Shattered Reality | Book Two

Chapter XVIII

I press my back against the tree, sighing in relief as I place my head against it softly. He seems to be going in the completely wrong direction, letting me catch my breath. My lungs sing in relief as I get a breath of the frigid air, feeding myself. I close my eyes before looking down at my franic chest. The jacket does a poor job of keeping me warm, but as my eyes lock on my hand, I freeze completely.

Sitting on my hand is a dark line. I looks like a snake wrapping itself around my hand, but it's not. It doesn't stop either. It turns a dark shade of black as I look at it. It wraps around my fingers and swirls around my palm before I notice my other hand. My hand also has the tribal design printed across it.

Abruptly, I feel a burn on my chest in a particular spot. I unzip the jacket and look down with wide eyes as soon as the realization hits me. I stare down in my chest in a daze, watching my birthmark twist and grow across me. The branches of the once dead tree swallow my whole chest in its inky trail, a branch now reaching across my breast and further. I can feel the heat from the Patch of Death as it wanders over my body. As I stare at my chest some more, I think my eyes widen even more as it suddenly goes from a soft pink to a deep black. The mark looks like an ever-growing tattoo, looking insidious. My breath catches as the stark branches reach across my throat. I feel the heart from the patch drift across my jaw before freezing inches above it. I'm almost covered in the tribal mark by the time it stops growing and my whole body heats up in warmth from the branches.

"Cassiopeia." The familiar voice makes my head snap up. I gasp as soon as my eyes connect with blue eyes so blue they look the ocean. Even in the middle of the night, they look an electric blue as I stare at them. The man in front of me looks so familiar, my mind fights to remember who he is. I was so stuck in looking at the marks growing on me, I was oblivious to the fact he showed up.

My skin itches more as I look at him, and I soon find out why when he introduces himself. "I'm Thaddeus. But you may know me by the God of Life." His hair is combed perfectly across his head, curling over one blue eye and his jaw looks sharp. I gasp as I realize he looks exactly like Grim just with different eyes and different hair. Just like Ravenna and I. That's when I finally recognize who he is.

I've seen him once but heard him twice. His voice makes chills form across my spine, especially as I remember hearing it the one time Grim was trying to scare me and he whispered to me about Grim not daring to hurt me. The other time I saw him was when I was at Grim's and accidentally summoned him in my dreamland. No wonder the guy kept telling me he created me and was so curious about me. I was talking to Grim's brother in my dreamland, the God of Life. The realization makes me want to throw up the cupcake I ate earlier.

"Nice to finally meet you," I say softly. I have no idea what to say to him, so I just get straight to the point as he nods in agreement. Seeing his perfect face looking so much like Grim just...brighter makes me uncomfortable. "Let's get this started, Grim is searching for me as we speak--" I suddenly get cut off as Grim shouts again.

"Cassie, please!" His voice carries a plea that makes my heart beg my legs to move to him. I can sense the anguish and pain in his tone making my eyes sting. Thaddeus just watches me, his blue eyes so strong and alarming I can't look up at him as I speak.

"How fast can you do this?"

"As fast as you would like," he says softly, stepping closer to me. I nod my head frantically.

"Please," I almost throw up as his hand touches me. It sends waves of pleasure through me and heats wells up in my chest. Wait--that's not heat from his hand. My gaze flicks down to see the mark practically glowing with blackness and almost pulsing as it flicks the black lines all over my body. "What is happening?" I whisper. Thaddeus surprisingly answers me. Maybe it isn't that surprising since I have to know everything in order for him to wipe my mind.