Page 474 of Kingdoms of Night

“Not entirely, my father was a mortal king of land now part of your empire.” He sighed. “Divinity doesn’t protect you from the fury of other gods. We can curse, brutalize, maim and even kill one another, and I will be experiencing each in order unless you prove otherwise.”

What was I supposed to say to that? It was a great enough leap to be on the inhabited surface of the Moon, and discover the monster I was sent to rid us of was the being in charge of its phases. Now I had to learn that, not only were gods susceptible to what mortals subjected each other to, but I was expected to help?

“How am I supposed to do that?”

Tamuz approached, making me press further back against the door so the grooves of its engravings dug into my flesh. “Rid me of the curse keeping me trapped in darkness.”

“But how?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to understand. The conditions I was given were purposefully vague.” He was too close now, bending halfway to meet my face, the low thrum of his voice rumbling in my bones. “As the months drag on, I am beginning to feel that it is hopeless and I am set up to fail.”

“Is that possible?” I shuddered, giving into the temptation to look directly at him, searching past the eye-holes of his mask. There was nothing beyond the sharp angles of silver, an unsettling prospect. “Can’t all curses be broken like any enchantment?”

“You’d think so, but I’m beginning to believe otherwise.”

Whiplash tackled me off my feet, making my knees buckle.

Tamuz caught me before I hit the floor, holding me up with his large hands under my arms. “What is it?”

Exhaustion had gotten the better of me, escaping in thin, wheezing laughter like the squeal of a steaming kettle. “I must be dreaming. I was attacked by a demon in the woods and am lying, bleeding out and overcome with delirium. That’s the only way any of this makes any sense.”

“Perhaps this discussion wasn’t the best course of action.” He set me on my feet facing the room, urging me past the opening door and into a spacious, circular room. “Rest, for we’ll have much to discuss after.”

I still couldn’t believe any of this. There had to be an ugly catch waiting to snap its jaws on my leg and drag me into the depths. “You’re lying. You must be.”

“To what end?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that this can’t be the truth!”

Tamuz let out a low groan, coating me in firm gooseflesh. “What do I need to do to prove it to you?”

There laid the issue. I couldn’t guess what he would be lying about.

“May I see your face?”

“Only if you show me yours,” I said without thinking. “I can’t give you an answer unless I know what I have married.”

“I told you who I was, and that is all I can do because this—” He gestured to his form. “—is all I can show you.”

“You can’t take off the mask?”

“I can’t have you see what remains of me before you truly desire it, otherwise I destroy my one chance at freedom.” He reached for my veil, rubbing the sheer material between his fingertips. “If my unveiling were as simple as yours, I would meet your eyes, because none but you have withstood this form this long.”

I had no words. I just stood there, staring at him with my thoughts lagging.

The sky above had turned the grey-green of winter seawater, and he retreated with an echoing hiss. “I must go before the sunlight grows too strong.” He left me with a curt nod. “I’ll return for you later.”

The door opened behind me, and I fell in with a yelp. When I sat back up, all I saw was my reflection on the smooth side.

Scrambling up, I threw off the veil with a gasp. The material may have been sheer enough for me to see, but it had dulled my view, and the symbolic weight of it was heavier than I could handle any longer.

The room was made from the same opalescent stone as outside, centered by a circular bed dressed in gleaming, deep-blue silks and a thick, velvet, bronze quilt that called to my heavy limbs. There were two opposing doors in the sides, one that led to a lavatory decked in a similar patterned tile to the floors below, and the other to a balcony.

Temptation urged me towards the latter, but the extreme height it hung from had me gripping the edge of the handrail. I forced myself to look up instead, and the otherworldly dawn washing out the sparkling stars caught my breath.

How long I stood there, it was anyone’s guess. What wasn’t was what Tamuz had shared with me, the reason those below had been robbed of this nighttime glory stemming from a curse. His curse. Not cast by him as we’d believed, but upon him, and the cure was for one of his brides to have come forward willingly, ready to…to…

From what he’d said, those in power who’d negotiated with him hadn’t followed his instructions, delivering unwilling or unprepared prospective brides, and myself. Did Nabonassar know who the Shadow King was when he sent me off to assassinate him?

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