Page 48 of House of Mages and Raven

“Don’t fuss. You know I’ll protect you with my last breath,” he said fiercely.

I nodded in appreciation. “You told me your darkest secret. Now it’s my turn to tell you one of mine.”

Barbie stirred.What the fuck, Sy?

We can trust him,I argued.I won’t tell him everything, but I’ll tell him about Ruin, as you almost told the chaos prince before he joined his betrothed and the oracle.

“I have enemies, one of them more powerful than any others,” I confessed. “That’s why I’m hiding. That’s why I can’t show my face to anyone. You’re among the select few who have seen my true face.”

“Who is that powerful enemy?” he demanded, menace rolling off him.

I sucked in a breath as I waited for Barbie to try to stop me, but she remained mute. The chaos prince’s betrayal must’ve cut her so deep and damaged her confidence.

“Tell me,” Rowan said. “And your enemies shall be mine.”

“The God of Ruin,” I drawled and waited for my lover’s reaction.

His face was blank, as if he thought he’d heard it wrong, then surprise and rage flashed across it.

“A god?”

“The one and only awakening god,” I said. “A pure evil.”

“There have been rumors about the ancient god rising from the north.”

“They aren’t rumors.” I swallowed as Barbie’s dark emotions rippled toward me. “He’s real. You need to believe me.”

“I believe you.” He nodded. “I’ve suspected his existence for a while. My spies have sent reports of bizarre phenomena happening for years, like blight, magic draining from lands and cities in Europe, and now it’s coming toward our realm.”

Barbie shrank within me, guilt eating her up. She’d caused it, forced by our father and bound by his will. We’d been his slave, and he’d fed on us. But Ruin never found out that Barbie had always hidden the last few drops of magic deep within the soil to make sure the lands still clung to life, so one day, when we defeated our father and returned, we could revive all that we had destroyed.

“It was caused by Ruin,” I said.

“How did you cross paths with the ancient god?”

“I was his slave before I escaped him,” I said, shuddering. “It’s too painful even to mention his name. I don’t want to relive those memories of terror.”

He pulled me into his arms. “You don’t need to. I won’t ask.”

My belly warmed. Prince Rowan was a worthy male.

“Have you ever encountered the scorpion-machine hybrids that killed one of my people outside the Veil?” he asked, shadows of doubt and sorrow crossing his face.

“They’re Shriekers, Ruin’s soldiers,” I said.

“They came to hunt you?”

I nodded, my limbs feeling cold.

“Is the god hunting Barbie as well?” he asked.

“Why did you ask about Barbie?” My tone turned defensive.

“Barbie seemed to know how to kill those things,” he said. “She’s a puzzle, like you. But unlike you, she wreaks havoc wherever she goes. Now that she left Killian’s house, she’s going to wreck Cade’s house.” He chuckled. “Good luck, Cade. I warned him.”

Barbie bristled.

“She isn’t that bad,” I said in sympathy. “And Prince Cade can take care of himself and his house.”

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