The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords 1)

She hadn’t dwelled here before the wall. He’d found no trace of phantoms, embodied or otherwise, during his many trips.

“Get inside, embody, walk around, tell Roc.”

Seemed Erebus wished to pass along a message.

He looked to Silver. “I’ll deal with the phantom. I’d like you to—” Don’t say it. “—make and deliver a set of lightweight chains to my room. Within the hour. For the bed.” Well, you said it.

The warrior blinked with surprise. “I see.”

“The cuffs aren’t meant to cause pain.” He said no more. With Taliyah, Roc must be prepared for anything. The thrill meant nothing.

Silver nodded, a stiff incline of his head. He flashed from the bar.

Let’s get this over with. Roc strode to the cage, appearing before the phantom.

She whizzed up to the bars, her foggy gaze locked on him. An arctic chill seeped from her, frost spreading over his alevala. A phenomenon caused by all phantoms.

“Tell me your message,” he ordered.

Words spilled out. “You know what she is to you, but you don’t know who or why she is. You don’t know what.” No longer did she mumble. Her monotone voice proved as chilling as her temperature. “Allow me to tell you. She is a Skyhawk, a harpy, a snake...and a phantom. You wed one of mine, Commander, but you can’t kill her until the required time. Do you know what she’ll do before then, Roc? Whatever I tell her. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha.”

That fake, mocking laugh... Roc struck, shoving the three-blade deep into her chest. Black blood poured from the wound as she collapsed. As seconds ticked by, she evaporated into nothing. His disgust for her remained.

Rooted in place, he snapped, “She lied.” No way Taliyah was a phantom.

“As if we didn’t already know that,” Ian replied. “We’ve never iced over in her presence.”

“More than that, Erebus always lies,” Halo assured him.

“He sows doubt, nothing more,” Ian added.

“Yes.” Absolutely. Which meant the god had known Taliyah was Roc’s gravita before Roc.

You know what she is to you...

Erebus mixed truth with lie to incite panic, nothing more. Taliyah wasn’t a phantom. She was cold-blooded, yes, but he warmed her. An impossibility with phantoms. Her irises were clear. No black lines smudged the skin around her eyes, indicating hunger. She was smart. No phantom possessed the skill to fake such intelligence.

Unless Erebus had figured out how to make others like himself.

16

“Mother,” Taliyah called, hurrying through the fortress. Nothing had changed in the Realm of the Forgotten. Lavish, unsullied by dirt, debris or time, and vacant. Where were her loved ones? She planned to check on Tabitha and talk to Neeka, then finish off the immortals stored in the dungeon. They’d still had a little life in them, last time she’d been here. The perfect appetizer. Soon, Roc’s army would become her all-you-can-eat buffet.

Maybe Neeka knew what Roc did to her skin? In select places, she glittered. Where she glittered, she burned. Where she burned, she ached. Where she ached, she wanted.

Taliyah wanted so bad.

For Neeka, she flipped every switch, flickering the lights. “Mom. Momma. Mooom. Mother!”

Taliyah quickened her step, entering the library—Whoa! She ground to a halt. Her nape grew real cold, real fast.

Confused, she reached behind to pat the area. Frost? On the brand Neeka had given her two thousand years ago? Or yesterday or whatever.

“Hello, daughter.”

The craggy voice came from behind the desk, where a huge leather chair swirled around, revealing a man with pale skin, black eyes and a hooked nose. Curly blond hair hung over a prominent brow. A thick beard with a wealth of braids covered an equally prominent jawline. Across his lap rested a blade with jagged edges. The extraordinary hilt seemed to swirl, as if he held a small piece of a universe.

Erebus. Here. Heart thumping, Taliyah palmed two daggers. A thousand thoughts, questions and emotions bubbled up at once. At the forefront: anger.

“You know I exist,” she said, doing her best to remain conversational. For centuries, she’d wondered about the man despised by everyone who’d ever met him. A villain willing to murder his own daughter to ruin Roc. Hadn’t her hubby warned her of this? “Where are my mother and my friend?”

“I did nothing to them, I assure you. They were gone when I arrived. I’ve no plans to harm you, either.”

Truth or lie? For Neeka, she suspected he spoke true. Not because he hid an honest side. Did he? The powerful oracle saw him coming, no doubt about it. Bet she even left her best friend a message. Where... There! The mirror hanging behind the desk. In the reflection, Taliyah spotted a note on the wall, the letters painted in blood. We’re fine!

Okay, then. She could proceed without removing her father’s head.

He wrinkled his nose at her. “You reek of Astra Planeta.”

That is his first comment to me, post greeting? “Save the commentary,” she snapped. “What do you want from me? Why are you here?”