Immortal Reign(77)
“Not much longer now and you will be nothing but a memory,” Kyan said darkly. “One I will toss away and forget as if you never existed in the first place.”
That was rude, Nic thought. And it only made him want to fight harder to survive.
Kyan moved toward the exit, searching for Kurtis and finding him lurking outside in the shadows.
“Come here,” he growled.
Nic had swiftly gone from empathizing with Kurtis’s pain when he had received his branding to hating his pathetic guts again. Kurtis was a coward, willing to do anything if it meant he would not personally suffer. Surely, he’d offer up his own grandmother’s soul if it meant avoiding even a moment of discomfort.
It helped a little that Kyan, too, deeply disliked the former kingsliege.
“Did you see her escape?” Kyan demanded.
“Who?” Kurtis asked.
Fury rose up inside Kyan, and his fists and forearms lit with flames. Kurtis’s eyes filled with fear at the sight.
“The princess,” Kyan hissed.
Kurtis began to tremble. “I’m so sorry, master. I didn’t see her.”
“Go after her. Find her and bring her back here immediately. She couldn’t have gotten far.”
Kurtis scanned the forest. “What direction did she take?”
“Just find her,” Kyan boomed. “Fail, and you will burn.”
Kurtis ran down the temple stairs and dashed into the forest.
“If I go after the little queen,” Kyan muttered, “I might mistakenly scorch her beyond repair. Wouldn’t want that, would we, Nicolo?”
How Nic desperately despised this monster.
“You see? You’ve only made it worse for her,” Kyan continued. “There is no escape for the little queen. The water Kindred will rise whether she allows it or not. We cannot be stopped. We are eternal. We are life itself. And we will do anything to survive.”
Blow it out your arse, you burned-up piece of cow dung, Nic thought.
“This evening has proven one thing to me, Nicolo.” Kyan leaned against a marble pillar, running a hand absently through his stolen red hair. “The time has come to fully embrace the power that is already ours. The pieces are in place, the means to perform the ritual perfectly is at my fingertips. The little queen will rejoin me, Olivia, and Taran, and all will be well. For all eternity.”
He gazed up at the temple with distaste.
“But not here.” Kyan went silent, thoughtful. “I believe I know the perfect place.”
CHAPTER 25
MAGNUS
AURANOS
The temple lay before Magnus, utterly and completely restored to its former grandeur. Apart from the massive statue of the goddess Cleiona that still lay shattered at the top of the thirty chiseled stairs leading to the entrance, the temple was pristine.
Juts of fire rose up from the ground and lined the marble walls, giving light to an area that would have been otherwise in darkness.
At the forest line, with the temple in clear sight before them, Magnus and Ashur tethered the horses they’d taken from the palace stables. They’d ridden so fast there had been no chance for conversation.
Magnus was about to say something to Ashur, some comment about it being earth magic that had to be the reason for the temple’s restored appearance, when Ashur hushed him.
“Look,” Ashur said, nodding toward the temple grounds.
Magnus peered around the trunk of a tree to see Kurtis emerge from the palace. He lingered at the top of the marble steps leading into the temple’s sanctuary for several moments, glancing behind him with annoyance before he stomped down the steps to the ground, where a long, winding stone pathway led through a series of overgrown flower gardens with several grand statues of the goddess.
“I’m going to kill him,” Magnus growled.
“Best not to show ourselves quite yet,” Ashur replied. “Just observe.”
“Cleo’s in there.”
“Likely, yes. And so are three elemental gods who could kill us with a single thought.”
Magnus squeezed his eyes shut, summoning patience he did not possess. But he knew Ashur was right. They had to watch, observe, and then, when they got their chance, they would make their move.
Kurtis lit a cigarillo, then disappeared around the left side of the temple.
A moment later, two other figures emerged.
Olivia and Taran.
They walked side by side, leisurely, as if there was no rush, no worry, no urgency.
Magnus knew they weren’t who they appeared to be. Not Olivia, Jonas’s friend, the one Magnus had believed to be a witch until his shocking discovery that she was much more than that. And Taran, a young man who had initially wanted Magnus dead for the murder of his twin brother, at least until they’d come to an understanding about past mistakes and regrets.
Olivia and Taran were gone. Stolen.
And Magnus swore he would do whatever he could to help restore them to their former selves, vanquishing the demons who’d stolen their bodies.
Ashur gripped his arm, startling him from his thoughts. “It’s Cleo.”
Magnus’s gaze shot back to the temple, where he was shocked to see Cleo’s golden hair, glowing from firelight along her path, as she ran down the stairs of the temple and into the forest a hundred paces away from him.