presence alone will force them to listen.”
“So I’m to be your bargaining chip?” There was no offense in his tone, merely curiosity.
“More like my final option,” I replied. “If they refuse to help even with Death standing witness, then everything is fuckedanyway… She doesn’t have a moment’s peace. Nor a single night of complete rest. She sits upon a throne before a class of people that would stone her to death before they accepted a mad queen. And she knows it.”
I hated the tone. The begging in my voice, but if I needed to fall to my fucking knees before Death to save her, I would. It wasn’t needed though. Not as the man’s eyes shifted between mine as he nodded. “Whatever she needs, I will become it, but perhaps you could answer something for me in exchange.”
I slid my hands into my pockets to hide my relief. “Name it.”
