Page 50 of Blood of Two Crowns

“You realize the River Oblivion’s effects are only temporary for a god, don’t you?”

“Which is precisely why I’ve summoned you.You’regoing to make her forget all about hersoulboundand that meddlingdrakonatishe’s chosen as a mate so she can live in fucking peace for once in herAkash-forsaken life.”

Somnus quirked a bitter brow at me. “Projecting, are we?”

I heaved a sigh, rolling my eyes. The male was infuriatingly astute.

“Projecting, are we?”I parroted in a mocking tone.

Somnus stared at me, unsmiling.

“As you already know,ourniece is sound asleep, as is Asterion, making them ripe for all your mental tinkering and altering so that I can get back to findingmysoulbound.”

Somnus’ glare hardened further.

“You’re putting her at risk. It could fracture her mind. There are too many traumatic memories embedded within her subconscious and inextricablytiedto other people. If she’d been living under a rock, then it might be a simple task—but you’re asking me to alter the last hundred years of her history, in addition to major events not only in her life but in the world at large.Anyonecould come along and reveal the truth.Like overthrowing Zurie?—

I groaned my frustration, waving a dismissive through the air. This male was one of the most powerful gods in existence.

“Can’t you just… remove her from the equation?”

“As in, she wasn’t the one who usurped her?”

“No one here even knows anything about Atratusian politics. When she came here, Nakoa hadn’t even taken the throne. Wouldn’t it make sense to just… erase all of it? Alter her memories so that she reunited with her father after all these years and was finally able to abandon her duties with Zurie, stayed in Avernus with her father and mother after meeting them?”

Somnus scowled. “Kereskilledher mother, remember?”

“All the better to make it so that it never happened! She no longer has to mourn her!”

“And if she has no mates to protect, why would she even agree to go with you?”

“First of all,shesuggested it. And it wasn’t merely to protect her mates but all of Bellorum and Avernus. She’s proven to be quite the martyr.”

Somnus shook his head at me, wearing a look of damning disappointment. “Do you honestly intend on keeping her inhell?Forever?Iknowyou Azrael. Not evenyouare that cruel.”

I swallow back the guilt burning in my chest like fucking bile.

“You’re gravely mistaken if you think so highly of me because that’s exactly what I intend to do. It may have been her idea initially, but her power isbreathtaking.Evenwithher slaughtering my denizens in droves, I can feel my realmhealing.The very fabric holding together my realms grows strong by the day. I’m afraid I can’t let her leave.”

Somnus’ expression remained so blank that I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d even heard me. If his mind had drifted back off to wherever his physical body was.

“You’re making a mistake, Azrael.”

“Well, it’s not too late for me to pour a cupful of the River Oblivion down her throat and make her forgeteverything.I was trying to do this thecompassionateway. I could have done what Keres did to your brother and just dump her body on a beach somewhere.”

Somnus frowned, finally giving me a reaction. “You’re also forgetting the fact that Avernus will fall apart without her or Mors there.”

Massaging my temples between thumb and forefinger, I heaved a longsuffering sigh. “So, find Mors.You’re boring me with this minutiae, Somnus. Congratulations.I’m fucking bored.Now, do you want yoursoulboundor not? If I were you, I’d hurry the fuck up because her life may or may not depend on it.”

Somnusgrowled.The male was normally so well-mannered and self-restrained that I couldn’t recall having ever heard him growl.

“If you lay a single one of your filthy, degenerate, fucking fingers on her, I swear to Akash that I will turn your mind into fuckingsoupand burn all your realms to the fucking ground.”

I laid a friendly hand on his shoulder. “You know how much I love soup, darling. Don’t tempt me.”

Somnus’ gaze slid to the offending hand as if I’d flung shit on his shoulder, turning his back on me and striding into the darkness.“Meet me here tonight. By the time you go to sleep, it’ll be done. And I expect mysoulboundto be happy, healthy, andsafe.”

Oh my dear, sweet, sweet, Somnus. You’re much too late for that.

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