Page 58 of Empire of Death
She gave a slight shake of her head, her eyes still on the stone beneath her feet. “Do you regret it?”
A complicated question with an even more complicated answer. I’d never told her the tale of how I’d come to be here, and she respected my boundaries enough never to ask. Anya wasn’t the subject that was hard to discuss—but my Tiberius and Darius were. I was doomed to be a grieving father for the rest of my existence. “I did at one time…but not anymore.”
She seemed to compose herself enough before she turned back to look at me.
“Not after I found you.”
Quicker than I could snap my fingers, her eyes watered, as if her emotions were always on the edge, just a moment from tipping over. “There has to be a way,” she said with a sniff. “There just has to be.”
I couldn’t comfort her, not here, not when I didn’t know who may be watching. “This isn’t the time or place for this.” I turnedmy back on her and continued forward, coldly dismissing her because it would be the quickest way to calm her down.
A minute later, she caught up to me, walking at my side until our boots left the stone and felt the damp soil beneath our feet. There was no rain or snow here, no weather, but it was always damp and cold, like we’d all just missed the downpour.
I guided her down the dirt path between the dead oaks until we reached the next clearing—the funnel. Monsters and servants were gathered around, talking among themselves, one shoving another in the chest in an argument…or for no reason at all.
I stopped beside her.
Lily looked at the altar made out of stone in the center. “What is this?” she whispered.
“You’ll see.” We stood in silence among the others of Xian, and then a moment later, a blue light appeared from the sky. Slowly, a body hovered as it descended, arms floating at the man’s sides, his body stiff like he was dead rather than asleep.
In silence, Lily watched, horrified.
The body came to a soft landing on the rock, and then the light disappeared. Before the man even had a chance to wake up, he was rushed by the audience, who started to tug on his arms and legs.
His mouth opened in horror, and then he screamed as he was dragged to the ground, crooked monsters fighting for the newest addition to Xian. Some wanted him as a worker and others a private servant. And some of them…who knew.
“Do you know him?” she asked as she watched him be dragged back toward the castle.
“Yes. He made a deal for his soul, and now it’s time to collect.”
“Do you ever…feel bad about it?”
“No.” I turned to her so she could see my lack of empathy. “I never mislead or deceive my clients. They’re fully aware of the terms and conditions, but the need for instant gratification is greater than the cost they pay in the end…until they realize that cost. I’ve rarely taken a person’s soul who was a good human.”
“But you…you sacrificed your soul for someone.”
“I’m one of the few. Most people care only about themselves, not other people. In the rare times I do face that proposition, I usually refuse to honor their request. Because whomever they love, if they truly loved them in return, wouldn’t want them to make that sacrifice.”
She watched me for a while, her eyes still guarded and pained. “Then by your own words, you shouldn’t be down here.”
“But I am—and that won’t ever change.” I met her gaze with as much calm as I could force. The Rothschilds were used to having the ability to move mountains to get whatever they wanted, to have gods literally part the seas and rescue souls from the underworld. But that wouldn’t happen with us. Not while I was the god of the underworld, and Riviana would never risk the Realm of Caelum for her enemy. “I know it’s hard,Xivin. But the sooner we accept that, the easier this will be in the end?—”
“There is no end. Not for me.” She shook her head, her eyes welling up again.
We stood together in front of the funnel that had gone dark, talking about our mountain of feelings without actually talkingabout them. So much had been shared between us without words, emotions, and declarations.
“You said I could live here with you as a mortal?—”
“No.”
“That my soul would still travel to the Realm of Caelum?—”
“No.” She’d seen this place with her own eyes, and she even considered suffering it every day…for me.
“Then if you can’t come to me?—”
“Xivin.” I pivoted my body to face her, drawing in close so I wouldn’t have to raise my voice to get my point across. “There is no scenario in which you end up down here. I would never allow that to happen. There are no words of persuasion you could utter to make me consider such madness.”
