Defiant little thing she was, Ada ripped away from my touch, punishing us both. “I was happy about the baby!”

Righteous fury flooded my veins until my skin bristled. “Oh, yes, the baby. The baby!”

My shout resonated in the chamber, right along with the sudden groans of a corpse in my throne as though I had asked his opinion. Lord Tarnem’s muffled grunts pounded behind my temples right along with the echo of my wife’s cruel lie, and delirium loomed over my thoughts once again.

I was unwell.

Not enough recovered.

“Quiet!” I shouted.

Ada’s eyes flicked between the silenced throne and me, but ultimately settled on me with a blaze of new anger. “Just because it turns out that I wasn’t pregnant after all, doesn’t mean that I hadn’t thought myself—”

My hand rose alongside the violent beat of my heart, tempting me to seal her deceit behind yet another patch of leather. One she would certainly cut open again, for my wife was dead but no more obedient for it. My motion alone stopped her words. Unfortunately, it didn’t call back the pain they’d already unleashed in my chest.

“Two centuries of mourning the death of my unborn daughter...” The agony of her loss aching fresh and fierce like a stab to the heart. “Of all the lies to veil your betrayal, perhaps even your faithlessness, you chose this one? This one? When you knew how much I’d wanted to die—”

I stopped myself.

No, I would not allow her to drive another knife into my ribcage. Would certainly not let her see how she just had.

I stifled my ragged breathing.

Smoothed the tension off my face.

“You shall answer this question.” Leaning into her, I let my exhale tingle along the side of her neck, tormenting her with longing, punishing her with the premise of my warmth. “You say you would have returned... So tell me, little one, have you been this convinced the entire time?” Another exhale, and she turned her head, slowly shifting toward me. “Did you ever wonder what it might be like if you escaped? Did you ever… doubt your vow to return?”

A flinch. A slow blink. And then…

…silence.

Cold. Dead. Silence.

Aside from how she gulped—likely swallowing whatever tale she’d considered serving me for the fraction of a moment. A courtesy I could certainly appreciate, but it made her no less a liar.

Liar!

Prickling heat seared beneath my skin until her bones brittled at my command and the dais crackled beneath us. I wanted to grab her neck and drag her into a deep grave—bury her beneath dirt and let her rot—as that was how much I hated her for making me… hurt, ache, long.

Feel.

Hated myself even more because I could not do it. And I could not do it. And I could not fucking do it.

My chest constricted.

What was wrong with me? What had this woman done to me? Why could I not bring myself to be nearly as cruel to her as she deserved? As I ought to! Was I not above the fickle emotions of mankind? Was I not a god, and she a mere dead mortal?

All strength left me.

Her internal deterioration stopped.

No, I could not do it.

Didn’t dare ponder on the name for the reason.

“Look at you, your lips so pale.” So bloodless, not even my thumb left an imprint behind as I pressed down on her bottom lip. “Who did this to you, hmm? Who dared to hurt my wife? You saw them? Know the names of those who caused this, yes?”

She nodded. “Three of them.”

“Good. Now, make another mention of a child, and I will shovel you a grave.” I turned away toward the bridge to the Nocten Gate. “Orlaigh!”

“Enosh…” Ada called behind me and when I looked back at her, she asked, “Do you know anything of my father? I… My memories of the attack are blurry at best, but I know he was there. Got injured trying to protect me. Is he alive? Will you at least tell me this?”

“The moment I found you, I hurried to the Court Between Thoughts to have your soul bound.” I shrugged and continued down the dais. “I cannot say what became of your father.”

“Did you kill people there?”

Not yet. “Everything in due time.”

I once more delivered her flesh from a new onset of decay, safe for a small speck that resisted my power—paid for with a wave of weakness that clawed at my mind. Oh yes, what a poor husband I was…

“Always chasing me old bones,” Orlaigh muttered as she hurried toward the Nocten Bridge where I stood and waited.

I removed the rot from her body down to the expanding brittleness in her bones at the cost of a sway in my torso and a blur in my vision that expanded rapidly. Rest. I needed more rest.

“Prepare yourself to head to the nearest town in the Nocten lands within the next days,” I said. “You shall find out which god these people pray to while I will ride beyond the Œten Gate. I need to assess the lands, for I have allowed the world to fall away from my rule for far too long.”

“Yes, Master.” She dipped her head. “Just dinnae send me out through the Æfen Gate, or they’ll string me up by a tree. Ach, I bet me howlin’ arse the Pale Court is surrounded by priests and soldiers.”

“So I shall hope.”

After all, I required an army.

A large one.

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Chapter 6

OceanofPDF.com

Ada

Seven tens and two.

Seven tens and three.

I stared up at the ceiling above the spring, how the dim glimmers of light melted with shadows in constant ripples and distortions. All my life, I’d considered being burned at the stake as one of the hardest deaths.

Until I’d drowned myself.

Nine tens and three.

Nine tens and four.

My back rested against the rocky bottom of the spring. When another rush of gloriously hot water lifted me ever so slightly, I inhaled, weighting down my lungs with more water. Who needed air when the second warmest place at the Pale Court turned out to be at the bottom of this spring?

One hundred.

One.

Two.

Three…

I closed my eyes against the sting of salt and listened to the deep hum of the water as suspicion flooded my mind. Thrice Lord Tarnem had grunted and groaned in my presence, each time with an urgency as though his life depended on it—an odd thing indeed, for a corpse.

What would he tell me?

My fist hardened around the smooth fang in my palm—the one I’d once torn off my dress in an attempt to cut open Lord Tarnem’s mouth. I’d dropped it when Orlaigh had walked in on me, and it had gone ignored since, having sat so close to the throne where no beasts dared to roam for rest.

Whatever the man knew had the old woman fear that she might end up right next to him. But what did it have to do with me?

Perhaps nothing.

Most likely nothing, but I was at a loss with my husband and death turned out to be a rather dull affair. No sleeping. No eating. Enosh kept his distance, which was as much a blessing as it was a curse. All day, I did nothing but rot... and drown.

Nine tens.

Nine tens and one.

Tiny bubbles of air tingled where they latched to my skin as I sat up. Orlaigh had left for the lands beyond the Nocten Gate seven counts ago, and Enosh had ridden out the Œten Gate long before that.

Time to have a chat with a lord.

I climbed out of the spring, and the first swells of water drooled from my mouth. The salt bit the back of my throat, but only until I rose and folded my upper body over, letting more of it pour from my nostrils.

My brain caught fire and my eyes welled. When I gasped for air, a gurgling flutter teased my lungs until a barrage of violent coughs squeezed out most of the remaining water.