One of the Remnants circled his ankle, hesitant at first, just as I was to make such bold moves against this powerful god, but again, he didn’t move. Instead, his eyes darkened as another tendril crept forward.
A breath of power lashed out, wrapping around his legs and arms, the shadowy form solidifying into barbed vines that bit into his flesh. I watched, a mix of horror and savage satisfaction churning in my gut, as crimson bloomed against the white of his shirt.
He made no move to defend himself, his eyes locked on mine even as the shadows tightened their grip. The Remnants sensed my conflicted emotions and responded with increasing ferocity. They ripped and tore, leaving bloody furrows across his skin, shredding his clothes to ribbons.
Yet he stood motionless, his face a mask of calm acceptance. Annoyingly, no pain, no fear, not even a flicker of discomfortmarred his features as the shadows continued their relentless assault, even swirling over Alastor’s black mark upon his neck. Blood dripped from countless wounds, staining the grass at his feet a deep crimson.
I couldn’t deny that a weaker part of me screamed to stop this, to call off the attack. But the darker, wounded part reveled in his suffering, in finally having some small measure of revenge for all his lies and manipulations. I wanted to see him bleed, to make him hurt the way he’d hurt me.
“Stop,” he commanded so quietly I almost couldn’t hear him.
The Remnants hissed. I stepped forward again, boldly this time, willing the ground to practically crumble beneath each step as I moved toward him. “Would that have worked for me? If I’d have told you to stop?”
He said nothing, of course.
“The bargain stands, Reverius Hawthorne Noctus. You may not question or stand in my way. Now, be a good boy and kindly go fuck yourself.”
His face tightened, the anger so obvious I could feel it in the heated air between us. “Be reasonable, Paesha.”
“Reasonable?” I laughed, the sound as hollow as his promises had been. “You want reasonable from the woman you’ve killed a thousand times? The one you trapped and manipulated and lied to?” My Remnants squeezed tighter. “How’s this for reasonable? One cut for every life you stole from me. Don’t worry though, Supreme Sovereign, unlike you, I only plan to kill you once.”
“You can’t kill a god, and I won’t sit back and watch you destroy yourself.”
“No, darling. You wouldn’t. You’d much prefer to do the destroying.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I slid the blade Harlow had given me from my thigh. “Did you just call me a liar, Reverius Hawthorne Noctus? The things I sawwith my own eyes never happened? What you’ve done to me for hundreds of lives? Or should we talk about the memories Alastor showed me? The one of you putting a blade in my back on my wedding day?” I traced my knife along his jaw, a mockery of the tender way he’d once touched me. He was a breath away, but a thousand lies too far to reach. “You and your brother played the same game. Make the poor little mortal fall in love, only to kill her. Do you have to break my heart before you can stop it? Is that the key here?”
“This is not a fucking game between brothers.” His voice was low, dangerous. “Ezra and I have been at war for a very long time and you’re the battlefield we keep scorching.”
“The battlefield and the bounty. How fucking sweet. Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point here, Reverius. You and I have a bargain. Like it or not, you don’t get to ask me a single question. Not one. And you cannot stand in my way. As far as I’m concerned, being here right now is an invasion of my space. You’re in the way. Get the fuck out of it.”
The earth all but rattled as he shook himself free of my Remnants, a show of power as much as anything as he took a step toward me and snatched the wrist holding the blade. “Ezra is dangerous.”
I scoffed. “You’re all dangerous.”
“He is my equal,” he said, eyes cold and hard. “You don’t need me as your enemy right now. I can promise you that.”
I yanked my wrist free and stepped away, trying to drag the Remnants that circled the ground backward, though I truly had no control over what they did. Their hissing in my mind grew louder and angrier. I felt like I was surrounded by a thousand swarming bees while trying to face down an ancient beast.
“You made yourself my enemy the day you dropped me in Wisteria. Everything since then has been icing on the cake.”
He ran his hands through his dark hair until it was a disheveled mess. And that tic in his jaw, the one that always spoke to his feelings even when he tried to hide them, drew all my attention. He’d always been the most beautiful man in the room. Apparently that was because he was a god. The god. Fucker.
Reverius straightened and his shoulders squared. As he opened his mouth to speak, a chill swept through the meadow. The grass rippled like waves on a dark sea. The shadows between the trees deepened, coalescing into a figure that stepped out of the darkness with casual grace.
Alastor.
He wore a suit of deepest black that absorbed the light, making the pale skin of his face appear to float disembodied in the night. But I knew the suit hid his tattoos. I knew the sleeves were covering markings that moved along his skin as much as his Remnants curled along the ground beside him.
“Where one goes, the other is never far behind,” he drawled, cracking his knuckles as he walked past Thorne, er Reverius. “I thought we were learning things here, Descendant.” His eyes scanned the Remnants circling me before he scowled. “Explain this.”
“You don’t have to tell him shit,” Reverius said, scowling.
“That’s a very interesting choice of words, coming from someone who does nothing but lie and manipulate for his own vie for power. But let’s discuss, shall we?” Alastor came to my side as he loosened the navy tie at his neck. He slid his hands into his pockets and faced Reverius coolly. “My darling Paesha and I have a standing agreement. Isn’t that right? She still owes me a name.”
“Don’t do this,” Reverius said, face changing as if there was a threatening weight to Alastor’s words.
