Page 65 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

I glanced out of the window at the stars. It was odd for a god to disappear for months with no one else seeing him. Ivy had visited everyone she could think of, but no one had seen him.?

“Did he call to you?” Ivy asked me, drawing my attention back to her. “Maybe he was badly wounded.”?

“Even if he was, he wouldn’t need me to save him. Gods can’t die. I promise, he hasn’t tried to reach out to me.” There was something odd about all of this. I looked at Mikel, who was watching me closely. I could see something was concerning him too. ?

Ivy paced back and forth, her hand running over her face. “I know it sounds crazy, but I know Kaios; he wouldn’t leave the sea for so long.”?

“It is odd,” I agreed. “I thought it was odd when Admes brought it up, but I hoped he was wrong. We never heard anything else, so I figured he returned."

“We will ask around and see if any new information can come from it. Kaios had to be seen by someone,” Mikel said.?

Ivy relaxed slightly.?

“Thank you; everyone else thinks I’ve lost my mind, but I can feel that this is… strange.” Ivy tugged at her dress wrapped around her curvy body, barely covering anything. Her beauty always surprised me every time she visited. “There was a red lily on his doorstep.”?

I looked up at her gaze.?

“Does that mean something?” I asked.?

“They are highly poisonous and very rare. Stories tell of red lilies being left on the doorsteps of those marked for bad things. It is a bad omen and warns the victim for weeks that their time is coming. That is odd, is it not? I don’t even know where to find them, and I control nature.”?

I glanced at Mikel, who looked petrified.?

“It could mean a million different things,” he said angrily. “You are jumping to conclusions.”?

What an odd reaction. Ivy frowned at Mikel.?

“Well, tell that to the God of Superstition. When I told him of the red lily, he told me the same thing. Kaios was marked by someone, and now he is fucking missing, Mikel. That seems pretty credible to me. It isn’t just Kaios that is missing either. His mate is gone.”?

“His mate?” I asked. “When did he find them?”?

“He foundhimright before they disappeared. I asked around, and his mate disappeared the same day as him and has not been seen since. How do we explain that? This is not a coincidence.”?

Mikel’s face paled even further, and I knew something was wrong, but I would ask him about it later.?Mikel’s mind seemed to be far from here now. I could see the worry, the anger, and the confusion in his eyes. My own chest tightened at the sight of it.

“That can’t be a coincidence,” I agreed. “But what does it mean, and who is powerful enough to take a god and, not only that, keep him for months?”?

“I don’t know, but I can feel it. Something terrible is happening in the realm. I can sense it in the trees and the flowers. There is evil taking over, and it will consume everything in its path. I’ve already talked with Brim, and he is looking into it.”?

Mikel pinched his nose with irritation. What the hell was his problem?

“Very good. We will ask around and see if anyone else is missing. If we come up with anything, I will come to find you. Please, let me know if Brim finds anything out.”?

“I will.” She nodded before her green mist wrapped around her, and she disappeared. Mikel was losing his mind but trying not to let me see.?

I watched him begin pacing around the room, rubbing his neck and mumbling. He seemed to forget that I was still there, so I just waited for him to stop with his internal struggle. Finally, he glanced up at me.?

“She has to be wrong,” he said desperately. “A godsdamn flower is supposed to mean something that terrible?”?

Oh, my fucking stars.?My whole body went numb.

“You got one, didn’t you?” I stood up. “That is why you became angry at her. Mikel, what the fuck?”?

“I didn’t know.” He frowned. “I just thought it was a stupid fucking flower.”?

Panic gripped me. My brother had been marked by whatever this was. I swallowed hard and began pacing too.

“You are making my fear worse by wandering around like that.” His voice made me stop.?

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