Attes didn’t answer, but he followed. In the very recesses of my mind, I acknowledged that I knew he wouldn’t leave me.
I passed the bodies, aware of Attes behind me. I turned my attention to the doors. Unease prickled the nape of my neck as I lifted my gaze to the entrance’s double doors. It was unguarded.
I arched a brow, a bit insulted by the fact that not even one guard greeted us. Glancing at Attes, I found him eyeing our surroundings with a frown. “I guess we just let ourselves in?”
Attes’s gaze moved to the doors and then to me. He nodded, and then, somehow, he ended up in front of me. Pushing open the doors, cool air rushed out to greet us. We walked into the wide hall that branched off into several smaller ones. The sound of distant…laughter came from somewhere ahead of us.
“Come on.” Attes stalked forward.
Wondering who the fuck could be laughing, I followed. I kept an eye on the halls we passed. Even though Kolis’s presence choked out the sense of anyone else, I knew there were many gods here.
The laughter increased the farther we traveled into the surprisingly clean manor. As did the sound of…
My back stiffened. “Please, tell me I’m not hearing what I think I am.”
“Unfortunately, you are.”
Moaning.
I heard soft moans and deep, harsher groans.
The laughter was hard enough to comprehend, but the sounds of sex? What in the actual fuck?
Attes abruptly veered to the right, and I almost walked into his back. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I think we’re where we need to be.”
I turned my head. Two men stood at the end of the hall, in front of the closed doors to what I assumed was Seacliffe’s Great Hall.
Their faces were painted like Callum’s and Millicent’s had been, in the shape of wings that extended from the hairline to the jaw. But these were a deep, dark red.
The laughter and moans continued and echoed from the Hall, the sound grating on my nerves and stretching my patience thin. Not only did Kolis know we were coming, there were also hundreds of bodies in the bay, and dozens hanging from the colonnade. Andthiswas what was occurring? A sex party?
A tear in the veil formed.
Something like this couldn’t be okay.
The eather pulsed but I quickly stitched the tear before the anger, unease, and thin threads of fear buried under everything else could rip me from the nothing.
The Revenants moved to open the doors, but I beat them to it. Lifting a hand, I summoned the eather and blew the doors off their hinges.
I may have donned the veil, but I had not become the Maiden.
I prowled forward as the heavy wooden doors crashed against the walls with a loud crack that drew startled shouts from those inside the chamber. All I saw were flashes of crimson and skin—lots ofskin. I didn’t look long enough to see anything else. I couldn’t the moment my eyes landed onhim.
Kolis.
He sat in a lazy sprawl at the other end of the Hall on the dais, one leg draped over the gleaming red arm of a throne—a throne made of rubies and maybe garnets. Its seat was wide, and dark-red wings stretched out on either side.
The only source of light was artificial. Windows were blocked by crimson curtains. The dome had been constructed of stone,and I suspected we were surrounded by Ascended, but I knew there were gods here.
Many.
I could feel them in my blood.
The Hall had gone quiet except for the heels of my boots as I walked down the short set of steps. My eyes narrowed on the figure who remained seated, golden hair shining under the bright light of the chandelier. He was looking left, so I only saw the profile of one broad cheekbone and half of a sculpted jaw. But it was enough.
I recognized him.
Maybe from stasis. Perhaps from before. It didn’t matter. The fucker was still looking to his left. I sent a quick glance in that direction. A woman stood before him, draped—unsurprisingly—in crimson silk. Her arms were stretched above her, back bowed to pull the material taut against her nearly exposed chest. She appeared to be dancing. And she wasn’t the only one in the wings of the dais. Others were dressed the same, their skin displaying the pale and smooth quality of the Ascended.
