Chapter 53

I'd never known Death to be erratic, not even angry. I'd never seen him as anything beyond cunning, truly, but standing outside his gates, both moons shining down on him like spotlights on a stage, I held my breath, wondering what that determined look in his eyes meant.

"Hello, my Deyanira."

I said nothing, as always, casting my eyes to the floor.

"My court has been inundated with souls as of late, including my secret Death Lord. Would you care to explain?"

The tang of blood filling my mouth from biting my tongue was nothing compared to the way my fingers trembled.

Death moved closer without taking a step. He simply glided toward me on a phantom wind, gripping my face, forcing me to look at him. "There is a time for games and a time for truth. You will speak, or I will force the words from your mouth before I rip out this tongue. And eternity without your voice is a miserable existence, I'm told."

I swallowed, letting the blood coat my throat.

"In one fell swoop, hundreds of souls have entered my court, though none can name their murderer. Not a blade to the throat, as is your signature, but death by magic. My magic. And Icharius Fern has assured me you have a name. Tell me who holds power that should only belong to my chosen."

I squeezed my eyes shut, panic rising within me as I realized what he was saying. Somehow Orin truly did have magic gifted from Death himself, but that wasn't the surprise. It was the fact that he hadn't known about it. And I had seconds to defy the only god I'd ever known in order to protect a man that held my heart.

"Give me the name, Deyanira. I will not ask again."

I stood firm, my lip curling in disgust as I held my ground. He could condemn me to his court right now and I still wouldn't speak Orin's name. I would spend an eternity suffering before I let Death have him.

He dragged a sharp finger down my cheek, leaning so close there was no doubt he could see me tremble. Though not with fear, but anger because of all the gods, we were left with one that would rain misery on a suffering world for his own pleasure. But what difference did it make who held such power when Death could take whatever he wanted from our world? He had gifted each person of Requiem a hundred years of immortality, but his magic remained. I remained. The Death Maiden had been his promise that should the world fall to pieces, he would bring it down. Why would he need Orin? Why search for one with that power unless… he couldn't? Perhaps his magic was not infinite.

I will see you in a few days, my beauty. I have a good feeling about this one.

Death is hunting someone.

The realization melted over me as I stepped backward. He was hunting Orin's power.

"I see something in your eyes, Deyanira. Tell me what it is."

Another step backward.

He snatched my hand before I could move again, yanking me toward him as he purred with delight in my ear. "The first and last time you disappoint me lives in this moment. Shall we start close to home, then?"

"No!" I roared, trying to pull away. But there was no escaping Death's absolute hold as his power raced down my arm.

"She speaks." He chuckled.

Again, I tried to fight him, pulling away, though I had no idea how I would escape beyond his grasp. I didn't matter, though, not as white-hot pain raced across my palm, burning my flesh to embers as a name was given. A name I couldn't bear to see.

"Look, Deyanira."

I couldn't. Squeezing my eyes shut so he would not see the tears, I willed myself to wake, but the hold did not waver, and the heat of Death's court didn't retreat.

"I will hold you here until I see your face. Do not test me, my darling. I'm far better at this game than you are."

He could've gripped my throat and ripped all the air from my lungs. He could've shoved his hand into my heart and squeezed until I felt as though he'd ripped it from my weakening chest. But he hadn't. All those sensations were my own as I crumbled to the ground and held those burning letters to my chest, so afraid to see which of my family he'd selected.

"Look," he demanded again. And, as though the power of his words ripped my will in two, my eyes fell to the name burned into my palm, just as every piece of my heart shattered.

Orin Faber.

The love of my life.

My husband.

The single death I would never recover from. The man that had carried me would now die at my hands. When I glanced up at Death's beautiful face, it twisted into something far more grotesque. He delighted in the visceral pain throbbing within my soul.

"Thank you for sharing this moment, my Deyanira. I will see you soon." He pulled me from the rocky ground with a firm grip on my bicep. "I have a really good feeling about this one."

And then he was gone. His court fell to darkness as my dream faded.

The cool sheets of our bed grounded me, though the tears were silent. I could feel him lying there, the arm wrapped heavily around my waist, the soothing breaths on my ear.

Orin.

The magic pulsed; a hairline tinge of madness curled around his name in my mind, and I thought I'd be sick with the panic of it.

As slowly as my racing heart would allow, I slipped from the bed and darted down the hall, tears running freely. Ripping Thea's door open, I ran to her, shaking her awake with all the fear and hysteria present on my face, I was sure.

"You have to wake up," I cried. "You have to save him. I can't stop it. You have to help me. Thea. Please."

She was up in seconds, ripping the blankets away with a fury as my panic became her panic.

"Slow down, Deyanira." Her words were measured and calm, an attempt to bring me a semblance of peace, but there would be none for me. Not now. Not ever.

"Look," I answered, shoving my palm into her face. "You have to lock me up, Thea. You have to make chains with magic. Something I can never escape from. You have to save him. Please."

"Oh, gods," she whispered, pulling my hand toward the small light in her room to take in the name.

She shook her head, her own tears welling as she stood from her bed and threw her arms around me. "Please don't do it, Deyanira. Please."

Her words, the plea in them, sliced into my heart. After all this time, she knew I didn't have a choice, but still, to hear those words on her lips only made the wound dig deeper.

"You have to lock me up," I cried again. "Somewhere he cannot find me."

"I can't. I could never. We'll find another way."

"No," I hissed, pushing her away far more forcefully than I'd wanted. "Unless you want to see him die, Thea, you've got to."

"If your intention is to wake the whole house, you're nearly there," Paesha yawned from the door. "What's going on?"

But the second she took in my face, her eyes fell to Thea cradling my palm in hers. And then she knew. As if the words had been spoken aloud, she knew.

"There's only one way to save him, Paesha."

She nodded. "We have to get you out of here. Where do you want to go?"

"No," Thea's voice broke. "You can't be serious. I'm not doing this. You've seen her madness, P."

She grabbed Thea's boots and threw them to her feet. "I've also lost the man I love, and if I could have taken his place, I would have. Get dressed, Thea. We're leaving."

The blacksmith complied, sniffling the entire time she slipped her feet into her boots and chased us out the door.

"We have to go somewhere he'll never think to look because he will come for you."

"A temple," I whispered. "He hates them. Pick any, I don't care."

"The Temple of Eiria. The one with the tree. He knows what happened the last time you were there. He'll never expect you to go back."

We had minutes, I was sure of it. If Orin woke and I was not beside him, he'd come for me. He needed me beyond the healing he drew from our connection. He loved me, and as I looked over my shoulder at that house one final time, letting my fate seal with every hurried step, the crack in my heart reminded me that I needed him, too.

The magic would not be stayed, though. Not as a dagger to his throat flashed across my mind. I blinked several times as we ran past the tree line, beyond Misery's End, through the devastating wreckage of Silbath. This is what he'd done to get to me last time. A show of his desperation through the lower half of this crumbling city. What would become of the world when I vanished?

Thea had stopped to get a small chain from her forge, claiming it would be easier to have something to start with, but before we'd even reached the stone bridge to Perth, she'd had to hand it off to Paesha to take a turn carrying it. As we ran, she'd been winding her magic over the links, using power to turn each one unbreakable.

The door to the temple was still cracked open, likely from the last time Paesha had gone in to search for signs of the Life Maiden. Standing on the steps outside, I took one final look at the world beyond before following the others, Thea's growing chain now dragging on the ground.

When Paesha had come, she swore the willow tree in the middle of the temple was dead, but looking at it now, at the unique little flowers sweeping down the branches, I would have never believed her. With gnarled roots climbing the stone walls and the canopy nearly filling the ceiling of the abandoned temple, something had come to life here. A protest against the presence of death in the Temple of Eiria.

As if the magic within me knew what I'd planned, it hissed in my mind, nearly burning through my thoughts until the only thing I could think of was Orin standing before me. I'd been lost in those phantom amber eyes when Paesha yanked on my arm, pulling me back to reality.

"You're sure you want to do this?" she asked for the third time.

Run.

My eyes traveled on their own accord, following the path we'd walked into the building, settling on the early morning fog beyond the temple door. It took every ounce of strength I had to fight Death's compulsion.

"I have to," I said, a knot building in my throat. "And you need to do it now, Thea."

She knelt, placing her palm on the first link of the chain and then the floor. Pulling her hammer, sparks flew as she got to work. The second the iron linked around my wrists, suffocation and sheer panic rose like a tidal wave. How far would I go? What would my future become? It didn't matter, though, not when I thought of his.

The women came to stand before me, Thea bringing her palm to my cheek. Her touch was filled with a tenderness that spoke of a love that had grown between us. "They will not break. The more you struggle, the tighter they will become, so you won't be able to leverage yourself free, nor harm yourself trying." Her breath shuddered through her, a tear slipping down her cheek. "Eventually, they will hold you bound to the floor."

The green in her eyes shone like a thousand emeralds behind those tears. She opened her mouth to say more, but nothing came out.

I sighed, the weight of the world resting on my shoulders as I stood bound to that temple floor. "I'm sorry you had to be the one to do this. If I could have spared you…"

"No." Paesha stepped forward, placing her forehead to mine. "You don't have to be the one to apologize, Dey. Your power is a curse, but we'll find a way to free you both. I swear it."

"Just don't tell him where I am. I need you to promise it."

"We promise," Paesha whispered.

Fight them. Escape.

Already I was finding it hard to remember these were not my thoughts. Perhaps stirred by the finality of their stares.

"Tell Quill… I love her."

"We will," Thea managed, though she sobbed.

"And when he threatens you, you lie. Do whatever you have to do, but never forget that Orin is dangerous. And desperate, dangerous people make ruthless decisions. He can't think I'm suffering, or he will bring down the rest of this world."

"I'll handle it," Paesha promised. "And we will see you again, Deyanira. I swear it."

I saw the irony of asking them to lie for me to him, just as he'd asked them to do, and though I felt like a monster for it, I saw no other way. The only thing standing between Orin and an early grave was three women who loved him desperately and chains that I could only pray would hold me despite the guaranteed madness.