Son of Astoria: Astoria Series Book: Two by J.B. Wright

Author:J.B. Wright [Wright, J.B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: NHB Publishing
Published: 2024-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

twenty-nine

Twisted Words

Aislinn

My mouth is coated in ashes. Throat raw. Eyes crusted over. It takes too long for the panic to register. I quickly sit up, and my head betrays me for it. The room spins. I try to blink in my surroundings, and, through the foggy slit in my vision, I make out an unfamiliar bedroom. My fingers run along my wrists…no chains. None noticeable, at least. But when they slide over that cold place on my wrist where the shadow chain remains, his voice slithers through my mind.

“Do not fight them, pet. Play their game. I will have you home soon.” The voice is calm, but the vibrations through each of my marks is anything but.

No, Erebus is not calm. Erebus is furious.

It is that thought that allows my own breath to steady, my heart to calm. I wipe the gunk from my eyes and figure out where I am. A window. There’s a window concealed by silver drapes. I pull them away and curse. Oh, Erebus is more than furious.

I’ve been brought to Kaoket.

I must be somewhere in the middle of the palace because I have a perfect view of where the skeletal trees of the Imorti Woods melt into the lush gardens surrounding the Vivutus Forest. The strange sun resting where it always does in this part of the realm, exclusively on the side that bares life. But my attention stays on the skeletal trees and beyond to where I know the Shadows lay, however far away.

“You’re awake.” I do not have to turn to know who stands behind me. Agnar.

“You’re observant.”

“Are you angry, child?”

Am I angry? Maybe not so observant then.

“It’s only… the last time I was taken by a god, it was more pleasant, sealed with a kiss and everything.”

When I turn, I find Agnar’s skin glowing and his face in a deep scowl. When he speaks again, his voice is hard. “Erebus took you, or you chose to come?”

You must want to come. That’s what Erebus told me, multiple times on the island—I had to want it. I school my features into boredom as I’ve seen the god of trickery do many times. “I chose to come. Taken was a manner of speaking.” I pause and with a vicious smile add, “As in, he took my mouth to pass through the portal.” Agnar looks as though he may be sick. “Are you going to tell me what you want, or can I go home now?”

“This is your home, Forbis.”

“I’m not Forbis. I am not your child, not in this life.”

“Oh, but you are. You have the same energy. The same shadow. Surely, that’s how Erebus found you—the shadows sing for him.”

“I have no memory of you and do not take kindly to being kidnapped…Wait, if he couldn’t take me against my will, how is it okay for you to do so?”

“I didn’t, Haile sent someone to rescue you.”

“I did not want to be rescued.”

“He’d argue that you were not allowed freedom, that you had wanted to come here to connect with your past self.

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