Page 60 of Another Damned Storm
“We’re not sure. When you’ve lived as long as we have, taking a few years to yourself isn’t that unusual, but there is protocol. He should have notified one of us, and he didn’t. All we know for certain is that he has not been seen nor heard from in close to five years.”
Lily flicked the tip of her canine with her tongue, and her eyes took on an animalistic shine I knew all too well. “There’s that five-year mark again.”
His brow pulled down. “What does that mean?”
“A lot of things in the human realm started changing five years ago,” I said. The storms, the demons, and a member of the Brethren went missing. That was one too many coincidences to write off as happenstance.
“What about your realm?” he asked.
“The oddities have been escalating since I pulled Never back from the Alius,” I admitted. “Which occurred mere hours after we left you and Theloneus in that clearing with Lily and Matt.”
“Twenty-six years ago,” Lily said quietly.
“For us,” I motioned between Never and myself, “that was a few months ago.”
His responding huff smacked of irritation. “I would love to know why the fates have allowed the flow of time to become so convoluted. In the beginning, before humans existed in their current forms, the realms were in sync. All this time slippage nonsense makes me wonder what the hell they’re up to.”
And just like that, another puzzle piece fell into place. I knew the fates shared the responsibility of maintaining the so-called fabric of life. If they also controlled the flow of time, that would mean one of them was behind the enormous gap we stumbled upon in returning to Never’s realm.
“They want to take me out, right?” Never asked, clearly tumbling down her own rabbit hole. “But they can’t force me back to the Alius like they would with a regular resurrected human. What if, instead of me causing all the problems, this is all their doing somehow? I’m an abomination. Fine. Whatever. And I know Nerebis told you this has happened before, but what if it hasn’t? At least, not the way he implied.
“Dragging a human back from the afterlife and turning them into a god is one thing. But I’m rocking some serious demon heritage, apparently. What if they don’t actually know what will happen? What if they’re fucking things up andplaying on my conscience to keep me in line so they don’t have to find out?”
For all the defiance in her voice, if that was their play, it was working. Before I’d closed the door between us, I hadn’t missed the guilt she was trying to keep buried. It had been eating away at her since she’d first started to suspect the problems in the Nassa might be related to her.
I nodded, then shook my head. “I see what you’re saying, but the fates can only manipulate certain things. They can shift weather patterns over time, but they can’t conjure storms out of the blue or summon demons from one realm to another on their own. Think of what they do as steering a very big ship. It takes time to change course.”
But if they also controlled time…
“Can they work with others? Or facilitate meetings to speed things along?” Lily asked. “Say, between a powerful demon and a disgruntled god?”
Silence followed her questions. If one of the fates was moving pieces on a chessboard in order to rein Never in, when there was no proof that she would ever become a real threat, that alone was a big accusation. Then add in Thrain and LaPalme.
The old god was frustrated because he’d fallen into obscurity.
The demon was furious because his own brothers had cast him out.
All they would have to do was cross paths.
The fates could be using them without them even knowing it.
“How did Theloneus feel about the vote to banish LaPalme?” I asked.
Emerson frowned. “He was the one who suggested it.”
Probably making him enemy number one in LaPalme’s eyes. “Could LaPalme have done something to Theloneus?”
He shook his head. “Theloneus has always been one of our most powerful. If it came to a fight between the two of us, I might be able to take him down on my own, but it would be close. LaPalme wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“You can die?” Never asked, perking up.
“Lesser demons, yes. We can destroy them, though we try to avoid that outcome when we can. A full-blooded primordial is a different story.”
“So, when you say you could take him down?”
“I mean incapacitate.” Emerson balled his hands into fists in front of him and squeezed until his knuckles popped audibly. “Which doesn’t matter in any case. We’ve been looking into Theloneus’s disappearance for five years, and the only solid lead we have points elsewhere.”
Never arched a brow. “And that would be?”
