It was a trap. I had finally remembered where I’d seen that type of chain before. They were almost an exact replica of the chains that had bound Sienna, locking her into the imprisonment realm. Maybe the Abcurses had forgotten? Or maybe they thought they were too strong. But there was one thing I knew: “Those chains can kill a god,” I cried.
I dove forward then, snatching the chains right out of Crowe’s hands. I stumbled as I landed, but somehow kept my footing. “If you harm any of the Abcurses,” I snarled at the black-robed god, backing away as I tightened my grip on the shackles, “I will kill you.”
Crowe stared at me for an extended moment before he threw his head back and laughed. The sound rang out into the silence, because apparently everyone else was too shocked to speak.
“Willa,” Coen finally warned, his voice almost too low to hear over Crowe’s laughter. “You need to give me the chains.”
“No way,” I said, still furious.
“He wasn’t trying to kill us,” Siret tried to reason with me. “If Crowe wanted us dead, he wouldn’t attack when the five of us were together. He’d pick us off, one by one.”
The laughter died off then, and the God of Death was once again staring at the six of us. “He’s right, you know,” he told me conversationally. “I did not lie about bringing these chains to the panteras. I did not know I would meet any others here, but that is the risk you take when you deal with these beasts. You do not always understand the cost until it is upon you. Besides, if I wanted these five banished, I would have brought five chains, because if I only stole one of Abil’s sons, the rest would hunt me down.”
“Just so you’re aware,” Aros interrupted him. “Willa is included in that now. She is off limits.”
Crowe hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he stopped laughing. It was very disconcerting, and even though there was no weird sensation in my mind, I sensed he was somehow searching inside of me.
“No dweller can hold my chains,” he said slowly. “What are you?”
My hands were starting to ache from clutching the chains so tightly. “That’s the golden question, isn’t it?”
“Apparently,” he said softly.
I grew bold then. “Will you tell Staviti?”
Siret let out a snort of laughter next to me. “My little soldier, so brave.”
Crowe took an uncomfortable amount of time to answer. “There is nothing to tell him,” he said. “I know nothing.” Then he swished his cloak over his shoulder and spun to leave. “Give the chains to those who require them.”
Then he was gone, and it almost felt like the world flickered back into perspective. The panteras returned, along with the noises that had somehow been blocked out with Crowe’s presence. The trickling water nearby, the rustling of the leaves, and the chirping of bugs.
“I think black was a great choice for him,” I said, my chest heaving in and out as the reality of what had just happened hit me. “I mean, pink sparkles would have clashed horribly with his SWIRLING PITS OF DARKNESS EYES.”
My chest continued to heave as I struggled to pull air into my lungs. I had felt so brave when Crowe was standing before me, but right now fear and panic were crashing in on me. It didn’t make any sense.
“You’re always brave when it comes to protecting us,” Coen said as he stepped closer, his hands reaching for the chains.
I snatched them away, holding them close to my chest. “Stop trying to touch them,” I gasped. I would never get the image of Sienna’s lifeless body out of my mind.
“Willa.” Yael’s Persuasion wrapped around me. “Willa-toy, you don’t have to worry. These chains won’t hurt us, they don’t work until they’re activated, and you can’t accidentally do that.”
I wanted to be mad at him, because his Persuasion was having some effect, even with my new resistance. Logically though, his words made sense, and with reluctance, I released the chains into Coen’s hands. “I chose to let them go,” I told Yael.
He ruffled my hair before caressing my cheek. “As long as you keep your defiance out of the bedroom, then we won’t have a problem.”
“Don’t you mean pool?” I called after him as he walked away.
He flashed a grin in my direction and I was pretty much a puddle on the rocky ground.
Take the chains to Cyrus, he will understand what to do. Leden distracted me. I turned to find her close by again.
“Crowe said he was bringing the chains to you, not Cyrus. So why did Cyrus send me here if he didn’t know they were coming?”
The light tickle of her amusement sent a shiver down my spine. Always with the questions. Just follow the path, sacred Willa. You will get to the end eventually.
“We need to leave now,” Aros announced. “Too much time has already passed—the last thing we need is for Staviti to discover us with Death’s chains.”
They started to move to their panteras, pausing only when I spoke.
“Can we stop by Cyrus’s home first? I … I need to see my mum.”
The vision I’d seen in the glass was haunting me. She had looked so alone. So lost. I’d spent enough time with her since she’d become a Jeffrey to know that the blankness was simply part of whatever Staviti had done to her, but I had to try. Maybe if she was with me, she would be happier. Maybe she would smile without being ordered to.
Maybe I’d get a small piece of my mother back.
Coen looked like he was about to protest the proposed change of plans, but Siret got in first. “I think we have time for one quick stop,” he said, eyeing his brother. “It’s Willa’s mum, after all.”
Coen shifted his gaze to me, and almost in the same instance nodded. “You’re right, we have time for that.”
I ran at Siret and he caught me deftly.
“Thank you,” I muttered. He was always on my side.
He gathered me in tighter and I savoured the familiar feel of his body before he set me down and I turned to Coen. He just managed to hand the chains to Siret before I threw myself into his arms. He wrapped me up tightly, pulling me into his body. I burrowed my face into his neck, closing my eyes as I breathed him in. “Thank you,” I whispered against his skin. “Thank you for caring.”
His chest rose under me, like he was taking in a deep breath, and I lifted my head to find his eyes. They were blazing—so bright it almost hurt to stare at them. “I love you,” he said simply. “Your happiness is important.”
Before I could kiss the heck out of him—because that’s exactly what we both needed in that moment—he spun on the spot and took two steps forward, dropping me onto Leden’s back.
I opened my mouth and he silenced my words with a single kiss, before pulling back, leaving us both breathless. “Save it for later,” he said. “Later you’re mine.”
Leden took off before I had a chance to combust, and as the cool breeze washed over me, I sucked in deep breaths, trying to centre myself. Trying to focus. How in the worlds had I gotten so lucky?
You have brought much into their lives. Leden cut into my thoughts. I have never seen six beings mesh so seamlessly before. A bond to surpass all others.
“I’m not sure I could live without them,” I admitted to her. “It scares me, and yet … I can’t walk away. I will never walk away.”
Just keep fighting.
I had a feeling her words were going to become much more literal in the next few moon-cycles. An intense fear was building low in my gut. I could only stay hidden from Staviti for so long. What would happen when he figured out what I was? How could we possibly fight against the Original God?
I didn’t know why—or how—but Jakan was the key. The mortal glass had shown him to me for a reason. I needed to learn more about him before it was too late.
Thirteen
It wasn’t very hard to convince my mother to come with us—certainly not as hard as it had been to track down the hidden entrance to Cyrus’s lair again. She was still sitting on the bed when we arrived, still staring blankly at the wall. I had asked her if she would like to come with me, but she hadn’t responded. She had stared, waiting, until I realised that in her current state, she probably didn’t have a whole lot of ‘wants’.