Page 365 of Heat of the Everflame

“They believed he had no offspring to inherit his Crown.” Doriel’s eyes roved over me. “Apparently, they were mistaken.”

I staggered back a step. “You think I come from the tenth Kindred?”

“Ophiucae clearly did. It’s the only way he could have the tenth Crown and its gryvern. And his sigil, the star—the only other place I’ve seen it is on a carving at the Kindred’s Temple where the tenth portal once stood. And if you’re his daughter...”

I leaned back against a wall as my thoughts exploded in confused, directionless havoc. “The tenth Kindred... do you know his name?”

Doriel shifted uneasily. “They called him Omnos.”

The name struck a bolt of lightning straight into my godhood. It jerked wildly, trembling with fear and kneeling in reverence. It ballooned to fill my body with heady, eager power, then shrunk away with a gnawing dread. The whiplash of it set my head spinning.

“You recognize the name?” Doriel asked.

“No,” I said, hoarse and breathless. “But I think my godhood does.”

They nodded matter-of-factly, as if my reaction confirmed it. “That must be why traces of the tenth realm remained in the Forging magic. If Ophiucae was hiding with Omnos’s Crown, the recasting of the Forging spell would not have been completely successful. And that would explain why you’re both so powerful, since there are only two of you.” They paused. “Two that we know of.”

I trembled at the possibility that there could be others like me somewhere, hiding in the shadows.

“How did Omnos die?” I asked.

“I... I’m not sure.”

My Umbros magic tingled.

“Doriel,” I warned.

They sighed. “I only have theories. There are references to the Kindred making a great personal sacrifice to protect themortals after the Forging. The details were lost to history, but over the years, some Sophos Crowns speculated that sacrifice was Omnos.”

I balked. “You think the Kindred murdered their own brother?”

“He was the only Kindred who didn’t take a mate, so he never gave up his immortality like the others. He would have lived forever. And if he was immune to magic and could also stealtheirmagic...” Doriel’s stare cut warily to me. “I can see how that might make even the Kindred scared. Perhaps they feared what he might do once they were gone.”

“If no one knew Omnos had children, how did Ophiucae end up imprisoned on Coeurîle?” I shot them a firm look. “I know you know something about that, too.”

Doriel winced at being caught. “I know less than you think. Only one clue—a map of the island marking the hidden door with a note that it should never be opened for any reason. It’s dated just after the Blood War—he must have been imprisoned around then.”

Gods... Ophiucae hadn’t just been in that cell for years. He’d been there forcenturies.

“The Montios King and Umbros Queen were alive during the Blood War. You never asked them for details?”

“Of course I did, but Umbros refuses to speak to me. Montios refused to speak to anyone.”

A blazing flash of anger tore through me. No wonder they both seemed to know about my sire—they were the ones who locked him up.

“Why didn’t you tell the other Crowns?”

“I didn’t think they needed to know. Even Crowns aren’t permitted on Coeurîle except for rituals.”

“Yes, and who could ever have predicted theCrownsmight think themselves above the rules?” I said bitterly, drawing anirritable look from Doriel. “Did the map explain why he was imprisoned?”

“No. The Crowns must have discovered him somehow. Perhaps they also feared he would be too powerful, so they lured him to the island where he had no magic, then trapped him there in the hopes Omnos’s line would die with him.”

I ground my teeth, struggling to bite back my rage. Just like the half-mortal children in Lumnos, Ophiucae had been condemned to death for the sole crime of his blood.

I was beginning to sympathize more and more with his drive for vengeance at any cost.

“Is there anything else I should know?”

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