Page 111 of The Bones of the Cursed

The matriarch leads, wearing a black gown. The rest of the coven enters, forming a semi-circle around Alanis, just as they did around the temple. When they link hands, their power surges. My body aches, my dragon trying desperately to escape, but my Fae form is too mentally and physically exhausted to shift.

My father enters with Viros and Elion, the latter looking completely wrecked from the loss of Leena and his sister. I thought his screams for the Banshee were gut-wrenching, but his silent horror as Alanis left this earth shook me to my core.

When Viros steps into the circle, my father, mother, and Elion stand against the back wall. Viros lays a hand on Alanis’s head, muttering words under his breath.

“Isn’t it enough that you took part in her death?” I stand up, ready to fight the God with my bare hands.

His angry gaze latches on my own. “Do you think it was easy watching my daughter’s soul leave this world? The daughter I have had to watch grow up from a distance? There was no other way.”

I hear a gasp, my eyes falling on the matriarch. “You’re her father?”

Viros sends a scathing look her way. I must say I take great joy from seeing the matriarch’s discomfort.

A light flashes, and Caselia, Ryta, and Ames appear in the empty space on the other side of Alanis’s body. The tensionin the room is palpable. It grows worse when we see Caselia holding a jar.

“What is going on?” I snap, my patience nonexistent.

Viros clears his throat. “The prophecy has been fulfilled. Alanis’s sacrifice unlocked her full powers. She has weakened Iclas by fulfilling her end of the prophecy. Now he can be defeated to cleanse the world of evil.”

“You mean the evil that the Hell Gods helped run free,” I spit out.

Ames looks at me, but I will not cower in fear. “We had no intentions of letting Iclas become this powerful. We play and stir up chaos, but never to the point of damning the world. We keep everything in balance. Good and Evil. Both must exist. Iclas made sacrifices, which we accepted, and then gifted him certain things. The ability to leave the Isle, but only for short lengths of time. Immortality. He feeds on blood. He took it further by dabbling in dark magic. He has become a being that should not exist, and it is time for that wrong to be righted. He is at his weakest.”

I grunt. “Obviously.”

The God of Hell tilts his head at me with narrowed eyes.

“You still haven’t explained what the hell you’re doing here,” I snap. “We are mourning our mate and want to be left in peace.”

My father growls from the corner. “No, you want to be left alone so you can join her in the afterlife. Don’t forget who I am, boy. My powers sense it. I read it in every emotion that passed by in her final moments.”

My mother gasps, her chest heaving with each breath she tries to take.

Caselia offers the jar. “These are the ashes of the Banshee.”

Elion jolts, the first sign of life from him since Alanis left this world. “Give me those.” He tries to snatch them, but the Goddess easily sidesteps him.

“Alanis took a risk in setting her free. Burning the bones of the cursed is no easy task. The curse set upon them tends to roam, trying to latch onto the closest living thing. Luckily for Alanis, she already had a curse placed upon her.”

I glance at the matriarch, thinking of the words she used to describe what shielded Alanis’s mind. “What curse?”

Ames shakes his head. “From what I could tell when my power linked with hers, it was placed after the prophecy. This curse is something newer.”

“Who would have placed a curse on her? She lived in a realm that banned that type of magic,” Elion says, worry coating his words.

Everyone’s eyes turn towards the matriarch, who raises her hands in defense. “I would not curse my own flesh and blood. No matter what you think of me.”

“Caselia brought the Banshee’s ashes—”

Elion cuts off Ames. “Her name was Leena.”

Ames actually looks apologetic. “I’m sorry. Caselia has brought Leena’s ashes. Seeing as when Alanis freed her soul, her body became one with the land, Viros is able to bring her back. Alanis asked her father for this favor before she died.”

Elion’s breath stutters from him. “Why would she do that?”

Viros smiles. “Your sister loves you dearly. She came to me with questions pertaining to Banshees. She wanted to make sure you didn’t lose both her and the woman you love. In her last moments with me, as I stepped up to her, she asked me to bring her back for you.”

“Leena could also have information that may help us finish this,” Ames says.

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