Blood Flows Deep in the Empire (3 page)

With that, Nylicia turned to leave.

“Wait, dammit!” He started after her. “Where are you going? What will the girl’s name be?”

Nylicia stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Her name will be Ismini. And you will know when the time is right. Farewell, Dyletri.” Her form faded into nothingness, leaving him alone in the chamber once more.

He thought about his new name and the odd meaning attached to it. He would have never chosen it for himself, but he found that he liked it. Hell, he would have liked anything, as long as it wasn’t the name those bastards had given him. He wanted nothing to do with them or his duty.

Another decision that was painfully simple. His powers had to go, too. He would not give the Aviraji any control over him any longer, nor would he give himself to another woman for them ever again. No, never for them. From then on, it would be
his
choice.

As was his choice to fight back.

It was clear the Aviraji had lied about their reasons for doing what they did. In reality, they’d done it all to weaken the Szolites so they could start a war.

So be it. He would kill as many as he was able, and he would relish every moment. Even though his powers were already beginning to decline, he would do as Nylicia had said and survive. He would survive and wait, repay the Aviraji for taking Dimithinia’s life, and then get her back. He should have protected her. He had failed.

He would not do so again.

Chapter 1

Nearly eleven thousand years later.

– Renentr. The Underworld.

Dyletri’s rapid steps echoed throughout the dark cavern as he made his way deep into a place he’d been many times before. He was always in a hurry when he came here, but this time there was an extra edge to each step. Dyletri had received the news he’d been waiting what seemed like an eternity for, and if Crius didn’t have his damned powers saturated all over the place, he would have flashed himself into the main chamber the moment he’d entered the cavern.

“Always complaining about what I do in my own home.”

Dyletri raised an eyebrow as he came to a stop before the
Sivigh
—a portal masquerading as a large set of doors that transformed into a giant face whenever anyone approached.

“Good evening, Salicyar.”

“How many times am I going to tell you not to address me by that name? It’s not my name any more, hasn’t been for a long time.”

“It is your real name.”

“No, it is not. Not any longer.”

“Just like you’re really a hundred-something thousand years old instead of two million and four. Why do you lie to the younger gods about your age, anyway? Afraid they’ll call you an old man?”

Dyletri licked his lips, determined not to lose his temper with Crius.
As usual.

“Like you’re so much fucking younger. Actually, aren’t you older than me? Have you ever stopped to think that the reason you’re so annoying is because you need to go out there and live? Perhaps experience life? I don’t know . . . a little thing called
sex
?”

“I choose to remain a virgin, Salicyar. You will do well to remember that. Just like you’ve decided to forgo your calling for . . . how long has it been? Roughly ten thousand years? More?”

Bastard. He knew damned well why Dyletri had forsaken his calling. He’d been faithful for millennia upon millennia, and all it had done was cost him the one woman he’d ever truly cared for.

He wouldn’t risk a repeat of what had happened with Dimithinia, nor give that bitch called Fate the satisfaction of screwing with him again.

He didn’t owe them anything. After the last eleven thousand years, the Fates owed
him
.

“Are you going to let me in or not?”

The giant gray face in front of him, which didn’t resemble Crius at all, rolled its eyes and let out a longsuffering sigh.

“As if I really have a choice.”

“Damn straight.” A moment later, Dyletri watched as the face melted into the doors. They swung open and slowly disappeared, allowing him to walk deeper into the underworld that was Crius’s personal domain.

Once inside the main hall, Dyletri felt Crius ease up on the energy barrier. The air grew light enough for his powers to spread out. He dematerialized, appearing inside
the Chamber of Souls, the
Abideos
.

The walls glowed bright with the souls contained inside them, each one held within a tiny glowing orb known as an
Aristi.
Billions upon billions of spirits existed in this place, despite the fact that they’d died a long time ago.

Their kind had been long forgotten by humanity. The Aviraji had seen to that, and as such, there hadn’t been any new additions to Crius’s collection in a long, long time.

The
Abideos
was unlike anything else in
Renentr
, its light a complete contradiction to the darkness of the underworld.
It was probably why Crius spent so much time there.

Dyletri would, too, if he had to be stuck in that hell for an eternity.

“This
hell,
as you call it, is my home. You were always so disrespectful.”

Dyletri walked toward the raised dais on the other side of the chamber. “I’m not the one invading someone else’s thoughts and listening in on them.”

Crius glanced at Dyletri over his shoulder, his expression insolent. “We both know I don’t have a choice and why you, who does have a choice, won’t dare step into my mind.”

“Well, no shit. The last time I was in there, it took me thousands of years before I was normal again.” Dyletri eyes fell to the one
Aristi
that was kept outside of the walls.

“We both know my trauma, as you so sensitively put it, isn’t the only reason you stay out of there.”

Crius was right. Dyletri couldn’t even bring himself to think about what he’d seen in Crius’s head the last time he’d dared trespass there. It had filled him with ire. It was the real reason that one specific
Aristi
sat in a place of honor when none of the others did.

A reason that had very little to do with Dyletri’s request to Crius.

He decided to ignore the tension between them. “How is she?”

Crius’s voice was regretful as he turned to Dyletri. “As she has been for the last eleven millennia. Enraged. And in agony.”

Together they walked toward the pedestal in front of Crius’s throne. They stopped on either side of it, and Dyletri stared at the god before him—a god that had once been his friend. He still considered him as such, but the very thing standing between them had become just that: the thing that divided them.

Dyletri’s brow furrowed as he stared down into the
Aristi.
“It’s almost time.”

The
Aristi
was a mess of light and dark, unlike the rest of the orbs in the chamber. The majority of the souls there glowed mostly white, little spots of darkness the only remnants of whatever evil was done by them in their mortal lives.

Dyletri’s guilt was unbearable, as always. Most souls found some semblance of peace after death. But not Dimithinia. She hadn’t been allowed peace in her human life, and her pain had stayed with her in death. Pain he was partly responsible for. Pain he was determined to do anything to get rid of.

Dyletri looked up just as Crius pierced him with a pupiless, silver stare. Even with that physical deformity, Dyletri knew Crius had no problem seeing what was before him. “And you are still determined to go through with this?”

Dyletri glared at him, jaw twitching. “The
Prophexia
is being born as we speak.”

Crius’s tone was hard. “She is an innocent. Are you really determined to sacrifice an innocent, who has
never
lived before, for a soul that is stained?”

Dyletri’s temper snapped. He felt enough guilt without the reminder. It wasn’t as if he had a choice. He’d made a decision born of grief and anger. The sacrifice had to be followed through now or else the Fates would do what they did best. They would destroy in a way even the Aviraji would never be able to accomplish. He’d promised those energies a life. A soul for a soul. It was the most binding promise he’d ever made.

Succeed and Dimithinia’s return would be realized. Fail and watch millions of innocents get killed because of his idiocy.

Fuck.

He had condemned a girl before she’d even come into existence, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The unfairness of it all caused him to lash out.

“How dare you question me? The only reason Dimithinia did what she did was because of me. She killed because I failed to help her. I would think, given how you fucking feel about her, that you would understand!”

Crius’s face was impassive, and his arms were crossed behind his back. “I never knew her as you did. All I know is the soul.”

Dyletri looked away, feeling the heaviness of his burden. “If Dimithinia stays in there, she will always be tormented. She will always suffer.”

Crius’s expression became harsh. “What do you plan to do to ease her suffering? What
can
you possibly do when you’re the very thing that pushed her over the edge? Do you not think it bothers me to see her like that?
I
can hear her.
I
am the one who bears her pain, and has for thousands of years.”

Dyletri swallowed back aggravation at that statement. It wasn’t Crius’s fault he had the ability to hear her while Dyletri could not. After all, he was lord of this realm. Dimithinia’s voice wasn’t the only voice he was able to hear. Crius heard the voices of all the dead and most of the living—and it was definitely not something he’d asked for.

Dyletri knew Crius would give anything to rid himself of that ability on most days.

“The child is innocent, Dyletri,” Crius said, his voice softening.

Dyletri stared at the
Aristi
holding Dimithinia’s soul. “I know. But I have to go through with this, Crius. We both know I’m bound by my promise and what will happen if I fail to do this. Besides, I am free now, and I can give Dimithinia everything I couldn’t give her before. I can give her my affections without her having to share me with anyone.”

“The only reason you are free is because you, like so many others, have turned your back on your duties.”

“And because the ones who gave me my damned purpose in the first place betrayed us all!”

“Be that as it may, I still think it’s wrong. I can see your thoughts in ways even you cannot, and I can guarantee that you’re doing this for the wrong reasons. You don’t feel as you think you do. But for your sake, I hope that this works out for the best, my friend.”

Chapter 2

Present day

-Earth. Astoria, Queens, NY. (USA)

“Heading home to enjoy the vibe I got you for your b-day? It’s been three days, woman. When am I getting that rambling, delighted review? I got you the best bullet in the whole damned store.”

Ismini leveled a glare at her best friend, Evesse, as she slipped on her hoodie. Evesse was unapologetic, raising an eyebrow and waiting for an answer.

“Leave her alone, Eve.” Soleria, Ismini’s second closest friend and boss, stepped out of the back of her restaurant smiling. “The girl is just awakening to the marvels of the ‘electric’ world.” She winked at Ismini, her baby blues playful against the backdrop of her perfect skin and dark red hair.