Page 5 of Left Hand of the Divine
I pushed the buttons in what I hoped was the constellation of Centaurus since it was a centaur who supposedly slayed theLupus. Fuck knows how I actually knew that, but I’d worry about it later. It seemed like there was a never-ending list of things I was going to have to worry about later.
As soon as I pressed the final button, the sounds of large metal gears started to grind, and the door started to move.
“I did it!” I shouted to the others, but they didn’t hear me. They were all too busy fighting the Lycaon. I dove forward, reaching for Atticus as he narrowly missed one of the Lycaon taking a chunk out of his arm. Bloody hell, these wolves were huge.
“Thanks,” he gasped as he gripped my forearm.
“Don’t mention it,” I replied, refusing to take my eyes off the hulking beast. It snapped its jaws at me, saliva flinging from its fangs. I wrapped my fingers tighter around the handle of my scythe and prepared myself to attack.
I held the beast’s gaze. Its milky white eyes are boring into mine with a level of intelligence beyond my expectation. It was like he wasseeingme and assessing me, but why? Why wouldn’t he just attack me like he had the others?
The Lycaon took a step forward, and Atticus made to attack, but I held my arm out, blocking him.
“Roux?” He sounded panicked. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know… but I don’t think it wants to attack me.” I lowered my scythe and moved closer to the beast. The sounds of the others faded into the background as I closed the gap between me and the wolf.
He really was huge. His head was six feet off the ground with eyes that glowed like full moons in an empty sky.Blood matted his white fur, and this close, I could see a shimmer running through it. He was a beautiful creature. Scary as fuck, but beautiful.
The wolf huffed a breath through his snout, a low growl reverberating from somewhere in his chest. I had the sudden urge to sink my fingers deep into his white coat. I extended my hand toward the beast and ghosted my fingers along his jaw.
The Lycaon’s gaze softened as he nuzzled into my touch, and holy fuck. I was touching the ridiculously huge wolf. With my hands. Well, my skeletal Reaper hands, but still.
Magic hummed through his skin like a living, breathing thing. Powerful and ancient. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled withsomething.There went that sense of familiarity bubbling through my mind again. I didn’t care what Thane said; when I was getting out of here, I was going to find Mnemosyne.
Suddenly, coldness began to unfurl behind my solar plexus, extending through my torso and down my limbs. The wolf whimpered beneath my touch and pulled away before turning around and disappearing back into the darkness.
Shit.That couldn’t be good.
Something dark wrapped itself around my magic. The same darkness that I felt when dealing with the steel Minotaur in Prometheus’ lair. It seeped into my bones, chilling me from the inside out. As the coldness grew, my magic faded and my Reaper form disappeared.
“Roux?”
I screamed out as the pain of a thousand knives cut across my bones, carving against them with an icy touch.
“Roux!”
I couldn’t make out who was calling my name as the pain twisted in my gut, making me feel like I was being sliced open and someone was pulling my insides out. My knees crumbled and I dropped to the floor. There was so much pain.
Hands grabbed my cheeks, and Atticus’s face swam in front of my eyes. “Roux.”
“It hurts,” I whimpered.
The words of the Fates circled around my mind as black spots danced at the edges of my vision.
“There is a darkness in you that is darker than the night… when the door of secrets opens, he will find you.”
Was this what the Fates meant?
A sharp pain exploded behind my temple, and I fisted my hands in Atticus’ shirt.
A deep voice reverberated around my skull. “It’s time.”
Then the darkness swallowed me whole.
Chapter Two
Atticus
