Page 47 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
And yet here Vera stood.
Though her form was no longer solid, Mal could still see her as she had once been—strong-willed, with long platinum-white hair, dark skin, and those unmistakable purple eyes. Beautiful. Unbroken. Untouched by what had been done to her.
Mal followed Vera through the castle. Vera pushed the doors open, though neither of them truly needed to. These walls were not real in any mortal sense. Everything here was shadow and smoke, thought given shape, substance only because Mal willed it so. They could have walked straight through if they wished.
At the head of the table sat Allegra.
Her purple eyes burnt brightly, violet smoke curling up from them in this nightmarish realm. Her brown curls could no longer be properly seen in a place like this, but Mal imagined them all the same—soft, familiar, real in a way nothing else here was.
Mal took a seat on one side of the table, while Vera moved to stand at her sister’s other side.
Before Mal could speak, she felt that shift in the air, the subtle tightening that warned of another presence drawing near. She turned just in time to see the doors open once more.
Thanatos looked as devastatingly handsome as ever, even rendered in shadow. His white hair refused all restraint, and his sculpted features seemed cruelly deliberate, as though the gods themselves had shaped him solely to torment mortals.
Mal hated that he was so beautiful.
‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded, turning briefly to glance at Allegra and Vera. She loathed how easily he had slipped into her realm, as though it belonged to him by right.
Thanatos stopped beside her chair. ‘You need to fetch Kage,’ he said quietly.
Mal noticed the hesitation in him, the way his hand almost lifted, almost reached for her, as if memory or longing had betrayed him for a heartbeat. He let it fall instead, shoving it into his pocket with a sigh before moving on to sit opposite her, beside Vera.
‘Persephone is searching for him.’
Mal nodded. She reached inward, grasping at her power, power she did not fully understand, yet wielded as instinctively as breath. It answered her without resistance. One moment she sat at a table in a realm of smoke and shadow; the next, she stood within the Underworld itself. Her body remained half-shadow, as well as lighter and faster, untethered by mortal weight.
A rare smile touched her lips at the sight of the great white wolf racing towards her. Wren skidded to her side, blue eyes bright with urgency.
Mal glanced up, taking in their surroundings by the looming entrance to Tartarus. Wren tugged insistently at her, urging her towards the prison gates, and Mal allowed herself to be pulled along.
Her brother Zagreus lounged upon his throne, irritation and boredom etched into his sharp features. At his side stood Kage,still and watchful. Zagreus was the first to notice her, his mismatched eyes lighting with unmistakable interest at her sudden arrival.
‘Sister,’ he purred, delight curling through the word. ‘Have you come to end us all?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Zagreus,’ Mal replied. ‘We both know I cannot. Not on this soil.’
He clutched at his chest in mock offence, long pale fingers splayed dramatically. ‘You wound my heart. I thought we were family, and yet you dream of killing me.’
Mal rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Kage. ‘We must leave. Now.’
Zagreus chuckled, the sound echoing unpleasantly through the chamber. ‘My mother will come for you.’
‘I’m well aware.’ Mal reached for Kage without hesitation, urgency sharp in her movements. ‘Send her my regards.’
Zagreus’ smile thinned. ‘She’s coming for your child.’
Mal froze.
Slowly, her attention shifted back to him, to the god she had so often questioned, so often wondered whether she could ever trust. In that moment, he looked achingly like Hades. The resemblance struck her like a blade.
She pushed down the fracture in her chest at the memory of what she had done, at the knowledge that she had killed her own father, and lifted her chin, refusing to let the pain show.
Kage reached Mal’s side and she caught his sleeve, fingers closing tight. Her attention fell upon the wolf, and her heart fractured all over again.
‘I can’t take you with me, Wren,’ she said softly. ‘Not into my realm.’
The great white wolf whimpered, lowering her head in quiet disappointment.
