Finally, I pull out the roots of the plant, then tug them onto the bank. It takes several minutes to ground them into a paste along with the Death’s Bell flowers in a stone bowl we brought from the house.
I groan when the thick paste turns purple, instead of the paler beige needed.
The morning lightens a shade, and the silhouettes of the trees and shadows of ravens on their branches surround me. Small creatures watch me beyond the babbling waters as I kneel against the mossy mattress.
Something moves in my periphery, and my eyes dart to the underbrush just as a black tail with blue markings disappears into a hollow log. A hiss sounds behind me, followed by a rustle of dead leaves while a shadow viper slithers closer.
I turn my head slowly, my heart pounding as adrenaline courses through me. The snake’s eyes lock on me, and I look at Ari. She’s still sleeping. Oh, gods. Out of all the things I may die from, it cannot be this.
The small, deadly creature rises on its long body, standing a foot tall, poised to attack. I brace myself to run, hoping I might get away before it strikes. But, before I can stand, the creature inches closer, and I freeze.
Spotting movement out of the corner of my eye, my gaze snaps to the forest where I glimpse white robes and a blond braid. As the viper launches at me, realization dawns on me that someone must be controlling the creature.
My scream is quickly silenced as I am pulled under.
The murky depths envelop me as the dead hands curl around my neck and arms, constrained by the fingers of the Black Sea’s spirits.
Time stretches painfully as I wrestle against the dead, every movement draining the last reserves of my energy. My body releases a surge of shadows that twist and turn through the water, ensnaring the spirits and binding their limbs. But there are too many.
The spirits writhe around me, their frigid, rotting hands grip my arms and legs, dragging me deeper until my lips part. I kick my legs, my shadows a dizzying mess when I hit the riverbed. Bubbles leave my mouth as my lungs ache under the pressure, my eyes bulging.
I barely notice when the dead release me, and I float upward. My eyes close against the permeating darkness of the dark river, memories of my loved ones spin in my mind: discovering our first book of spells with Ari when I was nine, stolen from Father’s library, playing in the meadow with Cecilia and Eliana, then hiding behind trees as we played hide and seek, and the afternoons of walking through the woods with Drake, talking for hours.
Arms constrict my waist and water whooshes around my torso as I’m pulled out the water.
Feeling returns to my fingers and toes, and I cough until I’m spluttering and wheezing, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
I peel my eyelids back to reveal Azkiel’s face. Wet, silver strands slather against his forehead, water drops dripping from his parted lips. “Breathe, Poison,” he urges through the haze in my mind from the lack of air.
Dregs of air slide into my throat as I struggle in a breath, my lungs feeling as if they’re going to burst. Azkiel’s hold on me tightens as he sweeps an arm under my limp legs, the other firm around my back. Scooping me up, he walks us out of the river. My back lands gently against the cold ground, and I turn onto my side, water spilling from my freezing lips.
Of course Death looks so worried. He can’t have me dying on this island when he thinks I’m the prophesied one.
Azkiel growls under his breath as he looks around. “An elder was here.”
Drake is at my side in a heartbeat, careful not to touch me as Azkiel slathers the paste I made over my arms, but it won’t do much since it’s not finished.
“Cali, can you hear us?”
“Yes,” I splutter, then sit up, looking around, my fingers clutching the fabric of my dress. “You said an elder was… Where’s Ari?” I ask, when I notice she’s not lying where I left her.
“It was Dephina,” Drake explains, clamping his eyes shut. “She was in the trees, and then she took Ari.”
“What?” I shout, and crawl onto all fours, coughing again until my throat is coarse. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
His expression crumples. “You fell in the river, and they were already gone. You could have died.” The sun glints in his eyes, and I’m reminded of the boy I have been friends with since I was a child. “Then Death came.”
Azkiel isn’t listening, his eyes scanning the trees, an ancient blackness stealing the silver from his irises. “Where’s Thorn?”
“He flew away,” Drake answers.
I fold onto my knees, my head in my palms. “We must save Ari. They’re going to sacrifice her. If Dephina is here, then—”
Azkiel’s tone teeters on dangerous when he booms, “What do you mean she will be sacrificed?”
I close my eyes. Fuck. If I tell Death he’ll try to kill her later after getting her off Tenenocti, but the gods may kill her now. Dephina must have been the one to move the bodies.
“Ari’s the prophesied one,” I blurt, and take Drake’s arm to steady myself as I stand upright. “She always was, and you picked her at The Choosing, just like the other gods wanted.”
THIRTY-ONEAzkiel
The air feels different by the time we arrive back at the house, as if the island is charged with a new current of bloodlust.
Calista blocks my path before I can veer into the forest without her, arms crossed over the swells of her breasts outlined under the wet fabric slicked to her body. Droplets cascade from a few tendrils of hair curled around her forehead. “We’re going with you.”
“You will only slow me down,” I reply, circling around her, but her hand lands on my arm.
“She is my sister. I need to find her.”
I hear the traitor’s footsteps behind me, then silencing a short distance away. I can’t wait to watch the useless boy die. If I hadn’t stalked them to the river, then Calista would be dead.
So many words build in my mind when I look at her, holding onto me with fierce determination. “I said no.”
Her nostrils flare, and she licks the river from her lips. “You cannot hurt her. We can find another way to stop the prophecy. Not all fates are written in stone! They can be changed.”
She sounds like me, a week ago. Yet, every time I believe I’ve out-maneuvered Nyxara, another revelation unfolds. All paths end with their awakening, except for death. It is the only thing that is permanent.
“How do you know it’s your sister?” I ask, a question I should have asked at the river, but the bloom of anger swelling in my chest stole all rational thought. If it’s true, then it doesn’t explain why she exists—a woman with my decay magic.
