Page 75 of Left Hand of the Divine
I instantly went on alert, pulling my scythe from the shadows. Fuck, where were the others?
How had this person got past the twins and Magnus?
“I knew you were smart,” a female voice sang. It was cold, cracked, raspy, and grated against my eardrums like sharp nails. A sign of dark magic, the kind that got you thrown out of covens.
Atticus and Erebus stepped up to my back, watching my six.
“Can you see her?” Atticus whispered in my ear.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
Where was she?
My eyes roved the buildings around the empty square, but only dark windows stared back. My fingers clenched around thehandle of my scythe, the knuckles turning white, and I could hear Erebus’ heavy breaths as he slowed his heart down, ready for battle.
“Who are you?” I shouted out, hoping to call her out into the open.
“I am many things,” she replied darkly. “But to you I’m someone you knew once.”
“I did?” What if she was someone from my past? Someone who knew me before I died? “How?”
“That’s not important right now,” she said, her voice sounding from all around the square. “What is important is that you step into that little circle of mine.”
“Oh, so you’re responsible for the toddler scribbles?” I provoked. I couldn’t help it. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way.
Atticus huffed a little laugh but didn’t say anything. However, I took it as encouragement to proceed with my antagonising line of enquiry.
“I was taught by a master,” the woman hissed. “The knowledge I possess could topple worlds. Who are you to—”
“Whatever. If you’re so high and mighty, why are you skulking in the shadows?” I stepped forwards and rested my scythe on my shoulder.
“I am not skulking,” she replied. “I’m trying to build some tension. Perhaps I should just throw some magic at you instead and behave like a buffoon.”
“At least it would be more interesting thanthis,” I sighed.
“Do you know how difficult it was to get to this point? The amount of sheer fucking planning that went into getting everyone here. I had to kill Atticus for one, then persuade Prometheus to let you destroy the Vault and—”
“You killed Atticus?” I saw red. Absolute fucking red.
Power surged in my veins in response to her words, and I wanted to throw it all at her. I wanted to make her blood boil and her eyes melt out of her damn skull.
“Yes,” she goaded. “I did. Didn’t count on Thanatos getting all possessive, though. That threw a spanner in the works.”
Atticus traced a hand down my spine. “I’m still here, kitten.”
I knew that, I did, but she was the reason he’d died, and she was standing within a few feet of me. “Why?”
“Why?” she laughed. “Because if your mate were dead, you’d be lost to the darkness.”
“Nyx,” Erebus muttered.
I turned my head sharply to him. “What?”
Erebus’ eyes moved frantically as his thoughts tumbled behind them. “I think this is all about Nyx. If you had lost your mate, you’d be thrown into a devastating grief. I think she was trying to manipulate you into a state of mind that would unlock the door to Nyx.”
The mysterious woman cackled like a witch. “Ding, ding, we have a winner. You’re not just a pretty face, are you,skiá?”
“What?” Erebus hissed. “How do you know that name?”
