Shouts rang out. “Nissa is dead.”
“He tore her to pieces.”
“I lost my beautiful hands!”
“Yes,” Taliyah said with a dry tone, “I’m familiar with his fighting style.” She stalked to his side in a show of support. “We have no General. We need one, and I’m it. No, don’t say a word. Just listen. You’ve all read reports about Erebus from the women who came before you. You know our people couldn’t stop him as he ravaged our villages. Well, good and bad news. He’s back, and I’m his daughter. I’m also the wife of his greatest enemy, and the reason you’re awake right now. If anyone or everyone wants to challenge me for the title of General once Erebus is dead, I encourage it. In fact, I’ll insist on it.”
As she spoke, his chest puffed up with an infusion of arrogance. There was no gravita more amazing.
After receiving nods and grudging acceptance, she smiled up at Roc with expectation. “We’re ready to return to Harpina now.”
* * *
The harpies with stars took over the palace in the original realm, and Taliyah loved it. Roc had also freed the ones in the dungeon, and she’d taken charge right away. So far, everyone had followed her orders, as promised. Even Mara. Roc and his guys were a little traumatized, though.
To everyone’s surprise, the two groups—Astra army versus harpies—got along well...mostly. There’d only been a few dozen losses on Roc’s side. So hardly any at all! She wanted her girls to know what they were up against, so she sent them to train and patrol during the day and battle as needed.
Yeah, Erebus kept sending new hordes of phantoms. A glance out of any window revealed a fight of some kind. To be honest, her father had proved more of an irritant than a threat. Because he didn’t want Taliyah to die—before the ceremony. No, he wanted Roc to be the one to kill her, forced to live with his guilt and regret for the rest of eternity. All along, she had been her father’s weapon of destruction.
Only eight days remained until the ceremony, and her nerves were...frayed. They were no closer to a solution. Doom loomed ever darker on the horizon.
Taliyah kicked a boot someone had dropped in the middle of the hall, punting it out of the way, and marched on, heading for the dungeon. She’d been practicing with her ring and studying like crazy.
She’d finally picked a major. Sacrifices. Forget everything else. The crux of every problem revolved around the sacrifice. The linchpin.
Roc’s sacrifice spurred his ascension to god, just as hers spurred an ascension to General. Motives mattered, the impact of the loss important.
His loss—his dream of family. The death of his gravita.
Hers—life. Willingly dying for her consort.
Yeah. She’d entertained the possibility a time or twelve, but had always backtracked, a dead General doing no one any good.
Never accept a picture of defeat.
If only she could sleep! When she tried, she dreamed of phantoms trapped in a tunnel or cave, pinned in by countless bodies and starving. The real-life harphantoms were well-fed, at least. Yesterday, Taliyah had convinced Roc to serve up his naughty soldiers.
Sweet Roc, who had refused to work on the altar.
His men had completed it for him. The murder stone currently resembled every altar she’d seen in his memories. Anytime she spotted the stupid thing, she imagined sacrificing Erebus and Chaos there. They deserved to die.
In the dungeon, she breathed deep. The place had been scrubbed clean. Harphantoms rushed to the bars of the cages as she passed. Like every time before, they reached through the barriers as much as possible, their mouths open and sucking.
Roux stood at the end of the corridor—nope, he sprawled today, his shoulder propped against a wall. Drag marks suggested he’d crawled there. Blood trickled from his nose.
Taliyah sprinted over, her wings flapping. She crouched beside the blond giant and lifted his head into the torchlight. His pupils were huge.
“Roux? Tell me what happened so I can help make it better.”
He blinked rapidly, doing his best to focus on her. Suddenly his pupils consumed his irises. “Aunt Tal? Aunt Tal!” Relief lit his features. “Help me! Please. I don’t know how much longer I can keep control. Mom’s trapped in him, and I’m trapped in her. We’re real hungry. Aunt Tal? He’s fighting me, and I don’t...” He shook his head and blinked again.
Taliyah fell, hitting the bars of the nearest cage. The harphantom inside it grabbed her hair, but she misted, solidifying a few feet from Roux. Roux, who carried her sister and niece. Shock flash-froze her veins, answers clicking. Isla had possessed Blythe, and Blythe had possessed Roux. Like Russian nesting dolls. If his block was as powerful as Roc’s, Blythe had been unable to break free. The longer they’d stayed, the deeper they’d gone, and the less Roux had sensed them. Because they’d become more a part of him.