who you’re talking about.” The girl put her hands on her hips. “Look, I’m sorry. I know how awful what Aa did to you and your boy was. But can’t your fucked-up little familia sort out its own shit? I’ve got enough to deal with handling mine.”
The Mother’s form shifted again, the stars in her gown flickering in agitation.
“This is more important that your petty mortal concerns, child.”
“It’s a pity, then, that you need us petty mortals to fix it for you, Mother.”
“I am a goddess. Before light, before life, there was darkness. I am the beginning and the end. I am the first divinity. I will not be denied.”
“I mean no disrespect. But I’m not afraid of you. It took years and all the power you had to put a fucking book in my hands and begin touching my dreams. You don’t get to threaten me. You have to convince me.”
“This is your dest—”
“Spare me,” the girl said, raising her hand. “I’m not a slave to your destiny. I walk my own road. I make my own mistakes. And maybe this is one of them. But I’ll fucking own it. Because it’s my choice. My life. My fate.”
Sorrow and anger filled her mother’s voice.
“You are as selfish as Cleo, then.”
The girl stepped forward, looked deep into those burning eyes.
“I thought I’d be alone my whole life. I thought I’d never find a piece of happy. Well, I’ve found one now, and I want to keep it. If that’s selfish, then I’ll be selfish. Because at least I’ll be in love. And fuck you for trying to take that away from me.”
Niah’s form rippled again, the horror of what she was flickering beneath her surface. The black of her gown growing so deep, Mia was frightened she’d simply fall in and drown.
“You dare speak so to me?”
The girl gritted her teeth and stood her ground.
“That’s the difference between me and most.”
Mia looked down at her feet. There in the mirror beneath her, she saw a boy cut from the darkness. His skin was black as truedark. Tongues of dark flame rippled along his body, the top of his crown, as if he were a candle burning. Dark wings were spread at his back, and on his forehead, a single perfect circle was scribed.
Pale as moonlight.
Mia looked back up into the Goddess’s eyes.
“I feel for him, I really do. And I know what it’s like to have a father to hate. But I can steal back my brother without your help. I don’t need you. So you need to give me a reason to do this. Not some bollocks about destiny or justice. A reason. Otherwise, you can sort out your own fucking marriage.”
The girl spun on her heel.
“Meantime? I’m going back to bed.”
The Night stood still as stone, glaring at her back as Mia started walking toward the morning. The stars in the Goddess’s gown flickered with cold fire. Her voice was as deep and dark as the void.
“I can think of a few reasons, child.”
CHAPTER 35
ASHES
Ash could still taste her.
Salt and honey. Iron and blood. Eyelids heavy, she ran the tip of her tongue along her lips. Savoring it. Breathing it in. Sighing it out. Looking out over the dark expanse of nothing beyond the Sky Altar’s railing and thanking whatever god or goddess or twist of fate had brought that girl into her life.
Mia.
She’d left her dreaming. Naked on the furs. Hair strewn about her head like a nimbus of black fire. Kissing her, soft as feathers, Ash had risen from their bed, pulled a black silk slip over herself. Locking their bedchamber behind her, she’d bound her long blond hair back from her face and padded barefoot down the hall in search of a drink. Her tongue was sore. Her throat was dry. Satisfying the champion of the Venatus Magni, the Queen of Scoundrels, and Lady of Blades, was thirsty work.
The Church was deathly silent. The ghostly choir was still missing entirely, and the captured acolytes and Hands were under lock and key and Mercurio’s watchful eye. Precious few had survived the attack, truth told, and all had sworn themselves to Mia as the leader of the Church. But the new Lady of Blades had insisted they be locked up anyway—for now at least. They couldn’t be too careful. Couldn’t treat this as more than a minor victory. Scaeva had escaped the Mountain, Spiderkiller along with him. Jonnen was back in his father’s clutches. The question of