Page 52 of Flame and Sparrow

He nodded.

“Do you know what it was?”

He turned the cloth over in his hands, studying it, a bored expression dulling his purple-ice eyes. “Why so curious?”

“Because I…I saw one in the mortal realm, once.”

He lifted his gaze to me without moving his head, considering me for a long moment before he finally said, “It’s a veilhound. A creation of the current God of Death, if I’m not mistaken.”

The numbness itched over my scalp and spine again as I recalled the stories I’d heard about the Death Marr and his horrifying magic.

I swallowed hard. “And that god is a member of your court?”

“Yes.”

“So he’s here, somewhere in this area of the realm?”

He shrugged. “Often enough. He comes and goes as he pleases, plus he’s young—the youngest of the Shade Court. And middle-gods tend to roam unpredictably in the early years.”

It took the meaning of his words a moment to sink in. “Younger even than the God of Fire?”

Valas nodded. “It’s been something like… a decade in mortal years since the one you call Dravyn went into the Tower of Ascension and was reborn as a middle-god. Our current Death Marr—the third of his order—has only been with us for five or six mortal years.”

That was interesting. It was common knowledge that the Marr were not irreplaceable; they rose and fell at the discretion of the Moraki they served—partly by way of thisTower of Ascensionand its magic, apparently. But this changing of the gods wasn’t a frequent occurrence, as I understood it, so it seemed unusual that both Dravynandthe God of Death had ascended, replacing the old gods, in such a short timespan.

More evidence of that strife that Rieta had mentioned?

And the Death god…five or six years. That would have put him in charge of the veilhound beast that died outside of my home.

It wasn’t fear shooting tingles through my body any longer, but the urge I felt to investigate this god and whatever creatures and questions surrounded him. The need grew more wild the longer I stood there, taking root deep in my stomach before twisting toward my limbs, trying to take them over. Trying to make me move, to go after answers at any cost.

Moth seemed to sense my anxiousness; he turned one last somersault before swooping down to perch on my shoulder. His beaked mouth closed gently over the side of my face. Not really a bite, but a definite pressure, like he was trying to give me a reassuring hug in his own way.

I tried to slow my racing thoughts, but I couldn’t.

As if he could read my mind, the God of Ice said, “If heishere by chance, then you should go see him. He loves visitors.” His smile was unapologetically…chaotic.

Was this another test?

And if it was, did he mean for me to refuse him, or dare to take him up on the challenge?

Yet again, I could only guess at the rules and objective of the game.

I looked to the nearest window. The pale blue light shining through it made me think of the moon in my realm, which in turn made me think of that Moon-marked girl who had given my location away to the king’s soldiers.

My fists clenched.

The wild feeling taking root inside me dug in more deeply, securing me firmly in its grasp.

“Or, on second thought…” Valas began, his hand in front of him and his fingers dancing, summoning more crystals of ice to casually play with, “…maybe you should run back to your little sanctuary before your god realizes you ran off and started setting fires. He’s not known for his patience or even temperament, after all.”

He isn’t my god,I wanted to snap.

Somehow, I held my tongue and shoved the thought away. I couldn’t ignore the rest of what he’d said, however; the idea of running back to my so-called sanctuary with more questions than answers was maddening.

Valas reached the darkness of the hallway, stepping just beyond the glowing orb’s light, before I gathered enough courage to speak again.

“Where can I find the Death Marr?” I called.

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