Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“It’s not,” Faush says with such certainty, ice runs through my veins. “Ariman has it.”
“You’re wrong,” I insist. The last time that thing was in the wrong hands, Zora died. I refuse to believe we have to battle it again.
Faush is calm, unruffled by my denials. “I could be wrong, but it’s what I saw in the flames.”
Putting the Blood Stone aside, I demand, “Where’s Zora? Does Ariman have her?”
“I do not know,” he says, regret in his voice. “But she’s near the Crimson River. I heard the cry of the tortured souls within it.”
I shake my head. “No. Ariman would never take her to the Underworld. Amell would find her and tear him to pieces.”
“I’m sorry.” Faush puts the pipe in his mouth, puffs on it twice. “But that is all I saw.”
Rubbing my jaw, I consider my next move. Back to the Underworld to talk to Amell?
Or perhaps to the Council to see if the other gods have appeared?
“Time is of the essence,” Faush says thoughtfully.
“You’ve said that before. But isn’t that a given at this point?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m not sure it means to rush. But remember when I told you a great power is rising?”
I nod, because the gods felt it was ridiculous such a threat could be real. However, I can see Faush isn’t sugarcoating this.
“I get the feeling the timing will provide answers as well as spur hope for the future.”
“That makes no sense,” I mutter.
“Much of what comes out of my mouth doesn’t at first. You can only hope you receive other clues to help you reason it out.”
“And the power rising… is it Ariman?”
“He’s powerful, but not the only danger.”
I nod and give a slight incline of my head in thanks.
“I would not take these predictions lightly,” Faush warns. “I can see it’s going to have repercussions across time and dimensions if it becomes reality.”
CHAPTER 16
Zora
Rune leers at me. “I suppose you’ve got some questions.”
Hundreds of them. But I’m too stunned at seeing him standing before me, looking nothing like the prisoner he was. While jailed, his dark hair was long and greasy. His beard was matted, his eyes dull.
The man before me now has electric-blue hair cut into a wide mohawk, and his irises—the same color and as bright as his hair—are glittering with vitality. Rune has a thin, black goatee surrounding his mouth and looks utterly nefarious by the cruel smirk he wears.
I have no clue if this is what he looked like before he was stripped of his title as I’d never seen him. While battle raged against Kymaris, Rune tried to kill Finley, in opposition to his brethren’s wishes, and he was immediately imprisoned. Of course, I died not long after that—a horrid affair whereby Finley had to drive a knife into my heart—and when I woke up, I was the god of Life and Rune was paltry a mortal.
I keep back from the former god, moving an equal distance between him and Ariman. “Would you truthfully answer my questions?” I ask.
I don’t trust him to do anything truthfully, but I’m stalling for time so I can figure out a plan. I try to call on my powers again, but I’m completely dead inside.
“I’ll absolutely tell you the truth.” I cock my eyebrow at him, scoffing with skepticism. “My quarrel isn’t with you, Zora. You’ve done nothing to wrong me. It’s your brethren I seek to destroy for stripping me of my powers. You didn’t ask for it.”
“No, I didn’t,” I murmur.
I would never have chosen this life for myself because it’s far lonelier than when I lived in the Underworld. Even having a sister in this dimension, the immense responsibility on me makes me feel removed from not only those I care about, but from myself as well.
Rune clasps his hands behind his back. “I can see you don’t want it. I saw the humanity inside you when you visited, warring with your new immortal nature. It’s a weakness, Zora. It’s why you didn’t strike out at Ariman when he appeared. You saved those wretched dogs before yourself and now look where you are.”
I hate that he’s proving my long-held suspicions: love is weakness.
“And you want that power back,” I say, not a guess but a flat-out statement of fact.
“Smart lady.”
I want to tell him such a thing is impossible. Only the gods have the power to strip another of their power or grant it to a mortal. But here Rune stands, freed from his prison and confidently telling me he wants to be the god of Life again. It’s nothing more than a potent reminder that I truly know nothing of this world. It means there are endless possibilities and I cannot doubt that Rune has the ability to do as he desires.
My gaze cuts to Ariman, who wields the Blood Stone. Why does he have it and not Rune?