Page 114 of In the Ravenous Dark
He tosses her body on the ground, shattered, like mine. The only difference is hers is unseeing. Her peplos is like spilled wine around her, and those dark, beautiful eyes stare sightlessly across the floor at me. Her limp hand, freed of its binds, almost looks like it’s reaching for me. But the stretch of black marble between us may as well be an ocean.
Or the divide between worlds.
Kadreus turns to me, flipping the stake in his hand, but I don’t even bother looking up. All I can see is her. If this is my end, I want her to be the last thing I see in the living realm.
… And yet, I can’t help noticing the lumpy, wet shape on the floor right over her shoulder.
Kadreus’s heart.
I don’t have a stake, but I have something like it.Twothings.
Move, move, move. The simple sigil I know better than any other. The one I can sketch without lifting a finger.
Kadreus is too focused on me and my imminent second death to see what comes flying toward me. My ruined hands meet his heart and slam it numbly to my lips, crushing it to my open mouth. My teeth sharpen, stretch… and stab as deep as they can into the slippery muscle.
Teeth.Bone. Close enough to stakes.
Blood squirts into my mouth as I bite and suck. I squeeze his heart like a sponge in newly healed hands, tearing into it with renewed vigor. It feels so good, more intoxicating and potent than any blood I’ve had before. I barely hear Kadreus gasp. Then he screams as he falls to his knees.
He keeps screaming. My teeth aren’t long enough, I suppose, to pierceallthe way to the other side. But I’m working my way through it like a juicy slab of meat.
My visions clears, my senses sharpen. Over the delicious meal pressed to my face and Kadreus’s shrieks, I realize I don’t see blurring shadows or hear any more fighting. And then I see Ivrilos stalk up behind his brother. He’s limping, but that doesn’t stop him from looking like the deadliest creature I’ve ever seen. He leans over Kadreus’s shoulder, and his dark eyes meet mine.
He asks, “Mind if I share?”
I nod without stopping my own feast, blood running down my arms and soaking into my skin.
Ivrilos kisses his brother on the cheek. The screams stop. Kadreus’s red eyes roll back into his head until I can only see white. Ivrilos must be catching his essence as it tries to escape to the underworld.
Once I reach the center of the heart, I know it’s a useless, drained thing. I elongate my nails and tear the rest of the way into it, and then I burn it to ash.
By the time Ivrilos and I both straighten, Kadreus’s corpse is turning to ash just like his heart. I’m entirely healed and fully satiated on such rich blood. Ivrilos is as dark as an inkblot, no more cuts on his arms or legs or exhaustion in his face.
We’ve done it.
My eyes find Lydea’s sprawled body.But at what cost?
First Japha. Now Lydea. I can’t fathom it.
And where is Athanatos?
“He left,” Ivrilos says, as if hearing my question aloud. “He returned to his dark city. And yet it’s unstable. I can feel it. Everything wants to fall apart, drift away after being leashed together for so long. But it’s still holding. Thebridgeis still holding.”
“I know,” I say. “Kadreus told me. The only way to fully sever the connection between worlds is down there. The second anchor point.”
Ivrilos nods. “And that’s where my father is.” He glances down at Lydea. “Rovan, I’m so sorry.” His voice very nearly breaks. “Words are inadequate.”
I only nod. Because, yes.
I don’t cry or scream. I feel the urge to do those things like a distant pain. Even if I’m healed, my heart is still broken and dead. Or maybe I’m just numb, and this won’t last. Maybe I’m going to truly fall apart.
Which means we need to move fast.
It’s just then that the tall outer doors to the king’s apartments slam open, and a whole crowd floods into the entry room: Alldan, Tumarq, Penelope, Crisea, and even Bethea. They’re flanked by too many soldiers to count, quite a few of them spattered in blood.
Though not evencloseto as much blood as I’m covered in. It’s dripping down my chin, my arms, and the front of my tunic.
To them, I look like the only one left standing. Ivrilos is invisible. Every weapon in their group bristles, especially once they see Lydea sprawled on the marble floor.
