Page 56 of Salt & Blood

She felt weightless, impervious to the world around her. Her body was still like a statue; she couldn’t even feel her limbs anymore. Her consciousness seemed to travel outside her body, soaring higher and higher.

Toward Gaia.

The soul inside her screamed and thrashed. Memories of a searing bright light and the pain of her body ripping apart flooded her mind. Her bones quaked from the intensity of it as the light burned brighter and brighter…

Distantly, Pandora registered that someone was speaking to her. Then Sol appeared before her, his beautiful face close to hers, his dark blue eyes full of concern. His warm fingers pressed into her shoulder, and shefeltit. The heat of his body so close to hers.

Awareness crept in, momentarily drowning out the agony screaming inside her. Pandora found herself blinking, staring up at Sol as if she didn’t recognize him.

But she did. She knew this sun god. He hated her. And yet, here he was, standing before her, trying to reach her.

Gradually, clarity returned, and she was able to make out sounds. They blared around her with alarming sharpness, making her flinch. Servants and guards bustled about, trying to make ready for the Goddess of the Realm.

But Sol’s eyes remained fixed on hers. “Trivia,” he murmured, stroking a finger down her cheek. “We can leave here. You do not have to face her.”

Pandora shuddered from the tenderness of his touch, and fire coiled low in her belly as she envisioned him touching her elsewhere.

That was what she wanted: to lose herself in Sol’s touch. To blot out the tortuous memories slicing through her. She knew if his hands were on her body, she would forget. She would forget her own name, her own past. All of it. If only he would keep touching her.

“Can’t you do something?” Sol snapped at Mona. “You healed her before. Can you do it again?”

But Mona seemed as stunned as Pandora, her expression frozen in shock, eyes wide and face ashen. It seemed Pandora was not the only one apprehensive about seeing her mother.

“I have to face her,” Pandora whispered. She wasn’t sure if it washervoice or the voice of the soul who shared her body.

Sol’s gaze snapped to hers, his brows knitting together. “No, you don’t.”

“I do.” Pandora looked up at him, heat burning behind her eyes. “The darkness demands it.”

“To hell with the darkness,” Sol growled, gripping her arms firmly and lowering his head to look her directly in the eye. “Youare in control, Trivia. Not her.”

A tear spilled from her eye and raced down her cheek. “No, I’m not.”

Sol’s face slackened in surprise, but before he could respond, another boom shook the ground, this one far less violent than that of the hydra. A shimmer of gold light swirled in the center of the throne room, and a figure materialized. She had long black hair, vibrant blue eyes, and smooth brown skin. Her prominent chin made her look as regal as a queen. Her sharp cheekbones and shrewd eyes gave her a cutting persona that made Pandora believe the goddess could rip her to shreds.

And yet, at the sight of Gaia, Pandora’s blood boiled, her chest swelling with white hot fury. The powers within her lunged, eager to devour the goddess, to tear her apart with her bare hands.

Why do you hate her so much?Pandora asked the soul within her, her hands trembling from the restraint it took to hold back the darkness within her.She did nothing to you.

She took everything from me,the spirit within her growled, enunciating each word with pure venom.

For a brief second, Pandora lost her hold on the powers inside her, shocked by the admission. Gaia had taken something from the original goddess? What was it?

Her hesitation cost her. In a flash, the vengeful soul wrestled control of Pandora’s body, and she could no longer fight her off. She leapt, tackling Gaia to the ground, roaring in rage and anguish as she clawed at the goddess’s face.

Gaia’s arms flew up as she gripped Pandora’s wrists, keeping her hands away from her face, her eyes wide and full of alarm. But other emotions flared in that expression. Grief. Sorrow. Pain.

“No,” Pandora hissed in a voice that wasn’t her own. “You don’t get to look at me with pity.You did this to me.”

She shoved harder, pinning the goddess to the ground. Her forehead cracked against Gaia’s, slamming her skull backward into the hard earth. Gaia grunted, her hold loosening on her daughter’s wrists. Pandora swiped her fingernails across Gaia’s cheek, drawing blood.

Black shadows erupted from within Pandora, shooting outward, creating a dome around the two of them that sealed them off from the others. The shadows whispered and laughed as they danced around Gaia with hungry glee.

But Gaia made no move to stop her or the darkness. Only then did Pandora realize the goddesscouldhave summoned her earth magic to strike her, to shove her away, to eradicate Pandora’s shadows. But Gaia didn’t use magic at all. She merely lay there, letting Pandora claw at her like a feral animal, letting the swirling black smoke swell and draw closer, eager to devour her.

Pandora registered two figures stepping through her shadows. They reeked of death magic—the only thing that could match the darkness of Pandora’s box.

Death gods.

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