Page 54 of Kiss of Death
“I need to speak to him now. It’s important.”
When she heard me say that, she stepped aside and let me enter their chambers.
My father had been standing in the sitting room, shirtless because he didn’t expect my company. The wound on his shoulder wasn’t covered with a bandage, but the platinum residue that remained glued to his skin. The color had faded, turning into storm-cloud gray.
I wasn’t sure if he would have it forever, or if it would fade entirely.
His arms had been crossed over his chest, but he dropped them and moved around the couch. “Lily, what’s wrong?” He dropped all animosity when he saw me there in my armor and sword, reading the despair on my face. “What’s happened?”
“The kingdom is safe, and so am I,” I said quickly to reassure his anxiety. “But I need your help.”
His eyes hardened before they narrowed.
“I returned to the dead island?—”
“You did what?”
“Listen to me,” I snapped. “Listen to my words before you cut them down. Let me talk. If you have any respect for me, you will listen to the message I’m trying to convey to you. I need your help right now, and there’s no one else who can help me but you.”
He inhaled a breath so deep it seemed like his lungs would explode, but he honored my request and remained quiet.
“Wrath is no longer the god of the underworld. He’s been replaced by a demon named Leviathan.”
My father was red in the face. Beet red. Like he wanted to scream, but he didn’t.
“Wrath was stripped of his title and turned into an eater, something that makes him physically sick. It’s his punishment for breaking his vow and interfering on my behalf in ways he shouldn’t have. Leviathan said I could free him from his prison if I offered my soul instead of his?—”
“Lily, please don’t tell me?—”
“I didn’t. Wrath would never want me to do that.”
The breath of relief he exhaled deflated his lungs, and he dragged his hand across his jaw absent-mindedly.
“But this is irrefutable proof for you that what I told you about Wrath is true. My soul has not been claimed, nor is it owed as a debt. If that were true, then Leviathan couldn’t have offered me a deal. The reason I still have Wrath’s strength is because he chose to let me keep it.”
My father continued to stare at me with impatience, like he wanted me to finish so he could speak.
“So I need you to help me get him out of there.”
His eyebrows rose when I finally made my point. “Get him out of there? That’s not something that can be done, Lily.”
“You escaped.”
“Because Riviana opened up the portal between the realms and risked the mortal world—something she shouldn’t have done. She should have left me there. I would have preferred it than to risk my wife and Viv?—”
My eyes narrowed at his mistake.
He brushed over it like nothing happened. “It was the wrong decision.”
“How could that be the wrong decision when we stand together this very moment, Dad?”
His eyes softened and showed hurt at the same time. “That’s not what I meant—and you know it. I just mean that interfering between the realms is dangerous. And even if I could get Riviana to agree—which she won’t—the Covenant will be prepared for it. They failed once, but they won’t fail again. The second that veil is pierced, they will swallow this world whole. And if Wrath didn’t want you to sacrifice your soul for his, he wouldn’t want you to risk your mortality and that of everyone you love for him either.”
“Dad, I’m not going to stop until I at least try.”
“Riviana won’t do it.”
“She’ll do it—for you.”
