Chapter 48

Panic tore its claws through Ursula’s mind.

In a blur of shadows, Abrax leapt onto the sand of the arena. Powerful shadow magic swirled around him—a vortex of night. A black tendril flew over the sand wrapping Bael’s chest, and in the next moment, he was on his knees, blood pouring from his wound.

Ursula could hear his ribs crack as Abrax’s magic slowly constricted, and she screamed.

Abrax stared at her, a smile curling his lips. “You killed one of my golems, harlot. And your boyfriend destroyed the other. I hope you don’t mind if I kill your man.”

She glanced around for her sword. How many demons could she fight at once?

Hothgar’s eyes were black with rage. “He claimed a hound as his wife. He has desecrated Nyxobas’s realm. The god of night could not protect him now.”

Ursula could see Bael’s muscles straining as he fought against the magical bonds, his face turning blue.

Rage, cold and ancient, burned through her veins. She gathered the last of the shadow magic in her body, concentrating on a spot just next to Abrax. She tore over the sand, slamming into Abrax’s side. Knocking him to the ground.

Instantly, his shadow magic lashed at her, wrapping around her chest. Like a giant serpent, it constricted, squeezing the air from her. She could feel her bones flex.

One of her ribs cracked, and she gasped at the pain.Why was Nyxobas never here to oversee his own laws?

Abrax chanted in Angelic, and his magic began to leach into her. She could feel its icy tendrils searching through her veins. The pain was exquisite, like she’d been injected with liquid nitrogen. The magic sucked the warmth from her, wrapping her heart in ice.

Filling with raw panic, she glanced at Bael. He lay on the sand across from her, his eyes open, but unfocused.

There is no loophole, he’d said. The gods always win.

Bael had been right.

Slowly, Abrax’s magic crept up her neck, stealing her breath. Horror slammed into her as shadow magic slipped into her skull, enveloping her in darkness.

She stood at the edge of the void. Its infinite vastness spread out before her. An endless chasm. A bottomless abyss. If she stepped off the edge, she would fall for eternity. Only the darkness will save you.

The lure of the void called to her, a dark lullaby. A siren song. My mother. My father. My home.

She took a final step off the edge, and she fell into the abyss. All around her, she sensed Nyxobas’s dark power, growing stronger.

“Hello, little one.” An ancient voice chilled her to the bone.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Is it not obvious? I am Lord of the Realm of Shadows, the god of night, king of the void.”

A voice rang in her head, clear as a bell, a siren song. Kill the king. Kill the king.

“When I look at you, why do I hear the words, ‘kill the king?’”

“So you remember.”

“Remember what?”

Cold silence greeted her, and dread snaked up her spine. She didn’t want to be here. She needed to explain that this was all a mistake. “Abrax and Hothgar have betrayed you.” Even as she said the words, they felt meaningless to her—the squabbles of the living seemed inconsequential in the vastness of the void.

“Abrax is foolish and weak,” he said.

“He sent me here against my will.”

“Then leave.”

“How?” she asked.

“The same way you arrived.”

“Abrax cast a spell on me.”

“Fight back. That’s why I brought you here. To see if you are worthy.”

“I don’t know how to counter his power.”

“When you learn to accept the darkness, you will have all the power you could possibly desire.”

The icy magic around her grew stronger. Compressing her into a tiny point.

“Don’t fight the shadows,” he said. “Accept their power.”

Shadow magic crawled over her skin, searching for a way into her. She screamed, and inky magic poured down her throat.

Nyxobas was right. The Forgotten Ones were right. And deep down, she knew this was what she wanted. There was no choice but to give in. To accept it. She let the shadows fill her.

“Good, little one. Feel the darkness move within you. The shadows will do your bidding. You just need to ask.”

She opened her eyes, blinking at the sudden brightness of the stars in the sky.

Abrax hunched over her. His spell had filled her with shadow magic, and now it hummed in her veins.Power she could use. The bonds that wrapped around her chest melted away.

Abrax jumped back, his pale eyes wide with horror. “Seven hells. What are you?”

“Right now, I’m your angel of death.”

Shadows flowed from her, oozing from her pores, pooling on the sand. She bent to pick up her katana.

Abrax charged for her, shadow running at impossible speed. But to her, it looked as though he was moving in slow motion. She sidestepped, just as she had with Bael, then plunged her katana into his chest.

Abrax fell, eyes wide with horror. Ursula pressed down on the hilt of her blade pinning him to the sand.

“I am immortal,” he snarled up at her. “You know you cannot kill me.”

A strange certainty filled her body, rolled around the inside of her skull. She knew what she had to do. “No, but now I can take your magic.”

She leaned down, pressing a hand to his chest. She could feel the shadow magic within him. Cold, ancient, and immensely powerful. Slowly she drew it from his body. Abrax’s eyes widened with fear.

“Stop.” It was Bael. Blood dripped from his mouth where he crouched on the sand. His skin had paled, and he shook violently. “We need to leave.”

“What about your wings?”

“There isn’t time to get them.”His eyes flicked to something behind her. She glanced behind her at the oneiroi guards now pouring into the arena. Teeth bared, they twitched with the same madness that had possessed Massu. These were Abrax’s oneiroi.

Slowly pushing to his feet, Bael whistled, and a dark shaped dove toward them. Sotz. The bat flew for them at full speed, but there was only one way to catch him.

She wrapped her arms around Bael’s chest. Glancing up at Sotz, she imagined the soft fur on his back, and let the shadow magic coil around her muscles. Clinging tightly to Bael, she jumped into the wind, letting the god of night carry her up to Sotz.