Page 2 of Kiss of Death
“You have no way to contact him?”
I shook my head.
“Then it sounds like we have to keep waiting.”
I remembered the dead island out in the sea, the trees withered and decayed from the forces of death beneath the ground. I’d provoked his presence just by being there, so I knew that was the equivalent of knocking on someone’s door. “I can contact him on that island.”
“That’s a long way away.”
“I know, but I’m certain that would work.”
“With war approaching our doorstep, we can’t afford to have you and Zehemoth that far away. You’re the queen, Lily. Your responsibility is to lead the Southern Isles now.”
The stress of Wrath’s absence started to eat me alive. I needed to know he was okay, that he was just busy with his duties as a god. He knew how terrified I was that he would leave me and never return. I’d made him promise to tell me if there would be a last time. “I’m worried about him.”
“Even if you get to the island and he doesn’t appear, what can you do about it?”
“I—I don’t know.” I was a powerful queen with the blood of Rothschilds in my veins and a horde of dragons loyal to me, butin the underworld, I was worthless. I didn’t have the power to travel there on my own, and even if I made it there…what would I do?
“You have to focus on the Southern Isles—and hope he comes back.”
My chin dropped, and I stared at my joined hands in my lap, my throat tight from the longing and fear. He’d been at my side every step of this journey. Protected me from the Barbarians in many ways and on many occasions. I wasn’t sure if I could do this without him, the eyes in the back of my head, the god who could move me from one point to the next instantaneously. And I wasn’t sure if I could do this without his unwavering belief in me. “What happened…when he came to you?” I lifted my eyes to look at my brother.
He stared at the coffeepot, sunken and tired in the chair like he hadn’t slept a wink last night. He gave a quiet sigh before he straightened in the chair, his forearms moving to his knees. “He wanted to assuage my fears. Noticed the way I continued to question you about his agenda…over and over.”
“And he reassured you?”
He gave a dark chuckle. “Basically recited an epic poem about his undying love for you.”
The next breath I took hurt on the way in…and the way out.
“That there was no sacrifice he wouldn’t make for you, even to his own detriment. Someone might assume it was a ploy to gain my cooperation, but I don’t believe he could say all those things and not mean them.”
“He hadn’t even told me he loved me yet.”
“Seems like he’s loved you a long time, Lily.”
“Yeah…the feeling is mutual.”
He looked at me again. “We have more important matters to worry about and a conversation like this makes me inherently uncomfortable, but you must know this relationship can’t go anywhere, right?”
I stared at the coffeepot again.
“He’s dead…you’re alive. It just won’t work, Lily.”
“I’ll find a way,” I said simply.
Hawk stared at me with that hard look, like he wanted to say more but chose to let it lie. “I don’t think he would leave you willingly. So he’s either busy…or maybe something out of his control happened.”
“I don’t think I can do this without him, Hawk,” I admitted with a painful breath.
“You can, Lily.”
“You don’t understand. He’s been the eyes in the back of my head, taken me from one place to another in a flash, reported the events of battles, relayed the weak spots of my enemies, even revealed himself to save me. He’s been the one keeping me alive this entire time.” I felt like a fraud—not a heroic queen of the Southern Isles, but someone who took advantage of the powers of a god.
“He may have helped you, but he also taught you, Lily. If he doesn’t return, use everything you’ve learned to prevail. Do you still have the powers he gifted to you?”
The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d been too distraught by his absence to care about the gifts he’d shared with me. I looked down at my hand and tightened my fingers into a gentle fist, feeling how effortless it was. “Yes.”
