8. NEW EYES

Chapter eight

NEW EYES

" Y ou don't understand!" I slammed my fist into the nearest bookshelf, sending tomes crashing to the ground. "Malachi is selling mortals. Humans , Death, are being trafficked through the Shroud somehow. If he's willing to do something that sadistic, and his own hounds don't know better than to attack their future queen, you can't seriously stand there prepared to do nothing!"

"I. Am. Bound!" Shadows slipped from Cadagon's fingers in plumes, filling the moonlit space with incredible darkness. The spiral staircase leading to the topmost shelves rattled under the weight of his projected energy. "You speak to me as if I haven't known true suffering in my sacrifices to protect my daughter. As if I wouldn't do anything in my power to see to her safety! But I cannot intervene here."

"If you wanted her safe, you'd tell me what you know!" My nails dug into my palms. "Someone threatened her."

"Threatened her? Who? What did they say, precisely? Do not skip any detail."

Whatever had been in that box had scared the living shit out of Kimber. So much so, she'd almost let the details slip to me—her supposed mortal enemy—but in the end, she'd kept it close to the chest. My guess? She was trying to piece together if I—Lyvias—had something to do with it all. I sucked in a heavy breath. "I…I don't know. She received a package, and whatever was inside riled her."

Death sighed and interlocked his hands in front of him. "Cooper, while I understand your concern, without accurate details I cannot do anything to help in this matter."

"You've got to be kidding me! You're the Reigning Reaper. What happened to the ‘I have eyes everywhere' bullshit? Find out!"

"Do not order me to do anything! And who is to say I have the means or the resources to provide the answers you seek?"

"You do. You're just too much of a coward to risk anything on her behalf!"

Cadagon's sights narrowed. "You are treading on thin ice, boy."

If he couldn't intervene like he claimed, it meant whatever deal he'd made somehow touched Malachi or the club or the hounds or…fuck! Whose sins was he hiding? I pointed a finger at him and pushed my shoulders back. "Don't play coy with me. I saw the way your brow twitched when I mentioned Malachi's true potential. What are we up against here? Give me a hint, a lead, something—"

An invisible hold locked around my throat, the burn of hunger minimal compared to the severe pressure. I fought for words, but they refused me. I'd never had the unpleasant experience of being claustrophobic in my own damn body, and yet here I stood. Panicked. Trapped. Sinking deeper into my own crippling fear. The stained glass window began to blur into an amalgamation of color, all borders lost. I clawed at my skin, but still the candlelight from the overhead chandelier dimmed. Stop. I needed it to stop !

"You are wasting your time," Cadagon snarled. "I cannot give you the insight you seek. End of story. And while you stand here demanding things of me, your charge wanders the halls alone. Unprotected. A breach of contract, some would say."

He released me. My breath returned, but the throb—the pressure—remained. I studied him closer, my expression hardening. "You're torturing me now?"

Cadagon didn't bother to respond but raised his hands, palms out. Magic no longer leached from him, but my breath wouldn't steady; my body wouldn't relax. Thick, acidic vomit rose up my throat, burning like fresh slices of a razor blade. What the hell was going on? He'd hexed me! Cursed me! Something, because...the burn . I fell to my knees—sludgy, black tar projecting from my lips—and the all-too-familiar tug of soul and body severing apart sent my heart into overdrive. The sourness of rot sat heavy on my tongue. Seriously, how many times could one person approach death's door before losing their ever-loving mind?

"What is this?" I choked out.

"That," Cadagon said calmly, "is what it means to retract on one's blood pact. As I am bound to another, so too are you to me. To her. Or do you wish to leave her to the wolves?"

"Never!"

Tar dribbled down my chin in chunks, but it solidified suddenly, blocking my airway like I'd swallowed gravel. Pure torture. If there truly was a hell on another plane, this sensation hailed from it. My lungs labored for a modicum of air to sustain me.

"Make it stop," I barely pushed out.

"Our arrangement remains intact then?"

"Yes," I forced.

"Good." All at once, the torment fell away in a heartbeat. Gone. An eerie, unsettling sensation. The room spun as Cadagon leaned down, offering me a fresh cloth from his inner robe. "Clean yourself up. You look a mess."

I crawled to the nearest chair, slithered into it, and focused on evening my breath. In and out. One, two, three. Once I'd regained control—my shirt ruined by whatever matter had poured out of me—I looked Death straight in his burning irises. "That's what happens when you break a blood pact?"

"Yes. The steeper the terms, the worse the consequences. Your deal with me will allot you no kindness should you breach our agreement; do not forget that."

"Fuck…" I sighed, thankful to be in control again. But he still hadn't given me what I needed. I considered another angle. A safer one. "Can you tell me anything ?"

"Now that is a better question. I can tell you that the past holds the key to the present."

A cynical laugh passed my lips. "Because that's super helpful."

"The family crypt. You will find your answers and Kimber there. Look for the final resting place of Ivy Bitters, counterpart to Reigning Reaper Shadra. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

"How will I know where to find her grave?" I called after him.

"You'll know."

"Right."

He started towards the door. "It might not have occurred to you in your emotional fit, but have you considered simply asking Kimberly what resided in that box? Considered she might need a shoulder to lean on?"

The realization hit me hard. I hadn't. I'd been too wrapped up in my own feelings. My own rage. "I guess I could try that…"

"I suggest you do. The weight of our kingdom rests on her shoulders, and I would go so far as to say she could use a friend right now. Even one who bears the face of her enemy."

Death paused at the door but didn't turn back to me, his next words carrying through my head for me alone to hear. And one final thing. I need you to promise me something.

I narrowed my gaze. "Promise you what?"

His shoulders slouched as his head came to rest on the door frame. The sight—vulnerable and out of character for the king of Death—shook me. You must agree.

"You don't want to bind me in another pact first? Make sure I can't get out of it?"

He forced a laugh . No. This promise will be an easy one to fulfill, because her life depends on it.

"Name it." I stood and stepped closer.

When the time comes, you must end my life.

Cadagon's words haunted me on my trudge to the royal graveyard. He'd uttered no other words. Explained nothing. But I knew in agreeing to his request, I would never get a straight answer. Why would anyone seek their own murder? The only reason I could come up with was that his pacts had gotten away from him. That he'd bound himself so impossibly tight in his attempt to protect Kimber—which I was becoming increasingly convinced was his true desire—he'd decided death would be an easier solution than reaping the consequences of a broken pact. His desperation had practically flowed off of him, the conviction in his request bone-chilling. Almost like he feared something...or someone. Whoever had the ability to rattle the Reigning Reaper's cage in such a way was surely an enemy of the crown—and Kim. Another mystery to add to my research list. Whoever the hell they were, I would find them, and I would kill them.

For the time being, I had a standing date with the future queen.

Finding Ivy Bitters' final resting place and her personal accounts of the shapeshifter massacre wasn't nearly as difficult as expected. Seeing Kimber weep over the coffin housing my supposed body, however? Quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Her tears, her loneliness: they made my chest ache.

She ran a finger across the coffin. "I think I have a target on my back. And that's not even the sickest part. Bet you can't guess what was in that damn box."

I stiffened.

"His dick, dude." She laughed. "How sick is that? Guess the hounds really have it out for me now. But don't worry; I'll find a way to take them out somehow…for you."

What a sick bastard! Who in their right mind did that kind of thing? Her words disturbed me, but what rattled me more was how in the midst of chaos, she was still thinking of me. Suddenly, I understood Cadagon, because I too was bound. Despite the overwhelming desire to pull her to me and kiss the tears from her face, I hid instead, donning yet another mask. While she loved Poe, her affections toward my alternate form were not the same. Nonetheless, I savored the small smile she gifted me on approach. At least my growing bloodlust curbed slightly when in my winged form, though Kimber's scent tempted me regardless. Red wine and citrus: intoxicating as hell.

I spent some time helping her find answers, her usual stubbornness shining through. Regrettably, I had to bite her to steer the dang woman in the right direction, but I'd be lying if her shock hadn't made me chuckle. Following her back to her room, I fell asleep in her arms. Well, Poe did anyway, but that didn't stop me from soaking up her peace. The quiet. The contentment.

My tranquility was short-lived, of course. Restless and hungry for answers, Kim slipped out in the night with her sights set on The Book of Shade .

I rushed through my transition—breaking my body to meld back into Lyvias's form—determined not to waste precious time. A decision I knew I'd pay for later. Knife pricks stabbed at my temples—a migraine already setting in—but I followed. My hands quivered. I wouldn't lose her, not with the frantic energy I'd picked up in her leaving. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

She snuck through the halls, her silk gown swaying in the wake of her hurried steps. Wrapped in moonlight from the overhead, domed windows, she paused on the main staircase, searching. Naturally, I couldn't waste a perfectly good opportunity to scare the living shit out of her. After all, that's what friends are for, right?

"Where are you going?" I called from the shadows.

She jumped, grasping her chest and cursing my name. "Lower your damn voice."

I smiled and stepped out from the hallway. After some persistence on my part, she accepted my help, but not before denying me time and time again. Commendable, really: her wariness of me, given whose face I wore. But I couldn't let her go, not when my gut told me to be vigilant. Warned me that trouble lingered nearby. Right on cue, said trouble presented itself at precisely the most inopportune moment.

Nasheesh.

He emerged from a nearby corridor. The way he slunk about looking over his shoulder at every turn made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He was up to something. I grabbed Kim, sweeping her up the stairs into the dark hall and pinning her to the wall.

She shoved against my chest. "Get off!"

Shock waves raced down my limbs as I drank her in up close. Those lips, that sharp tongue. Gods, how I wanted to devour her. To kiss my way down the supple skin of her neck and sink my teeth into the dip above her shoulder. A reckless desire. One that threatened to undue everything I'd done to secure my secret and remain by her side. Yet I leaned closer. My gaze dropped to her lips; her own eyes mirrored mine. Her pounding heartbeat echoed in my ears. Wait, did she want me? But as quickly as the thought came, it passed. Honestly, maybe I'd imagined it all together.

When Nasheesh disappeared from view, I released her, and she was off like a shot. Raw emotion had always fueled Kim, but this was different. Insistent.

I reached for her. "I bid to extend our truce."

"What?" She pulled from my hold.

"Let me come with you."

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I can see the fear in your eyes." I stepped closer. "And if the contents of that box scared the woman who pinned me to the ground with an axe upon our first meeting, it's clearly something I should know about."

She argued until blue in the face, but finally she caved, presenting a note written by Odin. He wanted war. And hell, if I wasn't more than pleased to give it to him.

By the time we found Death's quarters and managed to sneak past his personal bodyguard—a sandman far from home and possessed by his duty to protect the king—Kimber's energy had grown static, nearly flustered, which struck me as odd considering her usual demeanor. Her hands trembled as she attempted to get the centuries' old Reigning Reaper tome to obey her.

"It doesn't react to my blood," she snapped. "It won't open."

I leaned closer. "It's The Book of Shade , right? So use your shadows."

Her magic streamed from her fingertips like billowing smoke, slithering across the pages; and the book fluttered open, stopping on a specific page.

She squinted at the words, and her brow crinkled. "This doesn't make any sense. This passage is about hybrids."

"Hybrids don't exist."

"Right…"

She flipped the pages, the flutter of paper a serene whisper. But the scream on her lips as the book seemingly nipped her finger? Not so much. The sandman rushed in with a hiss, taking Kimber to the ground before I could blink. Goosebumps crawled up my neck as I attempted to pry the being off her, but its ironclad grip held firm. Convinced things couldn't possibly get any worse, my stomach dropped as Cadagon's presence shook the room. Awesome . He snapped, and the sandman released his hold.

Death glared at Kim. "Of all the infuriating things you've done since your arrival, this is the worst yet."

"I won't apologize," she bit back. "I will find out what you're hiding, and you can't—"

"Silence! You have outdone yourself this time, my foolish daughter."

They sniped back and forth, but what caught my attention wasn't their harsh words for one another, but rather the strange pauses between Kim's responses. It was as if something, somewhere, had tapped into her brain, like an incoming call on a nonexistent headset. Without warning, she hurled her shadows at Death, which he dodged with minimal effort.

"You made an oath to fulfill your role," he snarled, pinning her in place. "You will remain here in Anathema, even if that means I have to sever your connection to the astral."

It hit me the same moment her pleading glance did: the fear, the distraction, the urgency. June. That's who'd been calling to her.

"Help me. Please, Lyvias," she begged.

I flashed her a grin. "You fucking owe me."

Though I knew it might be the death of me, I tackled Cadagon. Kim seized her opportunity, launching into the astral to find her lover. It was just me and good ol' daddy Death now. He rocketed me off him, slamming me into the nearest wall.

"You absolute fool!" He knotted his fingers in his hair. "Do you realize what you've done?"

I jumped to my feet—my attention bouncing between Death and the sandman—and slowly circled the room. "You mean, having a heart and allowing her to check on Juniper? Yeah, I stand by my decision, old man."

While I'd always envied June and the connection she shared with Kim, there was no choice when it came to giving them the chance to be near one another. My girl's needs were mine, even if her affections might never be.

"Her lover is no mere being!" Death boomed.

"What does that mean ? I don't—"

"She's the embodiment of Fate, Cooper!" Cadagon's anger slipped away to reveal raw, palpable fear. "What you have done risks Kimber's life more than any shortsighted decision you have made to date! The knowledge hidden within the Reigning Reaper's tome causes a rapid acceleration in one's cosmic path if read before their ascension to power. Do you understand?"

Fate. Kim was in love with the incarnation of Fate ? Holy… I shook my head, forgetting to breathe. "I didn't know."

"That is because you do not think , and now Kimberly's destiny has awoken before its time. The sliver of astral space created by their connection in order to meet each other in the Shroud is a temporary place, and the door to access it is closing by the second—with her in it!" Death's face grew eerily still. "Not only is her life in grave danger, but should she survive, her heart will be shattered. In helping yourselves to that book, you severed the connection between the future Fate and Death before the Goddess intended."

No. I thought…I…damn it!

"I'll go after her. I'll help her undo it. I'll find Juniper and—"

"No, you have done enough damage for one night. I will see to her care." Death snapped his fingers, and his disturbing pet floated to his side, fixing its hollow, expressionless face on me. "For what it is worth, part of me wishes I could spare you the consequences of your actions, but the laws of the cosmos are inevitable."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

And then the sandman opened its gaping maw, smoke pouring out to consume me whole.

Energy zapped across my skull. The sensation mimicked what I imagined it might feel like to shove a fork in a light socket. Then…nothing. I looked around, but there was only darkness. Pitch black. Wait, were my eyes actually open? I brought my hand to my face and twiddled my fingers about, but again…nothing. Where the hell was I?

"You defied the natural order of things, shapeshifter," something whispered in the blackness. "You defied Fate's wishes. For this, you must be punished."

The words opened up a cavern in the darkness, and I saw it: the sandman. Emotionless. Reaching.

Suddenly, I felt everything in a devastating rush. Wherever I'd landed, I didn't belong. The frost accumulating on my skin told me I was somewhere other: a place never intended for the living or anything warm. Beastly visions cascaded through me: gnashing teeth, the sky torn in half by taloned fingers. All the while, the sandman punched and drained me. Each strike of the creature's hand brought its smoke closer, surrounding me in a gut-wrenching loneliness and an aching throb. A delicacy for the sandman, it appeared. The monster devoured my fear in mouthfuls, its rabid thirst eager to break me for stepping outside the universal fabric laid out by the Old Gods. On and on it went, but for how long I couldn't decipher. Had it been hours? Days?

The cloaked figure landed another hard crack to my jaw, splitting my bottom lip and crashing me back to the present. "Where have you taken me?"

A hollow laugh slipped past the sandman's emotionless lips. "Where all go to be punished for their crimes against the Old Gods. A place of nightmares. A place of forgotten children. A place of destitution and foul magic. Look, and behold your fate."

The smoke parted, and my swollen eyes managed to make out a shred of the world around me. Monstrous cries lifted into the violet sky, solidifying the all-consuming sense that I was being hunted. Forgotten children…Old Gods…destitution…

"The Shroud," I whispered.

The sandman hissed. "How do you know of the in-between?"

A tinge of relief flitted through me. If I'd made it into the Shroud, then likely Kim had too. Maybe she'd found Juniper and gotten to say her goodbyes. If so, then I'd succeeded in my promise to the woman I loved and ensured her right to attend to the woman she loved. I'd upheld my word. But on the other hand, I'd failed. A toxic mix of gratitude and guilt swept through me. It'd never been my intention to put Kim in harm's way, let alone seal her heartbreak in the same breath. My chest tightened. Maybe there was still time to change this. If I could figure out a way to escape this nightmarish creature and find Kim, I'd have a chance to redeem myself, save her, and get her home.

"You've grown too thirsty in your search for knowledge, false Lord. Such untamed thirst must be quenched and repaid for its wicked reach. Broken down and made to yield."

My wrist rose to my lips of its own volition, sliding between my teeth as the sandman smiled for the first and only time.

"Drink, and be purged of your sins."

Drink? My own blood? A punishment like that was dealt to the worst offenders in Anathema's rankings. Murderers and treasonous filth. Not me. Not— It hit me as my teeth sank into the thick blue veins of my wrist. To the sandman, I was a traitor. I'd defied the king's orders and put the future queen in danger. This monster perceived me as one far worse. Maybe it was right.

Frigid, salty blood spilled across my tongue, pooled in my cheeks, and clawed its way down my throat. Blisters and boils burst forth in its wake, paralyzing me. I accepted my fate. I deserved it: the torture, the punishment. There would be no escape or freedom from this prison. And you know what? Fair enough. I'd failed, and every burning sip reminded me of that failure. So despite how I yearned to call out for Kim, I denied myself as I always did; because the sole person who'd stuck by my side, who'd truly seen me, I'd abandoned. I didn't deserve her.

"Go on then," I called out into the void. "Finish me!"

Blinding light ripped through the darkness, sending the sandman cowering into the distance. Sunlight trailed its warm touch across my skin, instantly lifting the layer of frost and soothing the burn in my chest. What in the actual fuck? A hand gripped my elbow and pulled me to my feet.

"Who are you?" a silky voice asked.

The light she wielded; her rich, dark skin; the peace she carried…I knew her, if only in the context of Kimber's words. Juniper. Fate .

I struggled to stay on my feet. "Did you find her? Kim? She needs you. You must go to her before it's too late!"

"Too late?" June's brow crumpled as her grasp on me tensed. "How do you know Kimber? How do you know me ?"

I struggled to find the words, to lessen the blow, but fact was fact. "You don't have much time. You have to go!"

"I do not bend to Time's will; he bends to mine," she scoffed.

With the flick of her wrist, the scene around us pivoted on its axis, coming to rest back over us in a strange, sloth-like tone. The clouds above no longer swirled violently but rather spun, slow and steady. The ripping wind settled into a gentle breeze. No. Way.

"Did you just slow time? That's incredible!"

"One of the many perks of being Fate incarnate. Now take a breath, and tell me what I need to know."

I did as she said, and my panic dropped down a notch. "Kim…she opened The Book of Shade ."

"What?" Light billowed in her hands. "How could Death have let this happen? The insolence!"

"It wasn't his fault; it was mine. Kim sought answers regarding her enemies, and I encouraged her."

"Her enemies are closing in? But…I didn't foresee it. How can this be?"

"Look, I know it doesn't make any sense, and you don't owe me anything, but you have to trust me. If you don't go now, you may never get a chance to…"

Her sights danced across my face expectantly, but my tongue turned to lead, unwilling to spew the heartbreak on the tip of my tongue.

"Never get a chance to—" Her words stopped short as her golden eyes fell to her feet. "I…I have to say goodbye. This explains why our connection felt so weak when I called out to her. Why I landed here with you and not her. Our bond is severing."

"I'm so sorry," I muttered.

"I knew this day would come, but selfishly I had hoped to hold onto her a little while longer. To love her as if she was destined to be mine, though I knew. I knew ."

I grabbed her hands. "I know how much you two mean to each other, and I can't bear the thought of her moving forward without a chance to be near you one last time. Or you to her."

She smirked, studying me closely. "You're Cooper, aren't you?"

"How did you know that?"

"Kim has told me much about you and how you've always taken great care of her. That, and glamours peel away under Fate's gaze, even clever ones such as yours. Why do you wear the vampire Lord's face when you're of shapeshifter decent?"

"I am whatever Kim needs me to be," I said, stern in my conviction.

She pursed her lips. "Even if it means wearing the mask of her enemy?"

"Without question."

"You can stand her hating you? Blaming you?" June squinted as the world around us sped up a click.

I swallowed hard. "If that's what it takes to ensure her victory, then yes."

"Because you're in love with her, aren't you?"

Oh, shit. I hadn't expected to get into a pissing contest—especially one I would one hundred percent lose —with the personification of a goddess. Regardless, I knew better than to lie to Fate, no matter how much I wanted to avoid being reduced to a pile of ash.

"Yes, but I do not expect her returned affection. I just want to keep her safe."

The understanding reflected in June's stare told me she was quite familiar with that sentiment.

"Honorable." She smirked. "I will go to her, but first there is something I must do."

Ethereal light dripped from her hand, encasing me in pure euphoria and sinking into my veins. My blood. My very life force. An angelic song echoed through my head in a tongue I'd never heard and somehow knew. A lost language.

"You have a strong heart. You will need it for the path laid before you. For your efforts in protecting the one I love, I honor you with the gift of unrivaled sight." She tapped a single fingertip on my forehead, and the entire scene pulsed around her. "And do remember: the desires of her heart are not all that matters. Be true to your hopes lest you fall victim to another's destiny and abandon your own. Now, see with your new eyes and fix your gaze upon those who wish our queen harm."

I bowed before her. "Thank you, Fate."

"My friends call me June." With a wink, she was gone.

I stood there as time reshaped itself. The sky spun, and the wind whipped once more, a symphony of cries and moans erupting around me. Monstrous cries. But one stood out above the rest, carrying closer. Though my vision remained fuzzy, I spun around to face the incoming threat.

My heart sank.

There at the meadow's edge sat a creature so foul it locked my knees in place. My palms grew clammy under the weight of its stare. Eerily motionless, head tilted, a disturbed grin twisting clear up to the beast's temples. Holy fucking shit. Blue skin, long talons. I'd seen that face before…mounted on Malachi's wall. Chaos: the amalgamated child of the original Fate and Death. Great. Just what I needed.

A strange mist radiated from it—thick and seeping—and wafted to me on the breeze. Dark, baneful magic. Wait, how did I know that? I brushed a hand across my face. Right, unrivaled sight. But had Fate gifted me the means to see all magical affinities? Or was this unique to the creature before me?

"Come to me, oh mighty vampire Lord, so I may feast upon your bones," Chaos called with a sinister laugh.

Oh, gods. I smacked my cheeks. Wake up! Or was I even asleep? The Shroud was one confusing-ass plane. Did I need to click my heels together three times like Dorothy? Recite, "There's no place like home"?

Chaos charged, and I about pissed my pants before taking off at a sprint. Winding through thorn bushes sharp as razors, I tried my best to ignore the clomping steps drawing closer and closer. Run. I had to run, and then I'd be safe. Right?

Too bad I didn't notice the low-hanging branch about to knock my damn lights out.