Page 59 of Kiss of Death
I nodded. “Yes.”
She continued to stare at me, like she wanted more from me before she intervened, but she didn’t pry.
So I told her the truth, told her my version of the tale, so she’d have both sides when my father shared his perspective. It took time I didn’t want to expend, nearly twenty minutes, but she deserved to know if she would grant me this favor.
“Now you seek to save him from the underworld?”
“Yes—and I won’t stop until I’ve done everything I can.”
“Did he ask you to save him?”
“No. If it were up to him, he’d want me to move on.”
“And that’s not an option for you?”
I shook my head. “Never.” Tears welled in my heart at the thought. I didn’t want to meet someone else and fall in love. I didn’t want to have a husband and feel the burden of betrayal every single day. I didn’t want to wonder what would have been if I’d been able to free Callum.
“And you believe this isn’t a deceit?”
“Never,” I said as I shook my head. “My father is suspicious like you. I hoped he would be at my side right now like he’s alwaysbeen, but he’s made it clear I’m on my own.” I felt the acid in my throat from the resentment.
“I know it feels like he loves you less, but remember, it means he loves you more. All he wants is to protect you, and logically, keeping you away from a god who grants favors in exchange for souls is the best way to do that.”
“It was a position he never wanted.”
“Remember that your father pictures a very different man than the one you speak of. He pictures a demon with horns that laid siege to this forest to compromise the afterlife. The creature that left your father permanently physically and emotionally scarred. It’s hard for him to imagine a man who’s not evil…but good.”
“I get that, but?—”
“Bahamut is the person your father fears above all others. And the idea that his daughter could be cast under his spell…are the shadows in his nightmares.”
“If he met Wrath, he would understand.”
“But unfortunately, that’s not possible,” she said. “Try to treat your father with empathy…whenever you can.”
I dropped my gaze and gave a nod. “Will you grant me an audience with Riviana?”
She stared at me for a while, ethereal in her beauty, a dim glow around her outline that followed her wherever she went. She gave a slight nod, one so slight I wasn’t sure if she had issued it. But then stepped around me, barefoot, and led the way.
We walked through the forest in silence, guided by the fireflies that illuminated our way down the path, the forest peacefullyquiet but loud with a cacophony of wildlife. There was still evidence of the battle that had taken place, burn marks on the trees, scorched grass that died and gave way to the dirt underneath.
We moved to the large clearing that led to the Great Tree, the grass dead and trampled in many places. When we broke the tree line, I could see the sky and stars overhead, shining down on us like sunlight. Sometimes when the stars were truly bright, I could actually feel the heat from their glow against my skin.
Aunt Eldinar walked up to the tree and stopped several feet away from the stage the elves had built. Nothing happened and nothing was said, but she continued to stand there as she gazed upon the tree, like she could feel something I couldn’t.
Minutes later, Aunt Eldinar turned to face me. “Riviana approaches.” She stepped toward me and gently placed her hand upon my shoulder, on top of the armor that protected my skin from the elements and enemies. “I wish you good fortune, Lily.” Her blue eyes looked into mine with endless depth before she stepped away, walking across the grassy clearing, her white dress gliding over the land behind her.
I turned back to the tree and waited, and before Riviana revealed herself to me, a strong breeze moved through the clearing, making the branches of the trees sway in its might. The sound filled the clearing, a natural but powerful reminder of the elements.
Just like with Callum and Leviathan, I blinked, and then she was there, appearing in the millisecond when the world disappeared as my lids closed. With fiery red hair that floated around her head like it was weightless underneath the sea, she regarded me with emerald eyes that sparkled like jewels.
With an intensity stronger than any man had shown me, she stared me down like a specimen rather than a person, taking in my features like pieces of a puzzle she tried to solve. “Lily Lena Rothschild, the blood and empire of Talon Rothschild and the heart of Calista Rothschild. I know your identity without introduction, simply by standing in your presence.”
I didn’t know what to say in turn, how to greet a god, so I treated her like a queen and gave a slight bow. “You honor me, God of Caelum.”
“The Barbarians didn’t come for my tree, but they came for this forest, and you defeated them with your blade as well as your courage—as well as the protection of an unlikely ally.”
So she knew Callum had been there even though he hadn’t revealed himself.
