Page 129 of The Crown of Nyx

“I am not here,” Asael admitted. My stare shot back to his, but he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were on the flickering fire. “I am a remnant, a memory. Only my soul remains.”

“A spirit, tied to this building,” Damon added. “You are dead, Asael.”

A cruel smile twisted the old demon’s lips as he glanced at the Elysian king. “You would know something about that, wouldn’t you, cousin?”

Cousin?I stared at Damon for a long moment, before shaking my head. “Family reunion can wait,” I muttered. “Why are you here?”

Asael pressed his lips into a firm line as he met my stare. “I’m here for you, Ivy.”

A shiver rolled down my spine. “What does that mean?”

“Pandora asked me to stay here, just in case.” The sadness re-entered his eyes as he gazed down at me.

“In case of what?” I had a feeling I already knew. Her words from the dream came back. Her secret, the one that she had hoped would die with her. The one Dante somehow uncovered.

Asael looked away, his throat bobbing. “You said you saw her. In your dreams.” His expression softened. “How did she look?”

His pain was so heavy, it made tears burn my eyes. Orion stepped up beside me, his gloved hand entering mine. But emotion thickened my throat as I tried to reply. “She looked like Nyx.”

The demon dropped his head. “She is Nyx’s daughter.” He laughed darkly. “I remember the day like it was yesterday. The cliffs. Pandora’s face when Nyx revealed her plans. The terror when Nyx stole her away to close the rift.” He stopped and shook his head. “The first time I saw her, she was coming out of the mating ceremony for her village. She was wearing white.”

“And she’d been wearing it in my dream,” I replied. His eyes found mine, shining with tears. “She said something about a skull and a secret. What do you know about that?”

Asael sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “There were many who did not want to see Pandora as Queen. Primarily, the Fae.” Orion’s hand tightened in mine as he stiffened. “They sowed dissent. Their High Queen had given her blessing before her demise, but that had not been enough, especially when her brother, Eryx’s uncle, swooped in and started laying the foundations for a take-over.”

The demon moved to the fire, and everyone watched as he picked something up off the shelf above the flames. “During the death of the High Queen, he’d been searching for a way to transfer her power to him. There was a curse on the bloodline—I didn’t know that until a century into Pandora’s rule. Eryx didn’t tell us. But his uncle had been determined to find a way to become High King and start a new rule—a new bloodline.”

A shiver, one of horror, rolled down my spine. Why did that sound familiar?

“You must know how the mate line came to be, correct?” His eyes danced over the room, but it gave me a chance to see what he had clutched between his fingers. It looked like a locket of sorts. The gold chain was wrapped around his fingers, and he clutched the locket part like if he held it any tighter, it might disappear.

I nodded, but it was Adrian who spoke up. “Everyone knows. It’s taught in schools. Told as a bedtime story. The most epic romance there ever was.”

Something about that seemed to soothe Asael, because he smiled fondly down at the locket. “What you don’t know, though, was that while Pandora was experiencing her trouble with power, Eryx’s uncle was plotting. When Eryx, Zyran, and I went to Nyx for Pandora, when we accepted the mate bonds Nyx offered us, his uncle was there in an attempt to steal her power.”

My blood ran cold. “What happened to him?” There had to be a reason why none of us knew this part of the story. Captain Vale hadn’t mentioned anything, and when I glanced at my mates, it was clear this was their first time hearing it, too.

“The male tried to hurt Pandora. He had with him an artefact that should have been protected by the Fae.” Asael’s face darkened, and he shook his head. “We defeated him, and his life was cut short. The artefact came with us, and we destroyed any mention of it in an effort to not only protect Pandora, but to protect the balance of all the realms. We knew, if someone else learned of its origins—its power—then there would be others fighting for her power. For your power, Ivy.”

“The skull,” I whispered. My skin prickled when the demon nodded. “What is it, Asael?”

His eyes met mine briefly, before turning back to the fire. “When Gods first walked these worlds, they were like us. They had physical bodies. All of them.” He dropped his head in a bow and sighed. “But when their power became too great, they abandoned their bodies and took on ethereal forms.”

My stomach twisted. Gods, as in plural? My gaze shot to Maeve’s, who I hoped would give me some sense of stability with this revelation. But even she looked stunned.

Actually, everyone—but Damon—looked a little shocked by the revelation.

Hadn’t Thea and I literally joked about this? About there being more Gods?

She’d have a field day with this information.

“Their bodies turned to bone. And the bone turned to ash. Except for the skulls.” Asael looked up again and met my eye. “All of the skulls were collected. There were groups born to defend them. These skulls held the power of their god.”

“But not Nyx’s,” I realised. “I hold her power.”

Asael nodded. “If your enemy were to find the skull of Nyx, he could potentially take your power and consume it himself.”

My stomach bottomed out, heart skipping a beat as it all hit me.

---