9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

T he forest whispered to Aya as she went in search of Sabra, wind stirring among the leaves in a gentle melody, leaving their shadowy pattern dancing across the fallen leaf litter. It crunched underfoot, but Aya didn't mind. She wasn't trying to hide her presence as she spied Sabra. Caught in a band of moonlight, her blue skin alight and the tiny flecks of silver in her skin glowing. Sabra was preternaturally still, making no sound as Aya closed the space between them.

"You didn't need to come after me," said Sabra as she turned, fixing those luminous black eyes upon her. "I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

Sabra stared for a moment before looking away. "I haven't seen any of my kind since I was…since before."

"This is more than that." Aya gently cupped the side of her face. "What's going on that head of yours?"

The bond between them thrummed with Sabra's turmoil. Flickers of shame bled through, running so deep it caught Aya off guard. She'd never felt anything like it in the bond before. Not after any of the missions they'd undertaken together or the trail of death they often left in their wake.

Sabra pulled away and leaned against one of the trees, arms folded across her chest. "I thought I saw someone I used to know. Which is impossible, so this is probably nothing and I am just losing my mind. It had to happen eventually, I suppose."

The forced levity in her words pulled Aya's brown into a knot.

"I believe you," Aya said. "So, why the shame?"

Sabra's head jerked up, piercing her with a glower. "Some days I really hate it the bond."

It was a lie. They both knew it. The bond had saved their necks more than once and gave them comfort on their worst days. Sabra sunk to the ground, glaring at it, as if it were the most offending thing in the world.

Aya sighed and dropped down beside her, resting their shoulders against each other. The quiet of the forest filled the void between them. Leaves rustled their melancholic melody, the birds occasionally chirping and distant critters scampered across the leaf-litter. Even the ghosts with their distant, mournful song that only she heard, danced against her ear.

Aya shoved her gently. "What happened?"

Sabra tipped her face to the moonlight, closing her eyes as she answered in a low voice, "I was a soldier. I told you that but never much more. It wasn't that it was a completely horrible time in my life. I was a good soldier, not great or in a position of power. I had a unit who I thought of as my family. Demons I trusted to have my back."

Another silence followed as Sabra drew her knees up to her chest. Grief pinched her face, tears welling in her eyes. Aya reached out to brush them away, but Sabra gently nudged her hand away.

"I had someone…a friend. I loved them. More than anything. But there was this big battle. We'd fought in so many before that, so we weren't afraid. It was just a part of our life. But when the ash settled, I couldn't find them. I looked but it was chaos in the aftermath. In the end, I got desperate and—"

Sabra cut herself off. Tears spilled free down her cheeks. Aya reached for her again and this time Sabra didn't fight her as she pulled her friend into her arms. Sobs wracked Sabra's body, each sound cleaving Aya in two. She didn't know how to help her friend, to heal the wound gaping within her. Hell, what did she know about fixing those wounds when she'd barely done anything with her own? Those she'd left to fester away inside of her.

She rubbed small circles on the small of Sabra's back, humming a melody her mother used to sing to her. The words were lost to time but the sound she knew, had it burned into her very soul.

They sat together among the shadows and the quiet until Sabra's body finally stilled. She didn't pull away but turned her face to press her cheek against Aya's upper arm.

"I broke into the records hall, trying to find out if they had been recorded as dead or moved onto another unit. Some of the army had already moved onto other territories. But I got caught and punished." Sabra released another broken sound, as though her own soul was cracking apart. "I was sitting in that fucking cell when I was brought here."

"And you never found out what happened to them."

Sabra finally pulled away and wiped her face with a shuddering laugh, the sound hollow and detached. "We were never far from each other, practically attached at the hip. They must think I abandoned them."

"I doubt that. That's not who you are, and I doubt that is who you were back then."

Shadows flittered across Sabra's face, her mouth tight. She rose suddenly and instinctively smoothed her tunic down. "That's just it. Aya. I was a different demon back then." She set off again but paused a few feet away, her face unreadable, eyes shuttered. "Come on, we should head back. Best not leave the others to do all the work."

There were more questions Aya had about this friend. Not jealousy for Sabra having cared about someone other than her, that she even had a past. It was concern, plain and simple, for she knew how dangerous it was to allow shame to fester. How rapidly it poisoned, devouring any light and joy, until darkness was all one knew.

"Sab—"

Sabra was already moving again, melting into the darkness, and the conversation with it.

After hours of digging through the boxes, they were no closer to gleaning any understanding of how to deal with the barrier or just how bad things might become. Was the search for the goddess still being led by this unknown council member? Or had they given up, leaving Aya and her family to figure out how to heal the barrier?

The only lead they had was the strange orders from Marisol. Anything they found in Lilibet's possessions offered only things they knew. How she enchanted the assassins to go after Calix, how she chose them, some of the items she used for the process. She'd hoped some of it would help but it was becoming increasingly apparent they would need access to Honoria's possessions.

Aya glowered at the boxes as she stood before them. "This isn't working."

"What isn't?" Elaine asked.

"This." She waved to the pile. "We're working with one hand tied behind our back."

Elaine leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "We have to get into Honoria's office."

No matter how she looked at it, she didn't know a way into the temple. Before, she'd considered how to break in. Mostly in attempts to piss Honoria off, burn some of her stuff, break a few windows. Little things. But she never did them because the wards were too strong, and she was acutely aware of how serious the fallout would be.

The absolute last thing she desired was for Elaine to risk herself by going near that den of vipers.

Elaine rose from the table. "Sabra and I should go. See if we can find a weakness in the ward or scope out what the witches are up to. Perhaps there is something we might take advantage of."

"Like hell!" Aya snapped. "They'll kill you."

"Perhaps," conceded Elaine with a wry smile. "But I am a witch and not exactly defenseless. We won't know what the state of the temple is until we have a look. Who knows, they might just be afraid to leave because of retaliation. They might be willing to speak to me, especially if I assure them of no retribution."

Aya's jaw clamped shut.

Retribution.

Not from the others but from her . Afraid that if they even left the temple, she'd kill them. Aya looked away, cheeks warm.

"They might be still following Honoria's plans."

"Perhaps." Elaine moved around the table, closing in. "They will either attack straight out or try to manipulate us back into the same position we were before. Regardless, we can't keep avoiding them. We deal with this head on."

Aya looked to Sabra, Tobias and Alexios. Their reluctance was clear, but none voiced any argument, and Aya knew at once she was outnumbered. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Fine but if you do go in there, you will be alone. Sabra won't be able to follow."

A flicker of hesitation lit in Elaine's eyes before retreating beneath a stony mask. "Let them try." The mask slipped again as Elaine gently touched her hand. "Besides, I think their fear of you will stay their hand."

Aya wasn't convinced.

To no surprise, Aya dreamed of Akaria. Only this time, it wasn't the realm of her people. Rather, it was somewhere else. A garden enclosed with high stone walls, blooming ivy stretching across nearly every inch of it. Little red flowers dotted raised garden beds around a weeping willow.

A starlit sky glittered above but it wasn't stars she knew, and as she stretched out her magic, testing the garden, it was the dark magic of the death goddess that greeted her.

"I haven't decided yet," she announced to the shadows.

Akaria emerged from the willow, smiling in that knowing, unreadable way. The shadows stretched out toward her, dancing around her feet.

"I know but I wanted us to talk a little more."

Aya stared for a moment before she gazed upon the garden once more. It was easier than trying to decipher those dark, fathomless pools that made her feel small and floundering.

"Where am I?"

"My palace in the Eternal Realm."

The air whooshed out of her. She swayed on her feet as ice flooded her veins. Blood roared in her ears as she fought to regain her control. She sucked in a deep breath before smoothing over her face. Once satisfied she wasn't going to make a complete fool of herself, she turned.

She squared her shoulders. "Then talk."