Almost immediately, I was disgusted with myself. Syrion and I had a bond that was too strong for either of us to truly run from. I would be able to penetrate his mind without any real effort, and he could do the same to me, but it was because of that bond that we respected each other’s privacy. I’d sworn to never invade his mind when he wanted privacy, and he had pledged the same thing to me. I felt a pit in my stomach from having even considered taking advantage of our connection against his will.
I sighed and wrapped my arms around him. He seemed surprised that it came out of nowhere, but he didn’t hesitate to return the hug. I patted his back and held him tight. I needed to trust him. I did trust him. He would never hide something from me without a good reason. I needed to remember that.
“Take your time.” I finally broke the silence. “Just know I’m here when you need me.”
Syrion nodded. His expression didn’t change, but I felt his energy lighten and grow less heavy, and I felt myself relax in kind. Truly, all I wanted was to know that he was alright and that I wasn’t about to lose him.
We turned and bolted upright when we finally heard the door open behind us. Myrcedes walked out slowly, and we both rushed to her side in case she felt faint.
“What did you learn?” Syrion asked.
She hesitated, looking between the two of us. She seemed stable but clearly deep in thought. “I’m not sure.”
“What happened?” I frowned.
She told us of the dark, depressing images the Floor had shown her but explained that somehow she was meant to stop all of it from happening.
“I don’t understand,” my brother shook his head. “What does all of that have to do with you? The realm of the fae and the ogres? Was Minerva going to destroy all of that?”
“I don’t think it had much to do with Minerva.” She rubbed the back of her neck in thought. “It had more to do with imbalance, I think, but I’m honestly not sure…”
I stroked her purple hair. “We’ll keep looking for a way to get you the answers you want.”
Her silver eyes locked with mine. “Daath…” I furrowed my brow as she hesitated. “Is there a way to speak to Minerva?”
22
Myrcedes
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I flinched as Daath shouted. That was about the reaction I had expected. I turned to Syrion, who was completely frozen in shock with no words.
“What do you mean? Why would you want to- no, that’s not even possible, she’s… she’s dead!”
“Daath,” I said softly, taking his hands to calm him down. “Listen to me, please.”
“I don’t understand-”
“Then let me explain!” I shouted over his rising voice. He was amazing in so many ways, but damn if he didn’t fly off the handle. “Daath, listen to me. I know there’s more I need to know-”
“Then go back into the damn Floor of Dreams and ask it again!” he scoffed.
“Daath,” Syrion broke in. “You know it doesn’t work like that. If the Floor wanted it to be that easy, it would have told her; there’s obviously a reason it didn’t.”
“It’s not possible.” Daath shook his dark hair.
“So, you’ve tried?” I had to insist on this. I trusted Daath, but he wasn’t thinking about this the way I needed him to.
That gave him pause, and he hesitated. When he finally responded, it was with a frustrated growl in his voice. “No. I don’t need to try to know it’s impossible.”
“But-”
“I can’t cross into the Bay of Souls, Myrcedes!”
I stopped. Daath stared at me, a confident expression on his face as though he knew he’d won.
“Why not?” I shook my head as I broke the silence. That didn’t make sense. “I go every time I help a soul pass, so how do you…” I trailed off as he shook his head. I looked to Syrion, and he had a similar expression of reluctant acceptance.
“We haven’t been able to cross into the Bay of Souls for… I can’t even remember how long it’s been,” the light-haired King sighed. “It’s why we needed reapers. We used to be able to do it all ourselves.”
“Then it got harder,” Daath raked his hand through his hair, looking in the direction of the Bay. “Over time, we just stopped being able to reach it entirely. We trained reapers to do it. Most of them are able to travel to the Bay for the rest of their lives, but if a reaper lives long enough, sometimes their connection will start to fade.”
I paused. “What?” The Kings averted their eyes and remained silent. “What?” I repeated myself, growing frustrated. “How is that something you never fucking told me?
“We never tell the reapers,” Syrion admitted. “We used to, but when they learned this was a possibility, they became paranoid. Everyone that we told feared their soul would be rejected from the Bay, even once it was no longer connected to a body.”
“Well, does it?” I pressed.
“No!” Daath answered sharply. He was getting defensive. I wanted to be patient with him, but I didn’t quite have the time.
“Well, do you know why that happens?” I could see there was a level of this that frustrated them, and I would have loved to just drop it and let the subject change, but there was too much at stake.
“We spent a lot of time on the Floor of Dreams,” Syrion shrugged, “just trying to figure that out. The Bay exists for souls, for spirits. Therefore, it rejects bodies. If a body lives long enough, the Bay pushes it away.”
“So, we wouldn’t
