Page 84 of Violet Legacy

“Rieka,” Dante spat out. Whatever hold Lucien had over him disappeared.

“See for yourself.” Lucien pointed to the violet flame behind him. He wiped the bloody tear from his face. “Still in one piece and breathing.”

Rieka’s cheeks were flushed, and she looked like she had been through a war zone, but Dante had never seen anyone as beautiful. She was alive, and she was angry.

From his periphery, he could see Talik and Khalida awakening. And the serpopards. The cavern started to fill with the cries of the animals and the wayfarers. They were outnumbered, but all he could focus on was Rieka. He wanted to drag her into his arms and never let go. A shadow appeared just out of his reach, its form taking a familiar shape. Idris. Except there was nothing left of the Atlantean of his childhood. Just a shell who had traded his life for something far more sinister.

Idris turned to face him, a mocking smile plastered on his face as he looked between Dante, Rieka, and Lucien. “I assume he is the figment of your imagination,” Idris chuckled as he nodded toward Lucien. “Three is better for the game.”

Chapter 53

“Nofuckinggames.”Riekawas done playing the pawn.

She forcefully patted herself down as she made sure some part of her hadn’t disappeared during the teleportation. Or whatever the hell she had just gone through. It had been brutal—as if she had been flayed alive while every cell in her body had simultaneously been pulled apart, stretched into nothingness, and then excruciatingly reconfigured. As far as she could tell, she wasn’t missing any vital organs. Although her bruises had bruises.

Too bad it hadn’t detached the bracelet. It continued to pulse with a life of its own. The cacophony of voices that had been blessedly silent decided to come back in full force.

Rieka surveyed her surroundings; she was encircled by a fire. It flickered from opaque to translucent around her, the edges a faint gold-red before it changed back to violet. The flame flickered again; she reached out to touch it, but it skirted away. Rieka licked her dry lips, tasting the metallic taste of her blood. Just outside of fire, she could make out the edge of the island they were standing on. She was done playing Alice.

“Rieka.”

She glanced at Dante. He stood alone on the bridge as he stared back at her. He didn’t move, but his gaze burned straight through her. The world around her stopped. It was a goddamn cliché, but she didn’t care. A small kernel of hope threatened to overwhelm her, but she pushed it down. Hoping for the impossible was too dangerous. It would get her killed in this world. In the end, they had gotten what they both wanted. The tomb.

Too bad her stupid heart had to get involved. Always the second choice. She stood shaking as she straightened, every bone aching as she stared at the black marble. The tomb had been found, and she had fulfilled Lilian’s dream.

They had found Vandana’s tomb. After decades of looking for it, she should have been elated. But all she had was an emptiness that ran through her and bone-weary tiredness. She’d never realized how alone she had been until now.

“You are bleeding.” Dante softly stated.

Rieka touched her nose, her fingers sticky. Just what she needed: a bloody nose.

“You did not inherit any of Lilian’s abilities?” Lucien asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He didn’t wait for an answer. “You bleed like a human.”

It sounded like an insult. She had been telling everyone that she was human. She wasn’t some lost key. Or special because a quirk of fate had made her a direct descendant of Vandana. They could all keep theirchosen oneideal as far as possible from her. All she had accomplished, if she believed Lucien, was waking the old gods and damning them all.

“I see the Anki are still up to their old tricks.” Lucien tilted his head, closing his eyes for a second before snapping them open. A sardonic smile etched on the edges of his lips as he studied Idris. “Ninhursag’s work, no doubt.”

Idris snarled. Rieka looked between the two of them. That answered the question if Lucien and Idris were working together. Maybe not, Lucien was antagonistic to everyone…

Dante hadn’t moved, a stoic expression on his face. Except for his eyes—they appeared brighter than she had ever seen them. Neon green. “Let Rieka go.”

Lucien clicked his fingers, drawing everyone’s attention. “Do you know how to kill the Anki?”

What game was Lucien playing?

“They cannot be killed,” Idris hissed as he stepped into the light, his eyes bloodshot, his cheekbones sunken. Rieka looked closely. Under his skin was a faint yellow, almost sallow, glow. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it aged him.

Lucien ignored the outburst. “Kill the O’hurani. The Anki, and all those who carry the bloodline, will cease to exist. They all become the stardust that first breathed life into them.”

Rieka shifted. The flame mimicked her movement, giving her more space as she moved closer to the marble coffin. In the distance, the echoes of serpopards sounded, their talons unnaturally clinging to the rocky walls and ceilings. The heavy breathing of the human and Atlantean wayfarers tinged the silence. She ignored it all, never taking her gaze off the coffin.

“This is not new information,” Dante said.

Lucien chuckled. The sound was unnerving; it drew her attention back to the three of them. “There will be blood.”

DantewarilywatchedLucien.Idris was unpredictable, but Lucien was by far the most dangerous being in the cavern. Something was not right with Lucien. He continued to change his persona as if he was cycling through pre-determined personalities and switching them to suit his audience. As if Lucien was trying to understand what reality was and what was in his mind.

“What do you want?” Dante asked, his gaze never leaving Rieka’s. The serpopards continued to move; they grouped up as mated pairs before creating larger herds with as many as five pairs to a group. Their guttural cries and snakelike hissing rose in a crescendo, echoing off the walls until it was painful. The wayfarers scrambled down the walls, some falling to their deaths. They were surrounded. Even if the immortals appeared, they would be hard pressed to walk out of here alive. It didn’t matter. He was willing to side with the O’hurani if Rieka was guaranteed safe passage.

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