Page 16 of Salt & Blood

“You cannot take her anywhere,” Sol said, his dark eyes burning with fury. “She will bring the darkness with her. She will betrayallof you.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Farah asked, fixing him with a fearsome look. “We kill her right here? Well, don’t let me stop you, little sun god.” She spread her arms. “Strike her down. We will not stand in your way.”

Pandora went rigid. Was Farah serious?

Sol’s brows drew together as he glanced from Farah to Pandora. But he did not move. Anger still brewed in his gaze, but he did not come toward Pandora. His magic could easily end her life. They both knew this.

But he wouldn’t kill her.

She had asked him to, when Elysium was burning. He had refused, claiming death would be too merciful for her.

But as she watched him, she saw something haunted fill his gaze. Something she had only seen once before: when she had caught him gazing at the moonlit sea with devastation on his face.

He had been consumed by grief over the loss of the goddess he had loved. The goddess whose soul now occupied Pandora’s body.

And in that moment, she knew he was unwilling to take away that soul once more. He had lost her already. He wasn’t ready to do it again.

The thought filled her with despair. It was only the former goddess he cared about. Nother.He only saw the lover he’d lost. Nothing more.

She was nothing to him. And that would never change.

“Please,” Mona said suddenly, turning to Romanos. “Can you help us? Evander…” She gestured to the figure lying on the bed of ivy.

Pandora had forgotten he was there, and she hated herself for that. The death god looked ghostly pale, his eyes still closed and his expression crumpled in agony.

“Shit,” Romanos muttered, drawing forward and crouching in front of his brother. His wide eyes took in Evander’s shredded wings and bloodied state. “Gods above, Evander, what the hell happened to you?”

“Can you help him?” Mona asked, her voice strained as she knelt alongside Romanos.

Romanos didn’t answer. His mouth was set in determination, his jaw taut as he placed his hands over Evander’s body, hovering slightly above the tattered wings.

“Demon magic,” he said quietly, his brows knitting together. “I can feel it.”

“You can draw it from him,” Farah said.

Romanos shook his head. “I haven’t practiced enough. Marina should do it.”

“Youcando this, Rom,” said Farah.

Pandora frowned. Since when had Romanos and the coven leader become so familiar with one another? What had he been up to here in the mortal realm?

And who was Marina? Another fire witch? Or a goddess Pandora should be wary of?

After a few seconds, Romanos nodded, then closed his eyes. Darkness pooled from his fingertips, surrounding Evander in a black cloud.

Mona yelped, lurching toward Evander with panic in her eyes, but Pandora hurried to stop her, clutching her sister’s shoulders to hold her in place. “Wait,” she urged. “Just wait.”

The shadows swirled, forming a cocoon around Evander’s body. Romanos’s face was strained, a muscle working in his jaw as he continued to release his power.

Several tense moments passed, and Pandora’s heart raged against her chest. What was happening? What if Evander suffocated?

Then, the shadows began receding back into Romanos’s hands. Bit by bit, the darkness fell away, leaving Evander’s body. But as the magic faded, falling from him like a cloak, Pandora realized his body was different. He no longer had wings. And the bloody gashes on his body had been healed.

Mona inhaled a sharp gasp and brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

When Romanos had pulled the magic back to his hands, he sank back on his knees, gasping for breath. His hands shook as he stared at them, as if not quite believing what he had done.

Evander groaned, his head turning. His eyes remained closed, but the color had returned to his skin, making him look less sickly.

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