Enjoy your last days. I’m coming for you.
He worked his jaw. “Are you ordering me to kill yourgravita’s beloved sister?” And if so, how was Roux to respond? He had never hesitated to follow a directive but he wasn’t sure he could murder Isla’s sole remaining parent in cold blood. Or hot blood. Never again scent that sweet mix of honeysuckle and rose?
Stiffness spread through him, making his body feel as hard as granite.
“I am not.” Roc scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m asking you to let her live, no matter what vile deeds she commits against you. When you return with the queen, I’d like a living, breathing Blythe to be with you. Taliyah won’t forgive me if harm comes to her sibling.”
Relief poured through him. “It shall be as you have requested.”
“If she’s injured along the way,” the Commander added, “find a way to heal her. Because she lost her mate, she’ll be unable to use blood as medicine. Bloodfruit doesn’t help her. She can’t keep it down.”
A complication he hadn’t considered. Mated harpies sickened when they drank from anyone but their consort, forcing widows to rely on a tree-grown blood substitute.
Perhaps Blythe required something stronger than fruit? She was a royal born of the gods who’d birthed phantoms and snakeshifters. “What of soul?” Did she vomit that, too?
“I don’t know. Taliyah tells me as little as possible of her sisters.”
No matter. “I will do whatever proves necessary.” Words he meant with every fiber of his being. Now, on to business before he got lost in thoughts of the harphantom. “What do you know of Ation’s terrain?”
“Ophelia shared the rumors she’s heard throughout the years,” Halo said. “Ation is supposedly like Earth, with mountains, plains, deserts, oceans, and forests. The seasons differ in different locations. Night replaces day and day replaces night. But beware of the monsters beneath the ground.”
Monsters? No big deal. “When do I leave?”
“Today,” Roc said, surprising him. “You’ll need to take any supplies with you. I’m told you’ll be able to flash into the realm as well as throughout it, but you won’t be able to leave. You’ll be completely cut off from other worlds, unable to communicate with us.” The Commander glanced at the clock behind Roux. “You have one hour to prepare.”
“Just in a couple of minutes.” Roux remained at the ready.
With only a thought, he summoned a backpack, weapons, all-terrain gear, gold, and anything else he might need, teleporting each item atop the conference table. Then, he strapped the sword, daggers, whip, bow, and quiver of arrows to his body and stuffed the rest inside the backpack.
A solo dagger possessed a trinite blade. There was no reason to cart in an entire arsenal comprised of the single substance able to kill the harphantom. At the same time, he must be prepared for the worst.
Lifting his chin, he met the Commander’s gaze. “I’m ready.”
6
THE CALM
Blythe stumbled across a sunlit expanse of soft grass and sharp stones, regretting her foolishness, and missing her daughter. She’d walked for hours with no end in sight. Earlier, Penelope had drained her so completely, she’d been unable to fight as the wraith stripped her out of her uniform and boots and forced her into a ridiculously sheer white nightgown. The plunging neckline displayed ample cleavage and really made her new wrist shackles pop.
Perfect “bait” attire. Never mind that bloody abrasions littered her bare feet and dirt smeared her calves.
The ruby remained embedded in the hollow of her throat, just above her sternum, allowing Miss Murder to drain her anytime, anywhere. Which she hadn’t done for over an hour.
As soon as her strength returned, Blythe attempted to flash to another world. And bombed. She tried again, aiming for ten miles to the east within this very realm. Another bomb.
Unwilling to give up, she misted—nope. Slipped into a spirit realm? Not even a little.
Frustration razed her nerves. She’d been tagged with mystical shackles. They did more than limit her movements; they kept her helpless.
Penelope floated over the land, keeping pace beside a strange amalgamation of creatures. It was the size of a wolf with the hide of a stonefish and the horn of a rhinoceros, and it led Blythe forward using the nexus of chain that dangled from the center of her manacles. It kept the end firmly anchored in its mouth.
“Faster, girl,” the spectral menace demanded as Blythe tripped over a rock. “I have places to be.”
“What places? Why?” Knowledge equaled power, and right now she needed all the power she could get.
“Why is easy. I’ve sold you. The places are none of your bee’s wax. Is that the saying? Did I use it correctly?”
She worked her jaw. “Who bought me?”