Blood Flows Deep in the Empire

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  They locked eyes for a second. Long enough for Dyletri to see the black and red of Zen’s rapidly changing eyes. Then, as one, they flashed toward the source of the scent.

  Dyletri stumbled backward and almost landed on Zen. He bent over and threw up for the first time in his life as he registered the sheer amount of blood against the building’s wall and the concrete beneath their feet. His own blood rushed out to join it, his body rejecting the sight of all that blood. His R’ma’s blood.

  Gods, for a second he wondered if she was still alive after that. What the hell had happened to her?

  There were signs of humans having already been there. Police tape. Faint traces of chemicals from when they’d probably done a sweep and taken a DNA sample. None of that mattered. All Dyletri could focus on was the black energy still tainting the air and the amount of his girl’s blood all over the place.

  Zen noticed it, too.

  “Ian! Cy! Get over here!” Zen barked, his voice split in two. It’d been getting worse over the last few hours. Even more concerning, his eyes had begun morphing. Black had begun invading the white of his eyes, and his irises were steadily becoming redder.

  Had Dyletri been capable of coherent thought, he would have wondered if it was even Zen calling out for the others at all.

  “We’re he—Holy shit!”

  “What the fuck? Is that . . .”

  “Enteax,” Dyletri growled through a pause in his vomiting, feeling his eyes bleeding red with rage as he recognized an energy signature he hadn’t felt in eons.

  “Evesse was here.” A shock of dark energy came off Zen, forcing Dyletri to fly away from him and crash into the wall.

  The building shook from the impact of Dyletri’s body. In response, Ian and Cy rushed to throw up a Gnetica. Humans ran outside to investigate anyway.

  It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

  “They took them.” Dyletri dug his fingers into the bricks next to him and tried to stand straight. He needed to find Ismini, damn it!

  Cy stared in front of them with that far-off, blue-tinted look he always got when looking out into the Universe. “We have minutes. Like two. The sacrifice is due.”

  Dyletri heard Zen hiss. “Lisrn. I can sense him near Evesse’s signature. If he touches her . . . if any man ever touches her against her will again . . .”

  He was rambling, making no sense.

  Ian watched him, shifting subtly on his feet. “We need to call in the others.”

  “It’s too late. I see them,” Cy said, his voice splitting, his eyes changing from gold to metallic blue.

  Dyletri felt his world rip apart inside him. Around him, utter chaos reigned down the alley.

  “They’re there!” Cy shouted. “They fucking—”

  Dyletri could tell Cy was mere nanoseconds from interfering. Seconds away from unleashing his other half, the God of Prophecy, and stopping what was about to happen, regardless of the cost to the Universe.

  Dyletri was grateful for it, but Cy was right. They were too late.

  He felt the exact moment it happened. His entire body bowed backward, his back bending at an unnatural angle. The scream that ripped out of his chest was agonizing. In a stark, horrifying moment, he knew she was gone. He felt her ripped from him as if she’d been ripped from the Universe.

  Dyletri’s roar was punctuated by Zen’s matching cry.

  He was torn in two, half of him overwhelmed by anger while his body malfunctioned. The conflict sent him into a seizure. One side of his body went numb as the other railed. Dyletri vaguely heard Cy and Ian shouting in the background.

  “Zen, chill! Dude, stop!”

  Ian ran over. “Knock Zen out! Cy, do it! He’s losing it!”

  He skidded to a stop and knelt down before raising Dy’s head up. Ian turned him so that he wouldn’t choke on the torrents of blood rushing out of him. “Hang in there, Dy. You gotta hang in there!”

  Didn’t he understand? There was no longer any point. His R’ma had been sacrificed. His mate was gone. Somehow, Evesse had been taken with her. And it was all his fault. He’d allowed two innocent women, including the woman he loved, to be killed.

  Again.

  He wanted to fucking die.

  He didn’t know what was in store for Zen, but he, for one, couldn’t imagine existing for another second. That was the last thought that went through his mind before everything went black.

  Chapter 25

  -Utorou. The Dream Realm. Portal to the Haklanayasas.

  “Where . . . what the . . .”

  Everything was dark, but as the half-formed question left Dyletri’s mouth, he knew where he was. The darkness around him pressed deep, and he saw the Universe in front of him, right through the open portal.

  Then he saw the bane of his existence. She walked out of the darkness, arms crossed.

  “Ny—”

  “Shut it. One question and one only, Salicyar.” Nylicia waved her hand in front of the open portal. It morphed, like a milky sea of clouds, swirling until the image inside it changed and all he could see was his R’ma. “If I told you this was waiting for you on the other side . . . would you follow me through?”

  Dyletri was already stomping toward it. “Of course!”

  “Oh, good,” Nylicia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she watched him storm past. “Then wake the fuck up, ass. We have a lot to do.”

  A bang sounded throughout the space. He felt his brain growing heavy as he was ripped out of the Utorou and straight back into the waking world.

  “He’s still alive. It’s a miracle.”

  Vedlyl.

  “It’s destined.”

  Nylicia.

  Why could he hear them? Why the fuck was he still here to do so?

  “Is he going to be all right?” Ianythi asked.

  “He’s waking up. Which might be a no. He’s got company coming that might just kill him anyway,” Nylicia said, amusement in her tone.

  Amusement? Oh, that pissed Dyletri off. Shocked him awake with fury. He reared up on the bed, a dangerous growl building inside him. How dare she sound happy? How dare she be amused when Ismini was dead?

  Wait. Hadn’t he just seen her in his dream?

  Nylicia’s face was set in hard lines. “Easy there. She’s not completely gone. Not yet.”

  Dyletri blinked and tried to focus. He tried to make sense of the bullshit she was spewing. How could Ismini not be gone? And why had Nylicia just come to him in his dream? “She’s dead. I can feel it. She’s dead!”

  A wave of energy shot out of Nylicia’s translucent form and knocked Dyletri into the headboard. “But not gone!”

  Her words were still ringing in his head when a voice he’d almost forgotten drifted into his room.

  “Where is he? Where is Salicyar?”

  He blinked rapidly as he tried to make sense of what he heard. Was he imagining things?

  Nylicia ran her pinky across her eyebrow, having the grace to look sheepish. “She’s not in love with you anymore. And . . . she’s pissed you ripped her out of the Underworld. Maybe I should’ve mentioned some of that before now?”

  “Where the fuck is he?” the voice sounded again.

  Nylicia bit at a fingernail. “Yeah. Probably should’ve mentioned that.”

  “Where is that ungrateful, idiotic bastard?”

  The heavily-accented words seemed out of place. That she was speaking in English was also unexpected. Dyletri locked eyes with Nylicia, seeking answers since she was obviously willing to mention things.

  She smirked, her amusement returning. “She’s been aware of the world, watching everything happening over the centuries. English is the least of her talents. Get ready to be bitch slapped, oh great Salicyar.”

  “What?”

  Movement caught his eyes, and he looked toward the door.

  “You! How dare you? You are in love! You are mated! And you still allow a sacrifice for me? I didn’t want to come back!”

  “Di—Dimi
thinia?”

  He inhaled sharply, eyes wide. She looked the same way she had eleven thousand years before. Thick, long black hair. Piercing, deep blue eyes. Pale skin. She even wore the same long, black sheath he’d seen her wearing the morning before her death.

  “You . . . you . . . ugh! What is the word I am looking for?” Her face flushed red as she looked back and forth between the two women in the room.

  “Asshole?” Nylicia offered helpfully.

  Nythi nodded sagely. “Yeah, I think that’s it.”

  Dimithinia turned back to Dyletri and pointed her finger at him. “Yes. You asshole! How could you do this to me?” She walked to his bed, lifted her skirt enough to climb up, and began raining down blow after blow.

  Blows that, to his surprise, actually fucking hurt.

  “Ow! Dimithinia! What are you . . . ouch! Stop this shit!”

  “You fucking moron. You are a fool!” Each word was punctuated with a hit, and she soon abandoned English in her frustration. She segued into her ancient Ritrioan dialect, throwing curse words at him that would make even modern humans cringe.

  “Will you . . . fucking shit! Nylicia told me to do it!” Dyletri managed to move out of her way right before she landed a hard hit on his dick. She caught his thigh instead, making him groan in pain. He spun away from her, trying to climb off the bed and escape her attack. She jumped onto his back, one arm wrapping around his neck while her free hand formed a fist and began pounding his head.

  Nythi whistled under her breath. “I was mad at her. But now I fucking like her. I do.” Her voice was awe-filled and happy as Dyletri continued being attacked by the tiny demon on his back.

  “I always liked her,” Nylicia commented, a proud smile on her face.

  Vedlyl stood with his arms crossed, trying to hide his smile.

  Dimithinia tightened the arm around Dy’s neck and pulled back. “Someone get me a cutting utensil! I am going to castrate him!”

  “What?” Dyletri screamed, weak as fuck but still trying to scramble off the bed.

  Nythi fell into a laughing fit so hard she ended up losing her footing and hitting the wall. “I love her, I do! Get her the knife. I have to see this!”

  Dyletri would fucking heal, but the fact that Nythi wanted to see him go through something like that had him growling and wanting to wring her neck.

  “Okay,” Vedlyl said, finally stepping forward and showing some solidarity. “I don’t need to see my fellow male, or any male for that matter, be put through that while he’s sick.” He gently grabbed Dimithinia and lifted her off Dyletri.

  “Thank you,” Dyletri grumbled.

  Dimithinia tore her arms out of Vedlyl’s grasp and turned to point her finger in his face, facing the much taller being like it was nothing. “You are next if you do not step back. This bastard deserves to hurt for setting up that sacrifice. She was, and is, an innocent!”

  “I was doing it to save you!” Dyletri didn’t understand where this was coming from. He’d thought she’d want to be saved. That she’d be grateful. “This was destined . . . isn’t that what you said, Nylicia?”

  Nylicia scoffed and stared at her nails. “Sure, blame me.”

  Dyletri was going to fucking kill her.

  Dimithinia shoved her face back in Dyletri’s. “You ripped me away from Crius! And let me tell you this, Salicyar. I had a chance to glimpse into her soul, and she is amazing. Kind, generous and a million other things that many would kill to be. I would kill to be like her.”

  “I know!” Dyletri yelled. “Why do you think I fell in love with her? Besides, Nylicia said this was all meant t—” He did a double take, not sure he heard right. “Whoa . . . wait . . . Crius?”

  Dimithinia ignored Dyletri’s question and stormed back toward the bed. Dyletri wasn’t going to lie. He actually cringed and moved back.

  “You love her? Good. Then you are going to get off your pathetic ass and go get her, because Nylicia says we must.” She launched herself at him and pulled on his ear, hard.

  “Fuck!” Dyletri was amazed by her strength. He realized for the first time that she hadn’t come back human. He saw that her dark blue, deep purple, and silver-toned aura whirling around her with the strength of her frustrations.

  “Wait,” Dyletri gasped, forgetting that he was being dragged off the bed by the ear like some child. “Get her back? We can get them back?” He looked at Nylicia for confirmation as his body seemed to reanimate with sheer hope.

  Dimithinia continued pulling on his ear.

  Zen appeared, slamming his fist against the wall. “Yes, we can get them back. You heard the woman, get your ass off that bed. Their souls haven’t left the Earthen sphere yet. I have a plane ready, so get up!”

  Dimithinia heaved, almost yanking Dy’s ear off. “Yes. Get up, ass!”

  Dyletri pushed her hand away, torn between hugging the fuck out of her for caring about Ismini or choking her because she was still as impossible as she’d always been. Seeing her in the flesh was a relief, but at the same time, looking at her proved what he’d already known. He cared for her. He did. But that was it. She did nothing to him compared to what Ismini caused inside him.

  How had he ever thought he was in love with her? How had he been able to confuse the emotion he felt for her and think it was love when what he felt for Ismini was so all-consuming and violent?

  Dyletri was off the bed so fast even Vedlyl laughed.

  “The Vortex. We need to go back there,” Dimithinia said, storming past him.

  “Even if we can get their souls back, what happens then?” he asked.

  “Let me worry about that,” Nylicia said, stepping forward.

  Dyletri rushed after them. “You said something about a plane?”

  “It’s waiting for us in Arizona,” Zen said.

  “Their souls are being held at thirty thousand feet. At the most dangerous point of the vortex. You fly toward it, energies high, and it will . . . what is the word . . . overload. It will overload and shoot out its own energy, causing a nice catastrophe. So the flying metal contraption it is. You can fling out all your powers once inside it. With any luck, the vortex will tear your head off after you get Ismini’s soul, and then I will not have to finish the job.” Dimithinia stared up at him with eyes that were innocently wide.

  “Will this work? Can I get her back?” Dyletri turned to ask Nylicia. He saw Zen freeze out of the corner of his eye. Dyletri knew Zen needed to hear the answer as much as he did.

  “I told you. I saw Dimithinia, Ismini, Evesse, and others as part of this war. Now can both of you go get your women? We need them back here!”

  “She’s not mine,” Zen mumbled as they started walking out of Dyletri’s room.

  Nylicia walked up to Zen and smacked the back of his head. “Not yet, but you’re going to remedy that, aren’t you? Besides, you already walked through the portal last night in your dream, just like the God of Horniness, here. There’s no going back, you fool.”

  She managed to hurt him although she wasn’t really flesh and blood. Zen grumbled, rubbing the spot. He got hit again by Dimithinia as she, too, walked by. “What the fuck, woman? I haven’t even been introduced to you!”

  Dimithinia shrugged and continued walking. “Apparently, you are another fool who is hesitating to claim what is his. I tend to have issues with males of the sort. So I know all I need to know.”

  Nylicia’s laugh echoed down the hallway.

  Dyletri ignored them, his thoughts filled with the idea of having Ismini with him again.

  We haven’t gotten her back yet.

  Yes, but even if Dyletri ended up having his head torn off, as Dimithinia so nicely put it, he was going to find a way to make this work. He was a fucking God, damn it. No way he couldn’t find a way to bring her back, the Fates be damned.

  Chapter 26

  Altitude: 28,527 feet and climbing.

  -Sedona, AZ. (USA)

  “Dimithinia . . .”

  Dyletri watched h
er pace back and forth inside the empty cargo plane. She’d been restless the whole flight, ever since she’d emerged from one of the rooms in the compound. She’d changed into jeans, leather ankle boots, and a black shirt. An outfit that was mind-boggling considering Dyletri knew when she’d last been on Earth.

  “Dimithinia,” he said a little louder.

  “What?”

  He rolled his eyes, got up, and grabbed her arm. “Chill out and tell me what’s up.”

  “Chill? What is up? Give me a moment. I do believe I heard those terms in the television Crius would put in front of . . .” Her voice stalled, and her eyes grew troubled at his name.

  It worried Dyletri. She’d been ripped into the world as a higher being with powers and a vague understanding of what this new modern world entailed. Yes, she was doing remarkably well on the plane considering all that, but Dyletri knew it was something else.

  “This is about him, isn’t it?”

  He wasn’t jealous. He had been at one time, but then again, he now recognized that it been more of an annoyance. Dyletri had always felt responsible for Dimithinia, and it had been aggravating to see Crius usurping his role.

  The more he thought about it, the more he realized one very important fact. If any man ever felt toward Ismini the way Dyletri knew Crius felt for Dimithinia, he didn’t give a damn who he was, Dyletri was tearing out his brain right fucking there. There would be no holding back.

  “I . . .” Dimithinia trailed off, seemingly unable to continue.

  Zen was sitting away from them in deep meditation. Every few seconds his eyes flashed red and black, and Dyletri knew he was having a hard time keeping Mavrak locked inside. Which was a problem, considering that everyone present had a less than pure past. Dimithinia’s was especially shady.

  Dyletri led Dimithinia by the arm and sat down on the floor of the plane, patting the spot next to him. “Come. Talk to me.” She seemed hesitant, so he smiled and put on his best “please” face. “I might die in a few minutes when we arrive to our destination.”