Blood Flows Deep in the Empire

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  -Renentr. Abideos—Chamber of Souls.

  The darkness was normal. He was used to it. Voices reached out as he passed by. That was normal, too. They were whispers with no identity. Pleas that held no meaning. Echoes of what once had been. Crius could do nothing to aide or comfort the glowing souls he watched over. They would either reincarnate when Fate allowed, or they would remain there. Forever.

  Just like him.

  He could go into the world whenever he wished. He usually took great pleasure in doing so. Except that now, everywhere he went, the echo of her presence remained. In his home, out in the world. The many places he’d frequented with her were nothing more than a taunt now. He no longer had a reason to leave the underworld. The reason was gone.

  And he was perfectly fine with that.

  Liar.

  “Damn it.” He ran a hand down his face, heading toward the one place he should have been avoiding. But like a damned fish on a hook, he kept getting dragged back to that chamber against his will. He knew what awaited him there, and yet he couldn’t stop himself.

  Crius entered the Abideos and adamantly ignored that he had to force himself not to look at the now empty dais.

  He was not going to look. Nope. There was no reason to.

  And doesn’t that hurt like a bitch?

  Ridiculous.

  She’s alive now. She’s going to have a life.

  Yup.

  Without Dyletri. He fell in love with the girl.

  And that mattered why? It changed nothing. Why would it?

  “Oh, the Gods damn it! No, actually, damn me.”

  Crius froze. Okay, that was a lie. He almost slammed into one of the walls and crashed all the Aristri to the floor. He caught himself before he could do any damage.

  The voice sounded again. It was a feminine voice he’d never heard before but instantly recognized. More than once he’d caught the faint echo of it in Dyletri’s memories. It had been indistinct but enough.

  His chest suddenly felt too tight.

  The fuck?

  His breath froze. Then it went into overdrive, fueled by the adrenaline drenching his system. His muscles locked up, affording him just enough mobility for him to turn his head a bit. Shocked, Crius realized a couple of things. One, his teeth were bared, and two, he was ready to pounce. His body was coiled tight, preparing itself.

  “Why the fuck did I volunteer to do this? Ouch! What the . . . Gods damn it, Crius. Spikes? Really? Since when? You morose . . .” She paused a moment. “What is Cy’s favorite word? Ah, yes! Morose motherfucker . . .”

  Was she really cursing him out?

  Wait . . .

  Wait . . .

  Shit.

  Crius was shaking. He could deny a million other things, but he couldn’t deny that. Not only could he feel the tremors, but looking down at his hands, he could see them. He braced one hand against the nearest unoccupied shelf and fought the urge to grab at his chest. Fought to stay calm as his brain forced him to admit that it was her voice he heard.

  “Oh, yeah. Great. Smart woman. I will take him his . . . his . . . what is the damned word? Invitation. Oh, yes. I had to—just had to—bring his invitation.”

  Crius managed to turn toward the entrance of the chamber just as the little hellion yelling those words burst in. The whole light-speed breathing thing wasn’t an issue anymore. His breath had pretty much screeched to a halt, and it didn’t look like it would be starting up again anytime soon.

  It was the most humbling moment of Crius’s life, and he’d thought he was long past shit like that.

  “There you are,” she growled, tiny hands on her hips. Brow furrowed. A pout on her face. Eyes so blue they were difficult to stare into.

  She was beautiful. Beyond what he had previously thought.

  More than he could’ve ever imagined.

  She was dressed in jeans. Knee-length, black boots. And a—

  It’d only been two weeks and she was wearing a leather jacket?

  “Dim—”

  Crius choked. He completely choked. He had to clear his throat just to try again.

  “Dimithinia?”

  First look into Blood Stained Tranquility, the second book in the Szolite Series.

  “I love this song!”

  “Cy, seriously. Don’t start this shit. Shut it.”

  Gangnam Style blasted over the speakers, and Cy took off, straight into the “riding the pony” motion.

  “Cy, I’m serious.”

  “Don’t be a hater, Ian. Dance this shit with me. This is classic!”

  “Someone smack him.”

  “Gladly.” Evesse walked right by Cyake and delivered the necessary blow to his head.

  “The fuck? The song is playing. I have all the right to dance it!” Cy rubbed his head and glared after her. “Oh shit, girl . . .”

  Evesse ignored that last part. The place was packed full of gods and beings she didn’t even know. Hell, she didn’t even know that her new friends knew so many beings. Yet here they all were. Thankfully, so was she. She’d managed to wake up right on time for the celebration. Ismini deserved for her to be here. Dyletri did, too, but Eve was still busy pretending she was mad at him.

  “Seriously, Eve, that dress is hot.” Lizzisi, Goddess of Light, came up next to Evesse and handed Eve a glass.

  Eve thought Liz’s white dress was just as gorgeous.

  She looked down at the tight, red strapless piece with the slit up the thigh. Okay, Eve knew her dress was hot. So were the black heels. She’d picked both of them out on purpose.

  He’s not going to be here.

  She ignored that thought.

  “Your dress is, too.” Eve smiled at Liz and took a sip of whatever had been given her. It was similar to champagne, but with the kick it had, it was definitely more than just fermented grape juice.

  “What is this?” she asked, turning to look at Liz.

  “Laussane,” Liz said, slamming back her glass.

  “Huh?” Eve said, surprised with the speed Liz chugged the strong shit.

  Liz smiled happily. “It’s our own version of alcohol. Just enjoy it.”

  She took another sip. “You trying to get me drunk, Liz?”

  Liz laughed, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder. Her eyes sparked whenever she smiled, the lightning in her irises flashing rapidly. Evesse was no longer freaked out by it.

  Nah, she’d been freaked the fuck out the first time she’d looked in a mirror after waking out of the coma. Staring into the mirror for the last two weeks had made her more accepting. Swirls of gold, brown, and black dominated her irises now, and when she got mad, specks of red flashed up close.

  “Don’t tempt me, woman. I might take you up on that. Make Zen regret he was too late,” Liz said, because she was oh so sensitive.

  That was the one name Evesse really didn’t want to hear right then.

  “Dude, wasn’t Crius supposed to be here?” Cy stopped next to them with two drinks in his hands. Eve would have condemned him, but Ianthen was right behind him, and he had three.

  Sillizi, Liz’s black-haired twin and Goddess of Darkness, waltzed up to the group looking way too stunning in her midnight blue dress. “I believe I see him coming in now. Oh, baby.”

  Eve looked toward where she was pointing and nearly died. The big motherfucker walking in was the definition of animalism. His arrogant gait matched every other part of him.

  “Drink, bitch. Drink. He has that effect on all females,” Liz said under her breath, making another glass of lausanne appear in her hand and chugging.

  “Hey, have you seen . . .Oh, holy shit. I think I just came,” Soleria gasped, stopping next to Eve.

  Evesse heard a small growl from her left. She didn’t have to look to know it was a certain blue-haired creature—cough, Ian, cough—who was most likely chugging all three of his drinks at once.

  Cyake waved over the black-haired guy who had just walked in. “Yo! Cri! It’s been forever!”

&nbs
p; Crius’s silver eyes moved in their direction. The God of the Underworld had no pupils, and it took Eve a moment to process that. She didn’t know why that was odder to her than anything else she’d seen thus far.

  Crius took a couple of steps toward them and then stopped, looking startled. The way his big body came to a halt was freaking comical. Especially when Eve saw the reason why.

  Over the last two weeks, she’d grown close to the small woman headed her way. Oh, Eve had been hostile to her when she first woke up, sure. But that had lasted less than a day, and since then, there had been enough time for Eve to get close to her.

  And boy, had they become close. Eve adored Ismini, but Dimi’s personality was too scandalous not to love.

  “Dimi!” Eve cried, deciding to play with the God of the Underworld. “There’s your hot ass! Looking for someone to fling it at tonight?”

  Yeah, she was loud enough to call the attention of everyone around her, but that wasn’t so wrong, was it? Nah.

  Dimithinia stared at Eve with a confused look. Until she noticed the individual glaring down at her with all the fury of his domain. When she saw it was Crius, Dimi flipped her long hair over her shoulder and literally sashayed toward Eve, the slit of her dress showing off just enough leg and thigh.

  As far as displays went, Eve had to admit she fucking loved it.

  Take that, asshole, she thought. You’re just another male idiot about to suffer for your foolishness.

  And there would be more of them before the night was over. There was a reason she’d picked out her dress, after all. Even if he wouldn’t make it, it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

  “Fling myself at? Perhaps I am thinking about it. Are there any takers?” Dimithinia asked just as Cy innocently raised his hand.

  The laser glare with no pupils was turned toward Cy next.

  And cue the evil genius laugh in Eve’s head. She smirked as Dimi joined the others right before Crius made his way toward them. Ian, he seemed happy enough to greet, but Cy? Eve took a sip of her drink, hiding her big ass smile.

  Wondering where Ismini was, and really hoping she and her R’mann hadn’t decided to consecrate another unnecessary place, Evesse left the group to go look for her. She made it a few steps before a wave of heat she was becoming accustomed to ran through her. She had to stop and lean against a door frame just so she could blink and breathe.

  A few breaths. That was what it usually took for the feeling to recede. This time, though, it wasn’t really going away, and the pain in her veins throbbed harder.

  She knew what it meant. Of course she knew what it meant. And it was so fucking unfair. So fucking wrong. How could this be chosen for her against her will?

  It was chosen for Ismini.

  Yeah, but just because it worked out for her didn’t mean it would work out for Eve. Not with the way her luck usually ran. Afraid that someone would see her in such a state, she stepped further into the hallway and kept going until she reach the opposite wall. She leaned into it, pressing her forehead against the stone.

  Eve couldn’t make sense of why it was so intense recently. Why it was killing her now. Maybe it was just getting worse, and soon she would fall face first into the Fieren, the unrequited mating turning on her and eating her from the inside out.

  Which would be great. Really great. Yeah, okay.

  She inhaled shakily again, turning and leaning her back against the wall. She was heaving air in when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of.

  Oh, holy shit.

  Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t move. Her heart twisted inside her with fury and need. She couldn’t look away from the giant storming toward her. Evesse was on the verge of hyperventilating. She wanted to smack herself for her obvious reaction.

  But she couldn’t stop.

  Couldn’t stop it.

  In all black, he was nearly frightening. His eyes flashed between blue-and-gray and red-and-black, and his cheek bones seemed more prominent than before. He came closer until he was right in front of her. His hands slammed on either side of her head. Eve gasped, jumping in surprise.

  “Why are you wearing that dress?”

  “Huh?” she asked, eyes locked with his and unable to move.

  Zeniel leaned toward her, his face too fucking beautiful and vicious. The sight of his jaw twitching made her clench everywhere, and she was horrified when she felt herself gush. Even more so when she saw his nostrils slightly flare. She knew he could smell it. Knew he could smell what he was doing to her.

  Gorgeous bastard.

  A growl rumbled out of him. In a flash, he pressed his big body against her. His hand grabbed on to her jaw. She wanted to continue to lie to herself about what was happening to her, but the moment she felt his touch, the R’mmanev wailed through her.

  “Answer me. They’re all fucking looking at you. I see them. Why are you wearing it? Are you trying to drive me crazy? Or other men?” He leaned in, his eyes turning completely black while red lines appeared across his cheeks and moved higher. The lines merged with the black ones that seemed to leak out of his eyes.

  Mavrak.

  “Fuck . . . you,” Eve gasped, furious and so horny she could barely think. He was gone for weeks, and he had the nerve to storm in there and pretend he was jealous?

  Two distinct tones rumbled in her ear. “Oh, I plan to.”