“Altair,” she says. Her voice is loud and forceful, nothing like Verity’s delicate one or Haru’s natural hoarseness. “What brings you at such a late hour?”
I glance down at my sopping wet clothes and feel a flash of anger. Had it been my court, Erzur’s comforts would have been seen to immediately. “For aid,” I say, lifting my voice and my chin defiantly. “Alenmbra and Canes call for aid. Aid from all the Fae kingdoms.”
“And yet, you find yourself in my throne room,” Erzur says.
“Convenience.” I force a smile.
She inhales sharply through her nose, shoulders lifting with the breath. “I find it alarming that the individual responsible for this threat to the Fae now is in need of my help,” she muses.
“Excuse me?” My brows lift in surprise as she turns sullen brown eyes on me.
“Forgive me for being less than generous, but you should take the night to prepare your explanations to me,” she says, sounding bored. “I have little interest in your impending doom.”
“Little interest?” I echo, narrowing my eyes. “We’ll see how much more interested you become when its your palace Sadal’s army slithers over.”
She quirks a smile and waves a lazy hand. “I do enjoy it when you get irate, Altair. My servants will show you to your rooms. Be comfortable.”
“How can I not when you’ve been so welcoming?” I say, sarcasm dripping from my words.
“How kind.” Erzur smiles.
I flash her one last ice-cold glare before tromping after one of her servants. He leads me up several flights of stairs to a suite with magnificent views of the desert valley and cliff faces. The door closes softly behind him and I lock it quickly. The hope I felt when I set out a full day ago means nothing to me now. I close my eyes, picturing Erzur’s smirk. I should have known the Fae rulers would be difficult to convince. Thousands of years of power have not left us kind to one another.
But now is the time we need it most of all. I stare longingly at the plush bed with crisp white, cotton sheets. Erzur is young for a Fae queen, there’s much she hasn’t seen yet. A massive war is one of them. Battles and skirmishes, yes, but all-out war is something else entirely. I can only pray I make her see that in the morning.
Chapter 13
Verity
The silence is overwhelming, as if my ears have been stuffed with cotton. I fight to open my eyes, blinking back a sleepy fog. It’s dark here, except in this little circle of light that I’m lying in. The floor, whatever it is, is smooth and black as pitch – cold to the touch. I take a shaky breath as I slowly come back to myself. I feel like I’ve woken up from a deep sleep, a nap gone on too long.
There’s a twitch of pain in my wrist and I gasp softly in surprise. A ring of purple bruising around my wrist is the only indication of a wound. I study my pale skin and the blossoming bruises. Sadal. I glance around, panic clenching tight in my chest as I try to pierce the heavy shadows all around me in search of him.
“Sleep well, love?” Sadal asks from behind me.
I whirl around, scooting backwards as he comes into view. He stalks out of the darkness, shoulders bent with anger. His eyes flash as they rove over me and his lips twist into a scowl. I reach towards my thigh for the dagger, but I feel only my soft skin and an empty sheath. I inhale sharply, realizing I have nothing to ward off the furious god.
I remember my failed assassination attempt and the look in Altair’s eyes when our gazes met. Shock. Relief. And then fear. Fear for me. I feel the cold touch of the shadows on my back and shoulders as I flinch away from Sadal. I coil away from the darkness, shuddering at the sensation; like fingernails on a chalkboard.
“What is this place?” I ask, eyes wide with fear.
“The ether,” Sadal says. “My realm.”
My face pales at his words and my eyes dart around the shadows swirling around us. I read about the ether in the Bloodbane text. There are few who see it and live to tell others. The army of foul beasts Sadal commands once made their home here. A shiver trails up my spine as I wonder if there are some who remained. Time is still here, and yet passes quickly. Who knows how long we’ve been here, the war could be over by now. I gulp audibly, thinking of the horrors that await me in the dark. I’ve never been scared of the dark, not since I was young anyway, but this dark is different. This place is menacing.
Sadal watches me knowingly. “You know of it, then.” I nod. Sadal looses a sigh and pins me with a furious stare. “Do you know what you almost did?”
“I almost made you mortal.” I take a shaky breath.
He narrows his eyes. “You could have doomed the entire continent; the world even. Stupid fool.”
“Doomed the world?” I scoff. “I would have saved it from your scourging.”
“Kill me and the entire demon army that I control is loosed on the land,” Sadal snarls, stalking towards me. “Do you know why they haven’t left Alnembra, empty as it is now, to find more prey?” He pauses, waiting for my answer. “Because I keep them on a tight fucking leash,” he roars.
I shrink away instinctively as shadows loom over him and his black eyes flash. Sadal crouches in front of me and grabs my hair in his fist. He jerks my face towards him, and I bite down on a yelp. His lips
