Page 77 of Winds of Destiny

“Very good,” he murmurs fondly, then moves on to the next one.

I refuse to look away. These people killed my men and made Cam’s life hell in service to their mad king, and a part of me I can’t ignore wants to see them suffer.

By the time the fifth is dead or dying, the air has taken on the sharp smell of iron…

And the altar has begun to hum.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Turo

Embros’s men die one by one, and all Cam and I can do is watch the bloodbath from where we’re hidden, farther back in the temple. If I had my bow, now would be the perfect time to shoot Embros in the back.

Of course I don’t have it.

Of courseit can’t be that simple.

“We can’t rush in,” Cam cautioned me when he first saw Embros’s eyes light up. “He won’t hesitate in killing us, too.”

Now, minutes later and with the altar making a disturbinglyhungrysound, I’m worried less and less about myself and more and more about Kai. If Embros tries to kill him…

“I have to get closer.”

Cam holds me back, his eyes distant. “Wait…do you hear that?”

“Hear what, the altar? It’s all Icanhear.”

The sound is pervasive in a way I’ve never experienced before, beyond even what I’ve felt when I’ve been submerged in the ocean. The hum seems to touch my bones, coaxing them to vibrate along with it. It makes my lungs ache and my heart hurt and I want it to stop.

I can only imagine how it feels to Kai, stuck so close to the source of it.

“No, not the altar. Look!” He points up, and a second later, one of the crystal ceiling panes explodes into tiny fragments that rain to the floor, reflecting the multicolored columns like a shower of rainbows. They narrowly miss Embros, Kai, and Dian.

A moment after, I hear what Cam must have been referring to, the steadybeat-beat-beatof massive wings as a lion, as golden as the morning sun, with eyes that shine like stars and a wingspan twice the length of its body, descends to the altar.

Dian runs to Laigha immediately, arms extended, but stops short as a vicious hiss fills the air.

Antasa’s god is collared, literally and figuratively. Wrapped tightly around his neck is a huge, sand-colored cobra with bright green eyes. As Dian gets too close for comfort, the cobra flares his hood and snaps at her. She falters and steps back.

Embros laughs. “Now you see, Prince Eleas, hmm?” he says. “You see how I secured my wife’s loyalty. Her god has been joined to mine for years. She doesn’t dare play me false, for one misstep from her means death for her god and the lessening of her people.”

“You truly are cruel on a level that I’ve never seen before,” Kai says flatly. “No wonder my father likes you.”

“Your father is nothing but an easy mark to guide,” Embros replies. “Ambitious enough to turn and useless enough to keep around so that I’m never challenged. Small wonder he gave you to me, hmm?” He dismisses Kai and looks at the entwined gods. “Shevara, you’ve done well. Escort Laigha to the altar, but do not enter with him.”

“Let me hold him one last time,” Dian begs, her arms outstretched toward her god. The lion, wings ruffling and trembling, clearly wants to go to her, but it doesn’t move. “Please, you said you would give me time with him before the end.”

“I have given you time to see him again, and that’s all you need.” Embros claps his hands, and Shevara squeezes Laigha’s neck tightly, making him cough. “Get him onto the altar.”

“No, please, please…” Dian stays just far enough away to avoid getting bitten, reaching desperately toward her god. I’m no fan of hers, but even I can’t be unmoved when a mere brush of Laigha’s wing across her face makes her sob hard enough to bend in half.

Just before the lion steps up onto the altar, the snake god drops from its neck. The lion turns with a roar, ready to fight, but one of its paws touches the altar as it does so. A second later, a bright red light appears on each of the altar’s three sides, and the lion is sucked into the center of them. It roars, but the sound is inaudible now.

Dian runs to the altar and beats her fists against it, screaming, but it doesn’t give. They’re cut off from each other. She’s consumed by grief,and the moment of distraction costs her.

Shevara wraps his long, thick tail around Dian’s torso and jerks her away, throwing her hard enough that she hits the stone with athudand doesn’t move again.

“You’re so wicked sometimes,” Embros tells his god with a smile. Shevara rears and flares his hood proudly. “And you’ve done so well. Now.” He turns to Kai. “It’s time, Prince Eleas, for you to doyourpart. Summon Carnuatu and let him take his place as one third of the chimera reborn.”

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