Page 52 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood

The temple is vast. So large, I’d imagine every dragon in Tirene could easily fit. The facets of the chipped stone blocks used to create the structure seem to repel the light.

Approaching the temple, I am acutely aware of my white attire, a stark contrast to the surrounding darkness. Pulling the veil from my head, I leave it on the ground. It feels almost sacrilegious to wear such a thing inside to address the darkness herself.

We approach the threshold, stopping in front of the box mounted by the door. Lifting the lid, I find it filled with black coal dust. Releasing a sigh of relief, I press my hand inside the box, covering it in black. Not only are our gods the same in Tirene and Aclaris, but so are our customs regarding them.

I step back to allow Sterling to gather his while I brush my blackened thumb over my eyelids to honor the goddess, as is expected when approaching during the day or when it’s not possible to wear all black.

With measured movements, Sterling and I smudge the darkness upon our foreheads and lips, to not just “see” the dark but to “know” it and “be heard” by it. Refreshing the coal on my hands, I brush my ears as well, showing my need to “hear” from the darkness.

It’s akin to donning a new identity, one that belongs in this shadowy realm.

Raising an eyebrow in silent question, Sterling places his hand on the door. After I nod, he pulls it open for us.

I take his hand, needing the warmth and strength of his touch.

His eyes meet mine, so soft and understanding.

For a hot second, I toy with the idea of running back to the palace, to his room. No. Better yet. Running into the forest. Hiding in the trees, curling up in Sterling’s arms, and getting so lost in each other’s bodies that nothing else in the world matters.

Just fantasizing about it has my pulse speeding up. Sterling pauses. The heat in his gaze nearly burns me, and I have no doubt he’d be more than happy to indulge my whims.

He leans in, lips brushing my ear. “Keep looking at me like that, and we’re going to be naked in about thirty seconds. Something tells me the goddess wouldn’t be too thrilled if we desecrated her temple. So unless you want her to hear you screaming my name as you come on my?—”

I clamp my hand across his mouth before he can say anything else.

I’m here to talk to the goddess. Or at least one of her priests or priestesses. Not to get my rocks off to forget my problems.

What is he anyway, a freaking mind reader? And what the actual fuck is wrong with me? With both of us?

Setting aside that thought for later, I lower my hand. “Behave. I mean it.”

His lips tilt up in a sexy smirk, but he stays silent.

We step into an antechamber barely large enough to fit us both. He pulls the outside door closed behind us, bathing us in the darkness. The door is tightly fitted to keep the world of light outside this sacred place. Roaring silence fills my ears, courtesy of the thick, soundproof walls.

Reaching forward blindly, I find the second handle. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Sterling shifts beside me, his fingers wrapping around mine.

Pushing in the door, we step into the temple.

It always strikes me as slightly strange that the darkest part of the temple is the antechamber and not the temple itself. In contrast, the interior of the temple glows faintly, illuminated by a single candle that flickers and dances on its short wick. Though the entire structure is massive, this room alone feels as though it might be cavernous.

A cool breeze blows as if from the depths of the earth, chasing the light around the room. Rejecting it. The altar sits close to the door so those who aren’t acolytes to the dark might easily find it, but light is otherwise unwelcome in the temple.

A voice echoes through the chamber, emanating from the shadows on the other side of the candle-lit altar. “You’ve come seeking answers, young one.”

A figure draped in robes as dark as the night sky emerges from the black void. Her obscured features blend into the shadows as she glides over to me.

It doesn’t escape my notice that she is nearly the exact opposite of me in attire. Head to toe, she is swathed in black, including a veil that covers her face.

I shift my weight. “Please pardon the white. I mean no disrespect.”

The priestess laughs. “You’ve just come from a funeral. It is to be expected. Where no offense is meant, none is taken. All colors lose their meaning in the dark, regardless. What troubles your mind so strongly it brings you directly from Peru’s ritual to Nyc?”

“I lost my father before I knew his name.” The words rush out of me as a knot of emotion forms in my throat. “How will I find him in the next world?”

Sterling jerks, turning to stare at me. All traces of his earlier teasing are gone.

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