Beautiful Salvation (2 page)

“As I told you, it was over a century ago.” Saamal gazed off into the distance. “I was…a different person then. A prophecy came to my attention that a child had been born who would grow up to be my wife. The prophecy declared that she would double my power and divert me from the dark path I was on. I was the most powerful god in the kingdom, but the promise of more power immediately caught my interest. More power for me meant more control, more potential to help my people. I decided to attend the child’s naming ceremony to get an impression of the female who would become my bride.”

“What did you think of the bit about diverting you from your dark path?” Adonis drummed his claws on the ground as he peered up at the god. His eyes flickered with specks of scarlet. “How dark was your path?”

The lines around Saamal’s eyes tightened. “I did what was necessary for my people to keep them strong. I—” The words died on his tongue and he closed his mouth abruptly, averting his eyes. He remained still for the span of several moments, body as stiff as a statue. “I ignored that part.” His voice was reserved, a hushed confession in the isolated glen. He paused, giving those around him time to form their own conclusions.

Eurydice glanced around at the princes, searching their faces. Kirill’s face was as expressive as granite, chiseled white features guarding his thoughts as surely as Cerberus guarded Hades. By sharp contrast, Etienne’s face was an open book, suspicion etched in the creases around his severe mouth, the golden glint in his brown eyes. Adonis was guileless as ever, not a trace of judgment to be found, just blatant curiosity in the way he leaned closer to Saamal, his wings settled like a blanket over his back. Patricio stood like a silent sentinel, sword at his hip. He waited like a judge hearing evidence, calm and distant, but inwardly preparing to do whatever might be necessary once all the facts had been revealed.

Eurydice took a deep, slow breath. She had saved Saamal for last for good reason. It had been her hope that the princes would bond, that loyalty would grow, alliances would be forged. She’d seen evidence of this already, perhaps most obvious in Kirill’s clear desire to teach Adonis to be less…carefree, and more strategic, more prince-like. And then there’d been the way they’d all come together to save Irina…

Still, Saamal had the most gruesome past of any of them. Indeed, his kingdom had had a grisly beginning, and continued to stay closer to the flesh and blood of creation’s beginning than most kingdoms. It was time for the others to learn more of the
kingdom
of
Mu
, and she only hoped that they would be as willing to help the god then as they had been when the night started.

“I was not the only deity to show up,” Saamal continued, not making eye contact with his audience. “Chumana, a lover I had taken in the past, had shown up as well. She was…not pleased with my reason for being there. She laid a curse on the child, condemning her to die on the day she reached the age for marriage.”

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for an infant.” Adonis’ voice lacked its usual humor, coming out more of a grim observation than a joke.

Saamal’s eyes went dead, becoming the bottomless pits Eurydice had glimpsed earlier. The air crackled with unease, and she could feel it gripping her branches, embittering the wind. Saamal was no longer at full strength, he couldn’t bring the skies bearing down on them with all the fury of a winter storm, but he was still a god. It would be best if he remained calm and clear-headed.
Easy, Saamal.

Thankfully, the god merely flexed his hands and went on with his story. “It is a custom in my culture for each of the
balam
to grant a royal child with a gift—a blessing if you will. One of them arrived late, and had not yet given her blessing at the time Chumana laid her curse on the child. Although a fairy does not have the power to curb the curse of a goddess, I was able to further empower her blessing by giving up some of my own power to fuel her magic. The
balam
acted as a conduit and guided my power, and together we changed the outcome of Chumana’s curse. My future bride, Aiyana, would not die, but merely sleep.”

“But you haven’t been able to wake her up.” Adonis shoved himself into a sitting position, raising his wings behind him to keep from crushing them. He crouched like a gargoyle on a church, face pinched with thought.

The sharp smell of the air preceding a storm flooded the clearing as Saamal clenched his hands into fists. “She has slept for the last hundred years. I have sought out seers to discover how I might wake her up, but only one has had an answer. ‘It is the kiss of Death that will wake Aiyana.’”

“She has to die?” Kirill’s cobalt eyes flashed as he focused more intently on Saamal. “If that is what has kept you from waking her, let me tell you with every confidence, death is not always an ending. In my personal experience, it has actually been quite empowering.”

Eurydice eyed the vampire, searching his face for some trace that he was teasing. The vampire remained composed, observing Saamal intently.

“I am Death.” Saamal drew himself up, in that moment looking every inch of his six foot height. “It was one of my names before…” His shoulders drooped as if he were a puppet whose strings had been severed and his gaze fell away from Kirill’s. “Thus far, I am obviously not worthy to wake her.”

“So you’ve been trying to wake her with a kiss for the last hundred years, but it hasn’t worked.” Adonis tilted his head. “For my own curiosity, how well do you know Aiyana?”

Saamal glanced back at the demon. “I have never met her. After her naming ceremony, my powers were severely reduced. I have many powerful enemies, and I did not want to draw them to Aiyana. I formalized our betrothal and then set out to find someone who could help me bolster my power until the curse could be broken.”

“Her parents simply let you claim her?” Patricio raised an eyebrow.

Eurydice shivered as the god focused that fathomless stare on the angel, his defenses once again in place as his face refined itself into an emotionless mask.

“They did what I told them to do.” His voice was even, matter of fact.

“Interesting.”

The vampire’s musing and the rustling of paper drew everyone’s attention to Kirill. The Dacian prince had a scroll and a quill out and was taking notes. The scratching of the writing instrument over the parchment filled the air, dispelling some of the tension. His eyes had a glassy, far away haze to them and Eurydice could practically see the wheels in his head spinning. Her lips twitched in muted amusement. A master strategist, her vampire. If anyone could think of a way to break Aiyana’s curse, surely it would be him?

“Does the girl know she’s…betrothed, to you?” Etienne crossed his arms, regarding Saamal like a father might view a prospective suitor for his child—a suitor with no money or social position. A suitor who may have been rolling around in a manure pit.

Saamal opened his mouth then closed it. “No.”

Adonis’ eyes sparkled and the corners of his mouth twitched as if he were fighting not to laugh. “So your plan is to wake this woman up and tell her to put on her wedding dress because you’re getting married?”

“At the time the marriage was decided—”

“By you,” Adonis interjected.

Saamal pressed his lips into a thin line and inhaled slowly through his nose. “Yes. By me. At the time the marriage was decided, I was a different man. It was not in my nature to consider individuals. My concern was with the land and the people as a whole. More power for me meant more power for the land, and for the people.” He stepped closer to Adonis, crushing the grass beneath his boots. “I am an earth god, Adonis. I pour my blood into the land, I share blood with the kings and bind them to the earth they rule. I did not ask permission to perform my duties, to keep the kingdom and the land itself alive.”

Seemingly unfazed, the demon peered up at Saamal, his body completely relaxed even with the god looming over him. “And on a grand scale, that makes perfect sense, but on an individual scale—on an individual
female
scale—‘marry me because I said so’ is more likely to get you a broken nose than a bride.”

“The demon has a point.” Patricio’s feathers ruffled as he crossed his arms, mirroring Etienne across from him in a disapproving father stance. “So far, none of our mates have been human. If this girl has magic in her, it might be her lack of consent that’s keeping you from ‘being worthy.’”

Eurydice’s eyebrows met her hairline at the astute observation as Kirill’s quill exploded in another flurry of furious writing. She’d never considered that. Could she have sped up Saamal’s mating process if she’d tried earlier to get to Aiyana’s spirit?

“And what do you propose I do about that, hmmm?”

Saamal’s voice lashed out at the angel like a whip, tearing Eurydice from her thoughts. Saamal aimed the full force of his frustration at the angel, those miasmic charcoal eyes twin swirling pools of shadow, darker than Charybdis on a moonless night. Eurydice put a hand to her throat, unease rolling through her at the sharp spike of aggression in the clearing. Patricio bristled at Saamal’s tone, wings rising and his hand drifting down to the hilt of his heavy broadsword.

“She is asleep, under a curse. Do you think I wouldn’t talk to her if I could?”

“Well, she’s not exactly
sleeping.
” Adonis stood and approached the god, apparently oblivious to the skin tingling ire between Saamal and Patricio. He faced the god with a contemplative wrinkle between his brows. “If she’s under a spell that’s kept her unconscious for a hundred years, then you’re talking about displacing her consciousness, holding it trapped in another dimension.”

Saamal gaped at Adonis, whether for his intriguing suggestion or his audacity to step between him and the angel, Eurydice wasn’t certain. He recovered quickly, brows lowering as he smoothed the emotion from his face.

“Making her sleep was not the curse, the curse was for her to die. It was through my power and the
balam’s
intervention that death was mitigated to sleep.”

Adonis waved a hand, brushing off the distinction. “Same principle applies. No one sleeps that long, the consciousness is too powerful. Trust me, the lovely Aiyana’s mind is not in stasis—it’s on the astral plane.”

Eurydice leaned forward as far as the trunk of her lower body would allow her, excitement flowing through her veins and making her muscles twitch with anticipation. “What are you saying, Adonis?”

“I’m saying, that Saamal’s lady fair is probably existing—spiritually speaking—on the astral plane.” He grinned at Saamal. “And I can help you get there.”

For a split second, Saamal’s eyes brightened, more like polished obsidian than dark pits, revealing a glimpse of true hope. Then, like clouds passing over a full moon, they grew dark again. “No. It would not work. I am a god of the earth, bound to the land. I could not travel to the astral plane.”

The demon’s wings rose in indignation. “I don’t offer help I can’t provide.” Adonis stood up, brushing himself off as if to rid himself of the insult. “Being an earth god only means you’ll need help from the earth to get to the astral plane. There’s a plant called sinicuichi—”

“I’m familiar with that plant,” Saamal interrupted. “It is used to brew the elixir of the sun. It is known for allowing a man—or god—access to the Dreamworld, but it also renders the body weak and vulnerable.”

Adonis rolled his eyes. “Do you want to talk with Aiyana or not?”

“Of course I do.” Saamal shoved a hand through his dark hair, his perpetual composure seeming to crack. “But I must remain alert. I have enemies, enemies more powerful than you could imagine, who would be on me in an instant if they sensed such weakness. If I were to weaken…”

“Do you have any treaties with other creatures that will allow you to call upon them for aid?” Kirill queried, no doubt thinking of his own fierce negotiations with the magical beings of
Dacia
.

Saamal crossed his arms. “I do not. With my full power, I…” He pressed his lips into a thin line and let out a deep breath through his mouth. “I did not need help. Now that I have lost much of that power—”