Page 69 of Blood of Two Crowns

“I’m not sure what to say other than I feel like I need to say thank you?”

My uncle gives me a sad smile. “Not exactly... but you’ll see soon enough. I’m sorry to say that I won’t be here by the time you finish.” He throws a cursory glance at all the towering crystals. It looks like I’ll be here interminably. “Don’t worry about how long it takes you. Everything you need is here. And most importantly, you’resafe.”

Safe…

The word triggered something within me, and for a fleeting moment, I was standing in front of Ataraxus, his cold features gifting me a warm smile as his thumb stroked my cheek.

The vision was gone in the blink of an eye. Still standing in this field of crystals, Somnus’ mouth tipped up in a soft, knowing smile.

“Who is he?”

“You already know that answer, Mareina... Just remember, when you reach Nakoa and Malekai, make sure that you take Ataraxus back to Bellorum with you.”

My lips part as the idea of going back to Avernus with Ataraxus filled me with a glimmer of hope.

“When you wake up, yoursoulboundand their army will likely arrive soon after.”

My breath caught as my heart nearly leapt out of my throat. Before I could muster a response, Somnus was gone.

My mind reeled, reaching out with frantic hands to latch onto something that wasn’t there.

As if with urgency, the red and black crystal glowed brighter. My heart pounded a frantic rhythm in my chest as I pressed my hand to the crystal. The world around me shifted, and suddenly, I was standing in Azrael’s study, watching myself sip tea beside...Asterion?I round the lounge chair to see Azrael sitting across from us, wearing a sad smile.

“… There are faster ways to kill me, you know.”

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

NAKOA

Every night since we’d set the Kahlohani Islands aflame, I’d had a reoccurring nightmare where I returned to watch my home, my land, my dreams be reduced to ash. At first, I would search from the sky, watching it burn while icy terror bled through because Iknewthat Mareina was there somewhere. I just had no idea where and no way of finding her. Still, I would fly into the flames—into my old home where Leilani had raised me—and scream Mareina’s name over roaring flames and collapsing wood.

The echo of her cries would lead me on a chase until I burned along with her.

I’d returned to this nightmare again tonight, but something about it felt different. I was standing in my mother’s old bedroom, each wall consumed by flames, and yet I was still.

Waiting.

From one moment to the next, I was no longer standing in my old house. I was standing in a palace that looked vaguely familiar. The flames burned higher, and it was only when I noticed the towering statue of a familiar female I’d never met that I realized where I was.

Azrael’s palace.

Mareina’s—

Before the thought can even finish, a deep, velvety voice calls behind me.

“You won’t find her here.”

I turned to find who I can only assume is Somnus based on his likeness to Mors; though he is notably fairer, his features less sharp, more…boyish.There’s something more innocent about him. And a little more… lonely.

When my eyes locked onto his purely black ones, I home in on them, squinting until I realize that his gaze isn’t merely black, like mine. A light glimmered in them that wasn’t a reflection of the flames engulfing Azrael’s palace but the stars. A whirling, glittering, distant cosmos. Instantly drawn into them, the burning heat and fire around me fades.

“Don’t.”

Somnus’ voice is deep and smooth, like a thick velvet blanket.

I reared back slightly, almost dizzied by his strange, enchanting power.

---