Page 2 of Death of a Mortal

“Mother, Father, I hope you can forgive me one day for what I am about to do. Aeternox is writing a prophecy; he’s seen the demise of Caelia. A demise that is either caused by or prevented by the One. I’ve fallen in love with the mortals, and I’ve grown tired of the endless time here. This is to be my one grand adventure if you’ll allow me to live out my punishment in their realm. I know it is forbidden to interfere with their world, and so I shall accept my banishment. But as your daughter, as the goddess of curiosity, you must have known it would be a prison sentence to be confined to this castle, this godly realm, eternally. Maybe that was the way you made me, for this very reason. So I’m following my heart. To Caelia.”

With one more breath, she rested her palms, then her forehead,on the ground, and to only the ears of the gods, a rumble of power could be heard thrumming through the floor.

“Peregria.” Rathion had followed her into the temple and had clearly heard her prayer to their mother and father. “You cannot do this. Let the mortals be. Their world can be reborn anew. The fae will survive, I’m sure. Do not throw your life away for something so insignificant.”

She rose from the ground and turned to face him, resolve making her stand straighter. “My mind is made up, brother. This One needs me. Because Caelia needs them.”

Acceptance softened Rathion’s gaze, and with a final nod from her brother, the goddess abandoned the divine realm.

She vanished to Caelia—never to be seen in the godly realm again.

Far below, in the heart of Caelia, a child took its first breath.

Chapter 1

Not Her, Me

Dread washed overme the moment I walked in the front door, as it did every day. What mood would Cassius be in? What fresh hell of Aemilia’s was waiting for me?

Cassius’s bad moods never ended well for me. As my father, he left me with no option but to accept it, to grin and bear. And my horrible half sister, Aemilia…she could conjure hell right from the depths of her evil heart.

I held my breath as I closed the door behind me, making myself small and silent, hoping to avoid any altercations. A tiny bubble of hope built within my chest as I tiptoed through the empty living room toward my back bedroom, thinking I could get there unnoticed and slip inside.

But that bubble burst, with a sinking feeling in my gut, when I heard Cassius slam his glass down on the grimy dining room table in the next room.Fuck.

“Read anything useful in your books at that worthless job on how not to be a complete waste of space?” Cassius asked with a derisive smirk—this was our daily routine now that I was out of school.He knew how much I loved my job at the bookshop, despite its poor pay, so he loved to goad me about it. Maintaining a bookshop paid better than having no job at all, but more than that, it was an escape from the hell I called home. Books were better company than people, except for my youngest half sister, Nella. She alone was worth enduring hell for.

“Sure didn’t, Cassius,” I said, with as much snark as I could get away with and avoid a backhand to the face. I knew he’d been drinking and taunting him was tantamount to poking a hibernating bear. But I was already in a bad mood, so maybe I was looking for a fight. Or at least looking to siphon off some of my anger, which, nowadays, was a constant companion.

His chair scraped the floor, then his footsteps grew closer. “You dare speak to me in that tone? After everything I do for your ungrateful ass? And you dare to call me anything but Father, you little burden of a—”

“Okay, yeah, sorry,Dad.” I was flirting with danger using that tone, but I didn’t care. I was nearing my twentieth birthday, and I could leave this godsforsaken place behind soon. Not that I had the funds to do so yet. And then there was Nella… How could I leave her here with our brute of a father? “But I did read a riveting guide on beheading, torture, and how to get away with murdering your oppressors.”

I bolted toward my door before his foggy brain could piece together what I’d said. His angry snarl reached me just as I rounded the corner toward the bedroom I shared with Nella and found it blocked by Aemilia. For all the love I had for Nella, I despised Aemilia just as much. My two half sisters shared the same fae mother but could not have been more different from each other.

Aemilia and Cassius had hardened souls, a penchant for violence, and only loved and appreciated each other. And now I was caught between them.

“Daddy, I’ve got Naci cornered! You’re in trouble now, freak,” Aemilia said with a satisfied grin that revealed her sharpened faecanines. She tossed her long dark brown hair over her shoulders, intentionally showing off her pointed ears—a reminder that she was the only one in this house with magic, even if she was only half-fae. Nella hadn’t inherited any powers or physical fae traits from their mother—Cassius’s mortal blood won out for her.

“Well done, Aemilia. Bring Agnella out here too. I know those two have been scheming. I hear the whispers at night.”

His use of Nella’s full name took me a second to register, as I never used either of our full names.

“No…” Panic set in. “Dad.Father, please leave Nella out of this! It’s my fault, she did nothing, I—”

“You know Daddy can’t stand when you defend that useless rag,” Aemilia said.

I knew I’d messed up with Cassius, but Aemilia didn’t scare me. She was evil but brainless, and I had a few inches plus nearly three years on her. And skinny as I was, I didn’t need to hide behind magic as she did. I could fight, and I was a master strategist.

“Wanna know a secret, Aemilia?” I asked.

Her smile dropped into a sneer.

“The only ‘useless rag’ in this piss-poor excuse of a house is the space between your ears that you call a brain.” Insulting her felt so good in the moment.

Just as she opened her mouth to retort, Nella flung the door to our room open with wide eyes, having heard me taunt Aemilia.

That was when Cassius came stumbling down the hall, belt in hand. I knew how this was going to go, but I’d be damned if I let him hurt Nella. I would bleed every last drop of my blood to ensure that not a drop of hers was ever spilled. Not by this monster who called himself our father.