Page 101 of What Sleeps Within the Cove

“Why would the Fates guide me here if I’m meant to kill them? How is that even possible?”

“It is possible because of the tangle they placed in my womb the night they sent me into that temple so that you could be conceived. The knot that was my price for having the daughter I so desperately craved, is the very thing that they set into motion all those years ago. You can kill them, because you are one of them, Estrella. You may be our daughter by blood, but you carry a piece of each of them inside of you as well,” Medusa explained.

“They know. They know that I’m going to be the one to kill them,” I said, the realization dawning. Their reckoning,their end.

“All things must die,” Medusa said again as Khaos turned to me, his hands leaving my shoulders.

Only one of his hands cupped my cheek this time, and I couldn’t help the way I leaned into the touch, seeking out a moment of comfort from the father I’d never known.

“I wish we’d had more time. I wish they hadn’t kept you from me for so long,” he said, his lips pursing and nostrils flaring. Alarm bells rang in my head as Medusa whimpered, the sound of a sob forcing me to turn from Khaos’s burning stare to look at her. I never saw the knife coming as she covered her mouth, only felt the blinding, searing pain as it tore through my chest. Khaos stabbed me, shoving itto the hilt as he held me still with his hand on my shoulder, his face twisting as if he’d been the one to be stabbed.

The iron lit me on fire from inside, shredding through tissue and muscle, puncturing my heart where it slowed. He pulled the knife back, a rush of blood pumping out of the hole he’d created. Staring up into those golden eyes, I watched his face twist.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes shining with unshed tears. His arm moved, as he shoved the knife into my chest again, creating another wound next to the first. I gasped for breath, struggling as Medusa came up behind me and held me up. She supported my weight, keeping me standing when my legs buckled beneath me.

“Why?” I asked, my mouth wet. The coppery taste of blood filled it as I gurgled, my hand moving at my side. Trying desperately to cling to that thread, to hold onto the bond I shared with my mate.

Caldris.

One last time, Khaos pulled his knife free and stabbed me a third time. I stared down at the hilt, at the blade protruding from my chest as Medusa lowered me to the ground finally. She lay my head upon her lap, running gentle fingers through my hair as I clung to the thread, using that bond to keep me here. To keep me from leaving him.

He would never forgive me.

Khaos knelt beside me, staring down at me as he wrapped his fingers around the knife and tore it back again. Tossing it to the side, his bloody hands came to rest on my face, smoothing hair back from my cheeks as my face wet with tears. There was so much pain, so much burning inside of me as my lungs fought for breath. As my heart pumped blood out the wounds. The golden dress was stained with red, a deep spreading pool gathering on my torso.

“Why?” I repeated, waiting for the answer to the question that they hadn’t given me. How could I save them if I was dead? And if I was meant to save them, then what was the purpose of this? What could I do in death that I could not in life?

“All things must die,” Medusa repeated, and I wondered if the words were her mind’s attempt to understand the loss. Her way of coping.

Khaos touched his hand to my wound, his human figure fading into a darkness that spread over the Cradle. Only his face remained as I choked on my own blood, a dancing whisper in the night as thethread held in my hand turned gray and lifeless. The bond snapped, my heart beating for the final time.

There was no more pain, only eternal darkness, a night sky without stars, and Khaos’s voice to follow me into death.

SIXTY-SEVEN

CALDRIS

The return to my body came with immense pain. The kind of pain that I never wanted to experience again. Everything hurt, as if I was punished for leaving unattended, but it welcomed me back anyway.

On the ground at my side, there was the stone figure of a snake. It held perfectly still, a mirror of the snake Medusa had pulled from my heart in Tartarus. Holt’s eyes dropped to it, a question in them as he raised his gaze to mine again. I merely nodded, rubbing at my chest with my palm.

Gone was the incessant wiggling of that serpent inside me. Gone was the tug of Mab’s call to accomplish her every whim.

I was free.

I stood, making eye contact with Holt as we moved toward the doorway to the dungeons. The Wild Hunt waited amid the cells, watching as we emerged.

“What’s the plan?” Holt asked me finally, and I knew that theywould stand with me. That they would help me gather forces for Estrella so that I could be ready when she returned to me.

“I’m not supposed to be seen. I cannot risk death before Estrella has done what she needs to finish in Tartarus.” I rubbed at my chest where myviniculumbrushed against my collarbone, a faint pain lingering there that just would not quit. The bond was still silent between us, making me unable to feel her in any way. I cleared my throat and continued on, though it felt like I was attempting to swallow endless water, like I was drowning in it. “But we need to quietly gather people who may be willing to fight. It’s almost time,” I explained.

“We should find Imelda,” Holt said, and while I couldn’t argue with the fact that the witch would be useful in this fight, it was not lost on me that he had his own selfish reasons for wanting to find her.

“Still no sign of her?” I asked, not truly daring to make eye contact.

“No,” Holt grunted, his dissatisfaction at the fact very clear. He was determined to make up for lost time with the witch, but she was having none of it.

“Then we need Nila. If anyone is capable of helping us gather people who are willing to fight, it will be her. Estrella will bring an army with her, but it won’t be enough on its own,” I said, making my way to the stairs.

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