Page 29 of Cloak of Night
“I beg your pardon?” Liga looked as if she’d slapped him.
“You’re scared to pit yourself against Zomuri?” She shook her head in disbelief.
“Yes, I am,” Liga said. “Have you noticed that he eats hearts for pleasure? I’m half human. If he wanted to punish me, I could die, just like you. I can only live forever while under my father’s protection in Celestae. But if I wrong another god, my life is fair game.”
He’s not immortal. It began to sink in why Liga would be afraid. But still, they needed him.
“Please.” Sora lay herself in a bow before him. Maybe she should have done this all along. Maybe she needed to show him more respect and offer him something, like how Sola took a year of life. It wasn’t an easy thing to give up, but what else could Sora do?
“My lord,” she said, “the citizens of Kichona haveworshipped the gods for millennia. They pray to you every night, throw festivals in honor of you every season, and put all their faith in you that you’ll protect them and their children. Don’t you owe it to them to do something more than just bless their harvests? Teach Daemon how to serve them. Teach him how to use his powers so we can save the kingdom. And in return, I offer you a year of my life or whatever you wish to take.”
Liga started laughing.
Sora rose from the ground. “Why is that funny?”
He couldn’t stop. “Because... you...” He pointed at her, still on her knees. “I...” He gestured at the piles of flowers and the sleeping-mat prayer stations. “I’m only a demigod. No one prays tome.”
Daemon offered his hand to Sora and pulled her up. Then he stepped forward. “All the more reason to help us, brother. Your mother was mortal, just like mine.”
“And the alligator constellation is still relatively young,” Fairy said. “I know you don’t mark the passing of time in Celestae, but it’s possible your mother is alive.”
The laughter left Liga’s face. “She might be here on earth?”
Sora nodded. “If I remember correctly, your constellation has only existed for twenty-some years. If you help us fight for Kichona, you might be helping your mother, too. And Zomuri wouldn’t be mad. You’re not doing anything related to Prince Gin’s soul or actually fighting him. That’s our job.”
Liga considered it.
“What do you say?” Sora asked.
“Well, even if I assented, I could not stay long. If ourfather notices I’m missing and why, I might be exiled from the sky, too. I’m happy to have reconnected with you, Wolf, but I don’t wish to leave Celestae as you did.”
“I understand completely,” Daemon said.
Liga looked around at Sora, Fairy, and Broomstick. “You’ve picked a scrappy crew, brother. Clever, too.”
Daemon nodded. “It’s what makes us good.”
Sora glowed with pride.
Liga thought about it for a moment more. “I can stay for a short while before Vespre notices I’m gone. I will teach Wolf about his powers.” He grinned. “Things were getting dull in Celestae anyway.”
Chapter Sixteen
The acid pool in the grotto boiled, and Aki’s stomach clenched—another ryuu visitor was coming again.
Instead of one orb this time, though, two enormous emerald bubbles surfaced from the depths. The first one opened, and Virtuoso hopped onto shore with a smirk on her face. “Hello again, princess.”
Then the second bubble yawned open. Gin stepped out, wearing a crown of gold claws and opulent, embroidered silk robes with dragons slithering up both his arms.
Aki let out an unintentional gasp.
“Hello, sister.” He hopped out of the orb as lightly as if this were a social call.
She stood as regally as she could, even though she didn’t feel the least bit royal. “What are you doing here?”
“Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“When you stole my throne and locked me in some sort of acidic waterfall prison? Not particularly. Why haven’t you killed me yet?”
