Page 68 of Blood of Two Crowns

“Because all I’ve known is death. I’m sick of death. I don’t want to take life. If anything, I want togivelife. I want to do somethinggood.”

Ataraxus resumes his ministrations, massaging my neck. “Death can also be a gift, Mareina… It paves the way for new life. Reincarnation. Respite for the soul…”

I’d heard all of this before, but I couldn’t help but yearn for something more.

Akash, please, anything but death.

“And if you’ve only just come into your power, are you so certain that it’s death over which you preside?”

Something inside me stilled.

“… I don’t know, actually.”

Ataraxus pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“After all of this passes, I would be honored to help you connect with your power and yourarcanum.”

My heart squeezed with gratitude.

And fear.

Of all that lies ahead.

“I would love that.”

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

MAREINA

Why am I standing in a field of… Crystals?Despite being utterly fuckingstumped,I feltcalm.A single moon hung in the dark, clear sky above me. Forests stretched wide on either side of this clearing boasting rows ofthousandsof slender, jagged crystals sticking out of the ground and rising about eight feet into the air. Varying in color, some were white, pale blue, or pink and purple. What’s even more bizarre is the fact I felt called to touch every single one of them.

Just as I approached one of them, I felt a great presence at my back, and a dark, smooth, velvety voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Mareina…”

I turn to face Somnus, and am surprised not by his likeness to my father, or the fact I feel like we’ve met before, but instead the blood splatter across his face, bare chest, and wings.

He also looked fuckingexhausted.

“Akash almighty.Are you alright?”

Somnus glanced down at himself when my eyes scanned over his bloody form. He grunts in acknowledgement,willingaway the blood, replacing it with a fresh set of clothes. “Sorry… My mind is elsewhere...”

I got the impression he meantliterally.

“…But I created these for you,” he continues, gesturing at the crystals. “They contain your memories.”

I open my mouth to ask the obvious, but he waves my obvious questions away. “It would probably just confuse you if I tried to explain everything myself, but I will suggest that you start withthatone...”

I shift to follow his line of vision to find a glowing red and black crystal.

“It’s not a perfect method, but it’s the best I could do without potentially fracturing your entire psyche.”

Which was inarguably the most fragile part of me.

Intuition told me I owe this male a great deal of gratitude, though I couldn’t even begin to fathom just how much.

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