It wasn’t what I really wanted—that glorious, innate connection to the sea. But it was the Meriadoc magic, and it was powerful and mine. I felt strong now. Royal once more.
I could try to kill this man now, but he still had the rest of my power—and I intended to get it back from him some day.
I started to run.
Just as I started off, Salem grabbed my arm, his grip tight. “Aenor. Wait.”
I swung my free fist hard into his face, landing it on his jaw.
Then, I turned to run for the stairs. Magic spilled through my muscles, giving me speed, and I took the rough stairs two at a time.
The top of the stairwell opened up into the enormous library, right into the darkest archway. My thumb circled over the athame’s bone hilt. It had a thumb-sized indentation in it that I pressed my finger into, feeling its power charge me.
I rushed for the door, the air whipping my hair around my head as I practically flew down the hall.
I nearly crashed into the door, but I managed to stop myself just in time. I slid the bolt across.
I ran out into the narrow alley, clutching tight to the athame. I wanted to keep it for myself.
Men are wolves, Aenor. Don’t give them the chance to tear out your belly.
Chapter 36
I wanted to leach every last bit of magic from the athame until I could tear down my enemies. Aenor Dahut, Flayer of Skins, Scourge of the Wicked.
I whipped through markets, down narrow alleyways—no idea where I was going, just trying to get some space so I could figure out what to do next. I rushed through the streets with the athame’s power beating through my bones.
My mind was ablaze.
Was it true that Mama was alive—or was Salem just trying to confuse me?
I took a pathway that curved around an ancient church, then darted into a covered market. Get away from that wolf, Aenor. Survive on your own.
When the fire in my mind started to calm a little, I could think more clearly.
I’d come to Jerusalem to get Gina. Getting to Gina meant defeating the fuath. When the knights were no longer possessed, they might be able to tell us where to find her.
Only Lyr knew what to do with the athame to make that happen. He’d kept that knowledge all to himself. It meant I had no other choice but to hand over the athame—unless he’d just been using me this whole time.
I wiped a hand across my forehead. I’d been running so fast, so wildly, I hadn’t been able to track where I’d been going. I’d been on a street that curved outside the city walls, sloping down into a valley.
I stopped to catch my breath. Some of that initial rush of Meriadoc power was ebbing now.
I looked around me. I wasn’t even in the city walls anymore.
I’d run into a rocky park just outside the walls, with a few trees and some tidy grass. Behind me, dark alcoves stood in a stony wall, as if they’d been worn down over time, or carved by men long ago.
Twilight was about to fall, the skies violet streaked with gold. The evening star burned in the sky, and shadows climbed over the grass like long fingers.
How long had I been in that terrible cave beneath Salem’s home? All day, it seemed. No wonder I’d been so thirsty, so desperate for that fruit.
No matter where I went, he’d be able to find me now.
The sound of drums beat louder, as if the stones themselves were emitting the sound. And distantly, I heard the sound of screams.
This was his city—and he was a fae ancient enough to be worshipped as a god.
Why had I come here, to this very spot that sounded like his magic?
I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. I needed to track the Ankou. I needed to get the truth out of him.
Lyr, where are you?
I listened for the low dirge of his music and tuned into it, trying to lure him to me. Trying to draw him closer with my own song, letting our rhythms meld.
It didn’t take long before I could smell sea-swept stones moving closer. He wasn’t far.
After a few minutes, I turned to find him walking for me, gilded in the setting sunlight.
The sight of him made my body tense. Had he really lied about my mother?
“There you are.” His blue eyes searched mine. “I was tracking you all day, but your scent was gone until twenty minutes ago. Melisande is half-dead. I tore the city apart looking for you. I was losing my mind until I felt the pull of your magic again.” He stared at the athame. “You found it.”
I pointed it at him. “Stay where you are.”
He stopped where he was, fingers twitching. “What’s wrong?”
I tightened my grip on the hilt. If I really needed to, I thought I could draw more power from it. I could blast him with it.
“I met Salem.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “The god of the dusk? What are you talking about?”
“He’s not a god. At least not anymore. He’s a fae, here on earth. He’s the one who destroyed Ys. That’s how I found the athame. He had it.” My whole body was shaking, but I kept my tight grip on the hilt. “He told me something kinda interesting.”
“Do we really have time for this?”
“It was about how you raised my mother from the dead.”
Golden light beamed form his eyes, and those tattoos started moving on his skin again. He took a step closer as his god side took over.
“Oh, is the Ankou taking over for you?” I said. “Get a tough question and you let the death god handle it.”
“I raised your mother from the dead to rule as queen of Nova Ys. I was too busy in Acre to oversee it, and I thought maybe… it would work.”
My knees felt weak as understanding dawned in my mind. It was true.
“That’s the crime you committed,” I said. “The crime against the gods. That’s what it was. My mother? And you didn’t think I should know that my mother had come back from the dead?”
Good enough to fuck. Not good enough to tell the truth.
“I didn’t tell you because it was a long time ago, and it didn’t work. She lived for less than a day, then she returned to the realm of death. It’s why I can’t control the Ankou anymore. I gave up a piece of my soul when I brought your mother back. The transgression sent me into multiple hell worlds, one after another. Only a few minutes passed here on earth, but it felt like an eternity to me. I felt a part of my soul ripping from my body. It was the most exquisite agony. That piece of my soul remains missing, and it was all for nothing. All for a few hours of life.”
I stared at him. “Don’t you think you should have told me about something like this?”
“There was no reason to tell you. It’s over. She’s gone.”
“If she’s still dead, then why did Salem say he’s looking for her? He seems like he knows things, and he thinks she’s alive.”
Lyr held out his hand. “Give me the athame, Aenor. We’re running out of time.”
Liar liar liar.
Still pointing the athame at him, I took a step back.
Could I really relinquish all this power to him? If I gave the athame to him, I had to trust that he’d do as promised—defeat the fuath, help me get Gina back.
And yet I’d known all along that he cloaked the truth in shadows.
“Did you know Melisande is working with the fuath?” I said. “I am the one who cut off her wings.”