Blood Flows Deep in the Empire (8 page)

Nylicia appeared tinier than ever as she moved closer to Vedlyl’s huge form. “
Shh . . .
I’m here, Ismini. It takes a lot more energy for me to manifest in this world, but I’m here. We’re going to help you.”

She stopped next to Ismini and leaned down, moving to place a hand on her forehead, then apparently thinking better of it.

Her rainbow eyes flashed red, and her brow tensed. Ismini flinched when a low inhuman growl humbled from Nylicia’s throat and her irises darkened to pure black.

“Seeing you like this kills me, Ismini. I never wanted to see another woman, especially one I care about, in the same situation as me.” She sighed. “But even I can’t change this.”

Vedlyl focused on Nylicia, his pupils flashing yellow again. “You said it yourself, the wheels of Destiny are shifting.”

“What . . . what’s happening to me?” Ismini asked.

Nylicia and Vedlyl exchanged a look.

“I . . . I am not the controller of Destiny. I’m just the one who watches and guides.”

Vedlyl smirked, his boyish face rueful. “And the one who interferes whenever she sees an opening.”

Nylicia glared at Vedlyl before turning back to Ismini.

“Although I know what Destiny is trying to achieve, I cannot fully confirm it yet.” Nylicia paused and crossed her arms, her expression slightly fearful.

Ismini forced herself to speak past the lump in her throat. “I won’t tell him, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

Another look was exchanged between the two beings before her.

Vedlyl shrugged. “If I’m going to lock it inside her and give her the strength to rise from this bed, you’re going to have to tell her, Nylicia. She needs to know.”

Nylicia faced Ismini, her expression reflecting aeons of bitterness. “It’s an
R’mmanev
. It’s unbelievably rare when it comes to the gods, so much so that most don’t even know much about it. It has only happened a handful of times between a human and a higher being. And to date, it’s never happened between two humans.

“You’re mated, Ismini. In the most violent sense of the word. But . . . it’s unrequited, as of right now, so it’s becoming a
Fieren
. A fury. Your soul is turning against you. It’s punishing your body for not being able to ‘attract’ the one you belong to.”

Nylicia’s voice was no more than a pain-filled whisper, but her words shot through Ismini with the swiftness of an arrow.

For a few seconds, all she could do was stare at the canopy overhead and breathe deeply. “So . . . even if Dyletri didn’t have to sacrifice me, I’d still be doomed to die anyway. Right?”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at them. Their silence was more of an answer than anything they might have said aloud. Suddenly, even though it was painful, Ismini couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all.

Ismini saw Vedlyl shift, and when she raised her eyes, she found him staring at her sympathetically. “You’re human and therefore weaker, so we’re not certain, but we can help you survive.
 
Long enough, at least, for—”

Ismini interrupted him, the bitterness she felt leaking into her tone. “At least until Dyletri gets his sacrifice.”

“Ismini, it is not for certain—”

Ismini shook her head. This changed nothing. She’d always known that she wasn’t good enough. The
Fieren
inside her was merely more proof of that.

Regardless, her purpose was still the same. Ismini was there to help the man she now belonged to get back his one true love and keep the Universe safe. It was a shitty fate. More than unfair. But it was a fate Ismini was determined to face with her head held high.

She’d stuffed down her fears before, and she sure as hell could do so again.

Ismini locked eyes with Vedlyl. “What do you have to do to ‘push it back,’ as you put it?”

“It’s going to hurt,” he warned.

She laughed again, unable to stop herself. As if that freaking mattered at this point.

“Just do it. Hurry. I don’t want to spend my last days in this fucking bed. And I sure as hell don’t want Dyletri to know what’s happening to me. His pity is the last thing I need.”

Vedlyl stood. “Brace yourself.”

Nylicia moved back to make room for him, her face set in furious lines, her small jaw twitching. Up until then, Ismini thought her more than happy to do her part for whatever side of Destiny she was playing on. This was clearly not one of those times. She remembered how Nylicia had said she never wanted to see another woman in
her
situation.

Was Nylicia saying that she was locked in a
Fieren
as well? Was she telling Ismini that there was a god out there stupid enough to reject
her
?

Vedlyl laid his hand on Ismini’s forehead. Searing pain shot surged within her and blocked out everything else. Her breath caught on a scream, her entire body arching off the bed.

Through the pain, Ismini heard Vedlyl speaking to Nylicia. “Put up an energy shield. Cover her screams.”

Another wave of fire went through her then. Fear of Dyletri hearing her gave Ismini the strength to stay quiet—to hold it in even though her vision ran red and raw agony, unlike any she’d ever felt, flowed through her over and over again.

Each wave was more brutal than the last. Each hit angrier. Ismini felt whatever was inside her fighting back. She almost heard it roaring as Vedlyl’s powers continued to slam into her. She clawed at the bed covers and bit down on her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

“You must use your own will, Ismini. Command it back. Force it to bow to your will,” Vedlyl said.

“You can do this, Ismini. Trust me, you can.” Nylicia sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Ismini groaned deep in her chest, screaming inside and feeling her determination rise. She focused on all the anger, rage, and bitterness she’d buried for years and used it to push against the
Fieren
wailing inside her. It throbbed and scorched a path through every vein, cell and molecule in her body.

Suddenly, the pain retreated, rushing deep into her heart and settling there. It still throbbed, but it no longer consumed every inch of her. She breathed in shakily and opened her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them until that very moment.

“Ismini?”

“I’m . . . fine.” Ismini moved, realizing that she had the strength to sit up.

The fire trapped in her heart screamed for attention, the pain so acute she almost doubled over again. At the same time, the ache actually fueled her and made her that much more determined to best it. She looked up at Nylicia, realizing that she must have gone through this before. She’d been going through it for Gods knew how long.

“How long? How long have you existed like this?” Her voice trembled with fury. She couldn’t hold it back. The goddess
before her had been one of the few beings to have ever been kind to Ismini.

“A very long time. Please, don’t worry about me. And please don’t . . .”

“I won’t tell anyone. Just tell me this—does he know?”

“He rejected me.”

“Give me his name. I’d love to
meet
him.” Ismini sounded as vicious as the emotions rolling through her.

She wanted to rise out of the bed and track the motherfucker down, god or not. She’d beat his face in until he saw reason and force him to his knees before Nylicia, making him beg for forgiveness.

And Ismini would then keep him there until his kneecaps bled.

Perhaps even longer.

Vedlyl moved away from her. “I like this one. She has fire.”

“I do, too.”

Nylicia eyes had returned to the pink, hazel, aquamarine and light blue rainbow that swirled around her pupils, which were bottomless and always too large. Ismini smiled up at her, grateful that Nylicia was there. She was about to open her mouth and ask her for the asshole’s name one more time, but a voice from outside reached her and stopped the words before they formed. She jerked her head toward the doorway, the recognition instantaneous.

“Get this fucker away from me! Where the fuck is Ismini? Someone better fucking tell me right n—” Her voice cut off abruptly before coming back stronger than before. “Come near me again, dickhead, and I don’t give a damn what you are, I
will
make you ache right where it fucking counts!”

Oh shit.

Evesse.

Chapter 7

Ismini threw back the covers and rushed out of the room. Vedlyl called after her. She ignored him and ran down the huge, elegant hallway. It was ethereal, something out of a temple, but Ismini didn’t stop to look around. She came to a huge entryway flanked by two identical statues on either side.

Statues that turned their heads to watch her pass.

As soon as she passed them, she spotted her best friend, her dearest friend, standing in the midst of four gods. And Ismini hadn’t been mistaken—Evesse’s face was a furious red, her thick black hair a mess of waves around her head. She glanced all around, her brown eyes searching the large hall until they landed on Ismini.

The relief on her face was palpable. Ismini swallowed back the lump that was in her throat as she saw Evesse’s gaze soften.

“Ismini. Thank fuck.”

She took off and ran toward Ismini, who met her halfway and fought back a sob when Evesse threw her arms around her and pulled her in tight.

“Oh my God, you’re okay.”

Ismini squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t okay, but she couldn’t tell Evesse that. If she did, everyone else would hear, and Ismini had seen Dyletri amongst the others when she ran in.

“Look at me.” Evesse pulled back and cupped Ismini’s face.

At five feet five inches, she was an inch taller than Ismini, but Ismini still had to lift her chin to meet her friend’s watery eyes. The sight almost made Ismini break down right there, because Evesse never cried. She’d never even come close to doing so. Ever. Not in the time Ismini had known her, at least.

Ismini smiled at Evesse. “I’m so glad they brought you here.”

“Me, too. Well, they could’ve sent someone else to get me, that’s for sure. That fucker over there . . .” Evesse pointed angrily at a tall male
behind her.

He had hair that was almost burgundy, and it reminded Ismini of her friend Soleria’s hair. His expression was stormy, and something
hot
swirled in his gray and blue eyes. Eyes that were frozen on Evesse, who seemed oblivious as she continued her rant.

“He stalked me for three days. Three! Scared the fuck out of me.”

“I tried speaking to you before,
human.
You are the one who ignored me,” he said, clearly furious.

Another unbelievably gorgeous, brown-haired god with eerie gold eyes whistled through his teeth. “Whoa, Zen. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”

“Shut it, Cyake,” the one called Zen snapped back.

Zen? As in the Zeniel who Nylicia had told her about? The God of Tranquility? He looked anything but tranquil at that moment. Then again, Evesse tended to have that effect on people.

Or beings, as the case may be.

Evesse growled, eyes blazing as she stared Zen down. “He fucking tied me up. He fucking
tied. Me
.
Up
! Me!
And not in the good way, either. Not that I’d let
him,
anyway, but still. Fucking asshole. Who do you think you are?”

She was angry, of that there was no doubt, but Ismini saw something in her eyes. Something that resembled the heat in Zeniel’s.

A muscle in Zeniel’s jaw jumped violently. “You weren’t listening to common sense. And I’m the God of Tranquility
,
human. Who are you?”

“Evesse fucking Salazar. And don’t you forget it!”

“Okay . . .” Another tall, fine specimen of a man stepped forward. His midnight blue, chin-length hair and almost white eyes were striking as he flashed a cocky smile. “Calm down, Zen, before you pop a vein.”

“I could pop it for him,” Evesse offered oh-so-helpfully. She raised a hand with eagerness.

Zen let out another furious growl before being led away by the brown-haired one named Cyake.

“I really like those two.”

Ismini heard a soft voice behind her and turned just in time to see the two statues on either side of the entryway shrink in size. The stone they were made of shifted.