The Hour of the Crow

Chapter 40: One's End, Another's Beginning

When the Bond of Compatibility broke, Inna's heart shattered irreparably with it. The pain, the loss was so crushing that it forced her down on her knees, gasping in between sobs, her throat torn open into a scream. Her legs refused to carry her any further, so she crawled the last few paces between her and Arran and sank down next to his body. His long lashes cast dark shadows on his cheeks. He looked so peaceful, as though he had merely fallen asleep. However, when she cupped his face, no breath warmed her hands.

The upper half of Zazi's body swayed above Arran's face, her eyes closed. She said something in a low hiss, but Inna paid no attention to her. Over and over, she replayed the last few minutes in her head. She felt numb, defeated, wrung out like an old, overused rag.

The room grew darker. For a second, Inna thought that the shock had been too much for her brain and she was about to faint. Relief flooded through her; perhaps she wouldn't have to deal with this for a few more blissful moments. Then the screams started.

Clutching Arran's still-warm hand in hers, she turned her head to see what was happening. A massive creature of smoke filled the throne room to the last crevice in the marble floor, spilling out into the night through the stone arches in the right wall. Two large eyes, red like the flames that burned deep within the earth's core, hovered several feet above a paralyzed Rabyatt. The prince's knees buckled, as though he was fighting the instinct to kneel before the god of death.

"RABYATT MARWASHRIM," Onshra's terrible voice boomed through the room. His words shook the ground like a small earthquake. "MASTER OF SOULS. TRAITOR TO THE ORDER OF THINGS. DO YOU ASPIRE TO BECOME A GOD YOURSELF?"

Rabyatt's throat bobbed, but when he spoke, he sounded calm and rational like always. "We are the children of the gods, just like you and the other gods are the children of the universe. Eventually, children grow up, and then it becomes their job to replace their parents."

Onshra's laughter, devoid of humor, rattled Inna's eardrums. "WISE WORDS, BUT AT THE MOMENT, THEY ARE NOTHING MORE THAN HUBRIS. MANKIND IS NOT READY TO TAKE OVER."

An enigmatic smile played on Rabyatt's lips. "Yet."

To her surprise, Onshra didn't respond. He seemed to straighten up, though it was hard to tell with his intangible form. His gaze glided to the throne, where Inna's father had collapsed into a curled-up, shivering heap, then turned to Inna. When those crimson eyes locked with hers, a hot, smoldering ember flared up somewhere in the hollow void where her heart used to be. The feeling was almost alien, belonging to someone else, someone who had existed minutes ago but who had dissipated like smoke, yet she grabbed hold of it and kindled it until it grew into a hesitant fire.

She stood up, staggering on her feet. Onshra blinked at her.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, PRINCESS?"

She exploded. The wildfire in her chest burned too hot now to stop and think about why the god of death required her to give him orders. "What do I want you to do?" she repeated softly. She bared her teeth in a snarl. "WHAT DO I WANT YOU TO DO? I WANT YOU TO BRING HIM BACK!" She pointed a trembling finger at Arran's lifeless body. "YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME AND I WANT HIM BACK!"

Distantly, she noticed several people back away from her, pressing themselves against the wall. She didn't care.

Onshra watched her. His outline shrunk to that of a man, too tall to be human, before dissolving again into a swirling, dark cloud. The silence oppressed her, pushed down on her lungs and squeezed the air out of them. A barbed knot twisted inside her stomach. She wanted to scream.

"I MEANT: WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH HIM AND HIS KIN?" Onshra clarified, jabbing Rabyatt in the chest with a sliver of shadow. The prince shuddered. "ARRAN'S LAST WISH HAS BOUND ME TO THE ROYAL FAMILY. I AM TO ELIMINATE ANY THREAT THAT—"