Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Daisy tightened her hold around his neck. “Your next steps better include me. I’m not leaving you.”
He looked at her. Love and adoration shone in her eyes. In his eyes, he knew. “Your mom-type gave you the gift of rebirth. I will not ruin that for you. I will do what needs to be done, and you will go safely back to the human world. It’s been fortified. You’ll be safe there. The rest of Faerie is up to me—”
He cut off as everything changed. As the yells and shouts of the Berserker, the rush of the water, and the clang of weapons all died away. The castle halls disintegrated into a world of white marble. Grand architecture reminiscent of an ancient temple rose up in columns and elegant details around them. Statues and reliefs were visible throughout.
They stood on a large marble floor in the middle. Daisy’s family and Tarian’s Fallen stood behind them, looking around warily. The Berserker—Thane—had been returned to his normal state. In front of them, a wide set of stairs led up to a raised platform framed by columns and domes. Three large marble thrones each existed in their own alcove. Then two more thrones each, on the right and left, seven in all.
The breath left Tarian slowly, and he hugged Daisy to his chest.
“Where are we?” someone asked behind them.
“The white walls of the Divine Collective,” someone answered in hushed tones. “The meeting place of the gods.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Daisy grumbled.
39
Daisy
As one, the gods populated their thrones and chairs, noble beings with purple velvet robes and large crowns of glowing starshine. Each was larger than life, twenty feet tall or more, towering over the marble space with an omniscient presence.
“That one in the middle,” Zorn whispered, pushing up closer to Daisy. He ignored Tarian’s presence entirely. “I saw her as we crossed the Faegate. She was kind of translucent, huge, like she is there, and leaning over the wall, looking at us. Laughing.”
“Yeah. They’re a bunch of absolute fuckers,” Daisy told him. “I’ll explain everything later—if we’re not gruesomely killed first.”
He grunted and stepped away. That was good enough for him.
Tarian turned to glance over his shoulder at Zorn. How likely is he to attempt to kill me in my sleep?
Daisy snickered. If you wrong me, very. Unless he can find a way around your power and torture you when you’re awake. If you’re nice to me, he’ll forgive you. Eventually.
That…I doubt.
The female on the throne in the very middle raised her hand in salute, and suddenly, the raised platform was right in front of them. The gods had reduced to normal fae size, if a bit on the tall and robust side, except for one. The female on the throne to the right of the middle stared at Daisy between strands of somewhat lank black hair. Her face was familiar, her posture and poise more so.
She was the female from the games. The one who had helped Daisy and killed herself in the process.
Daisy also recognized one of the two males. He was the god of the afterlife, his eyes shining with a violet hue and the flames gone. In fact, all of their eyes burned violet in their depths, marking what they were.
The god of the afterlife was looking past the others, appearing intrigued as he noticed Lexi.
“The crystal chalice, in the flesh,” the middle god said, her voice everywhere and nowhere, in Daisy’s head but out loud for everyone to hear. “Daisy, that is your name, correct?”
Daisy inclined her head. “Yes.”
“Put her down, Tarianthiel. She is strong enough now.” The female waved her hand.
In a blink, Daisy appeared beside him. She felt refreshed, as though she hadn’t just come back from the dead.
Tarian reached out his hand to her. She took it and scooted closer, glancing behind to make sure her family and his were all intact.
“Well, I am impressed.” The female smiled at Daisy. “Call me Equilas, child. As I was saying, I am impressed. We have known all the crystal chalices, of course. Even if they were never discovered, and most were not. Hardly any ever learned their magic. They didn’t have a guide, like you did. So few ever realized their true potential. Their inherent power. None, not one, has ever survived the magic they were able to boost. Until now.”
Elbow braced on the arm of her throne, she leaned, bringing up her hand to partially cover her simpering smile.
“And this is the most power we have ever seen come out of a crystal chalice,” she continued. “Isn’t it?”
She turned to the others. All of them reacted in some way, to maybe lean, or sit back, or narrow their eyes in thought, but none answered the question.
“And that is because of the Ancestral Magic of Sevens.” Her shining eyes switched to Tarian, and the violet within them glowed. “So much power. So much potential. So young and inexperienced. Your power should’ve protected you, but instead, it was the key to your downfall. It has been so interesting, watching jealousy and wariness and loss destabilize a kingdom that had never been so solid. It was about time someone shook it all up.”