Page 44 of House of Demons and Bones

Rage rode me hard, and agony bloomed fresh in my chest. I fought not to double over. Something wet dripped from my nose. The metallic tang hit me before I saw the red smeared across my fingers.

There was a cost to traveling back and forth in time, and I was the one paying. Sy tried to take the pain into her, but I blocked her. Not this time. The memory of her curled in agony haunted me. It always made me hate myself and my weakness whenever she had to suffer for me.

Dark flames still danced on my palms. I hurled them at the fog, shredding it to mist. Beyond lay a void where two pulses thrummed, each screaming with rage and helplessness so raw I stumbled back.

My breath caught as recognition hit. The sky god and earth goddess, trapped between life and death. I was no stranger to that terrible existence—neither living nor dead and completely powerless, as I had been under my father’s chains.

I hadn’t gotten to toss my darkest flame at Ruin and burn him. Hadn’t seen how the battle ended. Here lay my answer—the sky god and earth goddess had been torn apart, part of theiressence devoured by my father, and they remained conscious through it all.

Their every ragged breath leaked pain and misery. Isis and Nephthys, ancient deities, reduced to embers buried in ashes, echoes in the eternal emptiness. My father had done that to them.

“What was the point of calling me here?” I demanded. “You yanked me through time to face Ruin, then robbed me of my chance to destroy him.”

They’d used their last energy reserves to pull me back, and now the agony rolled off them in waves.

“You couldn’t defeat him then,” Nephthys said. His voice rasped from the void beyond the mist.

“Then why drag me into that battle?” I asked.

“One of the many battles,” Isis said. “You’re not ready. Dark flame alone won’t destroy your father. If you’d attacked, he’d have studied your power, and you’d have exposed yourself.”

“He saw me, all right. Recognized me,” I said. “You already exposed me.”

“Not your true power,” Isis countered. “It’s still growing.”

“We risked bringing you to the first god-war to study Ra’s weakness,” Nephthys scolded. “You should’ve watched under cover. But stupidity and the impulsiveness of youth won. If we hadn’t yanked you back, the damage would’ve been unthinkable.”

“Maybe slip me a memo next time? Skip the riddles and random time-jumps before I get my bearings.”

“We tried to teach you,” Isis said, “though we may be rusty at handing down knowledge.”

“Not rusty,” Nephthys cut in. “We never had a pupil. And this can’t be taught—only learned.”

“At least you’re both still coherent,” I offered, my sympathy surfacing for them. I’d suffered for years under my cruel father, but these beings had endured eons.

“Let’s hope you’re strong enough to face your father in the final battle,” Nephthys said. “Most likely, you’ll end up worse than us, girl.”

Divine beings had no grasp of empathy. I might share their bloodline, but I treasured my humanity. Years hiding among humans had shown me their worst, yet also their best.

“Darkness within light. Flame in darkness. All was lost. All will be regained,” the earth goddess muttered, slipping back into nonsense, lost in herself.

The two godly beings before me were now mere echoes of their former selves, so broken they crumbled at the edges. How could I rely on them to help me defeat my father?

My bond with Killian flared, his urgent call jolting my memory. Shit, I’d come for him, and these ancient entities nearly made me forget my purpose.

“Gotta go,” I said. “I’ll come back sometime later to check on you two, all right? Will you be here then?”

“Where can we go?” Nephthys retorted. “We’re caged in the void.”

I swallowed back a comment about them still having each other. It’d be insensitive.

We aren’t jerks,Sy chimed in.

“Well,” I said awkwardly. “Take care.”

I yanked the door open and burst out. Several beings jumped and yelped in the corridor, making me leap into the air.

“What the fuck?” I called.

---