Page 182 of City of Snakes
The iridescent shimmer started to fade until my mother’s face dissipated into nothing but fog, which drifted to the ceiling of the cave. “Don’t go!” I shouted and reached out for her. “Please.”
My mother whispered, “I will be with you through it all. Always.”
She was gone. It had been so abrupt. I slumped, and the sword’s blade touched the ground.
I turned to Isleen, wanting to scream,“Bring her back!”
Instead, I asked, “Why does he seek destruction? Why does he wantme?”
“In early timesss, I’d married a mortal man with whom I had ten children. But when my mother made her bargain with Caym, that changed me. I did not age, while my husband grew old and passed. Desidero was there for me when I mourned. He cared for me and that care blossomed into love. But Caym grew jealousss. He wished for my hand. I chose Desidero but met my end before we could marry. He wasss my second love.”
I wiped away the tears from my cheeks, looking up at the beast before me. Not a beast. Isleen—a woman who had loved, lost, and lived. My resolve built in my chest.
“What am I to do?” I asked her.
“What does your heart tell you to do?”
Before I could answer, panic seized me. Not my own.
“Sybilla. You are my eternity. You always were.”
No—no, no. Krait. I needed to reach him.
“I told you, child,” Isleen hissed. “You cannot fail, no matter the cossst.”
The sensation of falling overtook me as I plunged into a depth of my mind that I’d never visited before. It felt like peeling away viscous mercury.
Krait stood before me, helpless and veiled in a thin layer of gray translucent fabric. I reached out through the darkness, fumbling toward him. Then I grabbed the veil and yanked it away from his face.
I cupped his cheek and said, “Then fight for me. And don’t you dare fucking die.”
Krait’s eyes widened for a moment before he ducked and then disappeared.
Unable to hold onto that place, unable to stay with him, I crumbled to my knees in front of my ancestral power. When I came to, I stared up at Isleen’s fangs.
“I wish to end Death’s reign. I will do whatever it takes.Please,” I begged.
“Very well.” She slithered around me, her feathered wings tucked tightly to her sides. “Climb up, and we shall go.”
The stone of the other nine beasts began to crack—ten beasts of nightmares.My kin.I carefully climbed up Isleen’s scaled back, less than gracefully. Once seated, I looked down at the sword in my hand and said, “Lead us to Caym.”
The creatures hissed and stretched, awakening around me. “Caym created usss, but we answer to only you now,” they sang together.
We left the cavern, and pounding wings took to the wind of the night sky.
Chapter 60
Krait
“Then fight for me. And don’t you dare fucking die.”Her voice reached me, just before Ryn swung his sword. She was alive.
And she had ripped Death’s grip on me away. No longer frozen, I ducked and felt theswooshof the blade against the hairs atop my head. Caym roared and pointed a hand at Ryn. Amber smoke leaked out toward my friend, and his eyes widened.
With only a moment to spare, I Shadowed to Ryn. Grabbing him by the tunic, I pulled him back. Caym’s magic hit the vase of flowers behind us in an amber flash. The glass shattered, and the flowers wilted.
I held Ryn’s arm. Caym grabbed my shoulder just before I Shadowed us away.
We tumbled and fought through the Shadows. I tried to kick Caym off me. Death’s hold prevailed, and he dragged us off course. I’d been too slow to decide where we should escape to.
