Silver in the Bone (Silver in the Bone #1)(128)
Author: Alexandra Bracken

 

Their house reflected that confidence with its grim-faced determination to take up as much space as possible. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such a grand structure, accented by turrets and sweeping stone arches, outside of actual castles.

 

The sharpness of the air promised snow. A chill rolled down his back, not from cold but the green scent of the holly adorning the impressive marble steps.

 

Black candles shuddered in their sconces on either side of the iron door, then went out, extinguished by some unseen wind.

 

Summerland Estate. A mirthless chuckle escaped him. It would be as good of a new home as any.

 

Cabell stood taller than his lord, and taller still, knowing that of everyone, of all the apprentices he had trained, it was Cabell who had been chosen. By his lord. By Fate itself.

 

In the past, Cabell had always been treated as an inferior. Barely tolerated, a source of amusement, maybe, but little better than dirt tracked in on Endymion Dye’s boots. Now he knew his worth, and there was no greater power than that.

 

His lord had supplied him with a heavy coat of the deepest black, the sort that absorbed all light. The silken quality of his new clothes and the soft leather of his boots were unlike anything he had ever worn, and far too fine to be the product of mortal hands.

 

The door opened. Endymion Dye’s pale face hovered in that slit of darkness. Lord Death moved into the light of the lanterns on either side of the door, lowering his hood. His face—the face of the man who had once been Arthur Pendragon—was cold as he took stock of the mortal man.

 

Cabell smirked at Endymion’s groveling look of veneration and pride to find the King of Annwn standing on his threshold. Satisfaction curled in his chest when Endymion’s eyes shifted over to him.

 

A flicker of shock passed over Endymion’s sharp features as he recognized Cabell—a no one, a nothing in the hierarchy of his world—standing beside the god.

 

“You have summoned me here through ritual and smoke,” Lord Death’s baritone voice began. “And yet you do not invite me in. Tell me, Endymion Dye, are you so ungracious to all your guests?”

 

Endymion bowed, opening the door wider and backing into the shadows of the house with a nervous flourish.

 

Cabell almost laughed. How snakes turned to worms when a bigger predator arrived. Lord Death glanced over, arching a brow.

 

“I’ve never seen him so . . . agreeable,” Cabell said. “Allow me, my Lord.”

 

He stepped through the door first, knocking his shoulder into Endymion to push past him. In life, you were either the person who charged forward or the one who stepped aside. Cabell refused to step aside ever again.

 

Once inside, he surveyed the grand foyer, letting his gaze skim over the handsome oak staircase curving up either side in perfect symmetry. A dazzling chandelier sent candlelight sparkling down upon the marble floor.

 

He drew in a deep breath. The hair on his arm rose and stung, as if threatening a shift into his other form. There was something off about this place. Cold, yes, but that he’d expected. A kind of . . . stillness, then. The smell of must and something else lingered—rot.

 

He tilted his head toward another door to the left of him, this one looking like it had been ripped off an ancient fortress. The wood was inlaid with swirling patterns and symbols made from iron. Strange. He didn’t recognize them, but he did recognize the scent that escaped from the room behind them.

 

Blood. Old blood.

 

Cabell turned sharply on his heel. He nodded to Lord Death, feeling that prickling of pride again that he had been entrusted with such a powerful god’s safety.

 

Lord Death entered Summerland Estate as if he had done it thousands of times before. He stopped beside Cabell, assessing its fine offerings for himself.

 

“I hope it is to your liking, my Lord,” Endymion said, with yet another bow.

 

Lord Death cast a cold eye on him. “It will suffice. For now.”

 

“The others are eager to meet you,” Endymion said. “I cannot tell you how long we have awaited your return. To bring you forth into this world.”

 

To his credit, he knew not to show his back to Lord Death. That, as Cabell had witnessed, was an insult the god wouldn’t tolerate.

 

Instead, Endymion Dye—the great, proud Endymion Dye—walked backward, his eyes lowered like the servant he was. Cabell was unsurprised to discover their destination was that imposing door with its strange symbols. He studied them again as they drew closer. Some looked vaguely like the sigils the sorceresses used for protective wards, but he couldn’t be sure. Of the two of them, Tamsin—

 

A phantom hand seemed to close over his throat. Cabell rested a hand on the sword hanging from his side, gripping the hilt until his fingers ached with it. At the edge of his vision, pale blond hair flashed. He spun, searching for the source of it, but found only shadows.

 

The massive door swung open with a sound like a dying beast. Cabell felt his feet slowing as he entered, almost against his will. Sheets of silk had been draped to block off the rest of the room, dividing the ordinary from the sacred. Before them, a dozen men, some he recognized from the Hollower guild, stood in the shape of a crescent, wearing wreaths and crowns of holly. The table, or what might have been a desk, had been transformed into an altar. Beneath the stench of incense, greens, and nervous sweat was the faintest hint of old books.

 

Cabell’s gaze drifted down. At his feet, a dark stain was just visible on the carpet. The muscles of his stomach tightened, and for the first time, he wondered what ritual had been powerful enough for Lord Death to feel the summons.

 

“Lord Death,” Endymion began, taking his place in the assembly of men. All of them wore simple robes, and a silver pin that Cabell recognized from his old life. A hand holding a silver branch. “We welcome you once more to the mortal world, and offer you our service, to whatever end.”

 

“You offer more than what I ask,” Lord Death said, enjoying the way some of the men quailed under his scrutiny. Cabell took more than a little pleasure walking in slow, searching loops around them. It felt good, so good, to give into that need. It was in his blood to herd.

 

“My Lord?” Endymion prompted.

 

“No one summons death, unless they seek its power,” the god continued. “Tell me, then, what you desire of me in exchange for your service. Will you be like the ancients, who merely wanted to smite their enemies? Will you walk in the steps of the Druids, grasping at knowledge and power forbidden to mortal man?”

 

Endymion seemed to regain some of his composure, though he still didn’t dare look into Lord Death’s pale eyes. “We seek to hunt those you hunt yourself. To serve as your sworn blades, your disciples in magic, and end the tyranny of those who hold power they do not deserve.”