Page 73 of The Salvation

That’s my girl.

“Who should come along but the God Eater, Kronos himself!” Quintessa amps up the tension while squeezing through a narrow gap of bodies. Heads still turn in her direction as she continues, “He devoured most of the soul of the eldest, leaving her as nothing but a Shadow! He stole half the soul of the youngest, but...” She lifts a finger, widening her eyes to build the suspense while twisting around another clump of bodies. “He didnoteat this one.”

I chuff a quiet laugh as she crawls between the spread legs of a soldier, rises with a snap to her spine, and goes on. She’s about halfway there now. Jinx stays close to her side.

“The half-soul became a half-ghost, never feeling a thing in her life, except for the minor pain when she cut her skin during her blood-binding. Or when she got tattoos to cover the scars. The Shadow followed her all her life and even tried to kill her once a year on their birthday.” She smiles at the memories, and I shake my head in disbelief, wondering how she can still take joy in that.

I hold my breath as a line of tall soldiers blocks her path while Necrosyne aggressively taps two of her legs, displaying her boredom and impatience.

Quintessa glances back at her with a knowing smirk. “After being rejected and punished for her half-soul and the mark of Kronos on her skin, the half-ghost girl was cast into the Sacrifice, doomed to death at the jaws and claws of the cursed monster gods of the Waste. Instead, she stabbed the alpha dragon god, fatally wounding him. But for the first time ever, the girl could feel something. She could feel him!”

The soldiers shift. Not enough to let her pass, but a sliver of hope. My chest squeezes from knowing the story “Instead of returning to her old life of horrors, the girl chose a new horror. She wasn’t looking for a happily ever after but a dark and dangerous once upon a time. So, with the help of her Shadow, the half-ghost girl went through the Veil of Souls and entered the infamous Court of Ash. And after the help of her Shadow again, she healed the dragon god. And became his pet...” She grins from ear to ear.

A wider gap. I hold my breath as she manages to squeeze through the bodies. Closer now to the throne.

“Oh, but she was very foolish to run from him. He and his cursed brothers hunted her into the ashen woods, where she was attacked by the Hag herself. But a little rook fox bit the Hag, and the girl scooped him up and took him back to the Court of Ashwith her. She had no idea he was a trap by the vicious Hag. And the monster gods were not happy at all.”

She touches a hand to her mouth and giggles before mentioning how they marked her and the first time she felt Drago’s two dicks. And how she died, and the others had to bring her to life after Thayne fucked her.

But when Necrosyne clicks her mandibles staccato, Quintessa moves on from the spice, “Remember the fox trap? Well, the Hag came back, and she awoke the bone corpse dragons on top of the castle. But the girl never could have imagined the dragon god actually fell in love with her. Or that he would sacrifice himself for her.”

More bodies to squeeze through. More bodies she crawls under. She’s a few steps from the throne. I hold my breath, hanging onto her every word, praying she holds Necrosyne’s attention.

“Unfortunately, when she escaped, it was right into the arms of Kronos himself!” Quintessa makes a show of gasping while turning to the spider. She must raise her voice now to carry it across the spider silk court. “He chained her up in a cave to break her spirit. And he told her the only reason her monstrous boys wanted her was because they stole her half soul from him, and each ate a portion of it. The girl was devastated, but was it enough to break her spirit?”

At first, I worry she will share too much, but detailing how she escaped the cave and embarked into the Hag’s tunnel to her lair, where the Hag had imprisoned Drago before daring Quintessa to find his soul.

After deviating around the last couple of armored bodies, she pauses while beaming and strides toward the throne. My lungs find their air again until she’s a mere foot away when multiple soldiers rush to block her way.

Necrosyne clicks her mandibles a few times, her abdomen pulsing with fury. “Finish the story, child of scars!”

I tilt my head, admiring how my sister cunningly eyes the giant spider from the side and says, “I’ll tell you the rest...but onlyafterI claim the chalice.”

Necrosyne snarls, abdomen pulsing erratically as she spits out venom and arches her body to the extreme as if ready to attack. What astounds me most is how Quintessa doesn’t balk or so much as flinch. Arms crossed over her chest, my sister has the gall to stare down the ancient creature and offer nothing but a smile and a subtle bow of her head. I remember the timid, skinny waif who was both impulsive but also compliant and submissive. It seems my mad, little fool isn’t so little anymore.

After lashing her fur-covered, spindly legs, Necrosyne bends, coming out of her arch. Her abdomen returns to its slow pulsing. With her eyes blinking upon Quintessa, the powerful spider seems to sneer right before the soldiers shift aside, giving my sister the victory of claiming the second object.

26

“You failed, child of scars.”

QUINTESSA

I cannothavean adrenaline crash yet.

I was just rambling, but I didn’t expect her to care about my story. Merikh is right. I do better when I’m kept in the dark—when I’m living in the moment with no plans while I make it up as I go.

After sharing the rest of the story, until Kyan threw me off the castle roof, I clutch the two objects and ask her, “Can we begin the final trial?” Jinxy weaves around my legs, wagging his tails against me like he wants to encourage me.

She hisses, clicking her jaws again. “What happened after the angel threw the girl to her death? And don’t even think of bargaining with me for the final piece, child.”

Her immense shadow bathes me in darkness as she leers at me, but I shrug. “I wouldn’t dream of it, but I still would prefer to keep it to myself if you don’t mind.”

“If. I. Don’t. Mind?” She taps her spindly leg again, almost reminding me of a bull ready to charge.

Squeezing my shoulders, I smile up at her. “At least if I fail this last one, and you decide to keep me, I’ll know you won’t kill me right away.”

She makes a huffing sound, her antennae curving toward me. I hope my rioting insides don’t show on my bluffing face.

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