kings to crown, and you need rest so that your injuries heal. We all need rest,” he uttered. “Lucian has his men here, and Erie has released the Raven Guard to protect us as we recover from the attack. Her army was created to guard her against the gods. Callaghan is also here, avoiding Erie like the fucking plague. We will be okay. Do you hear me? I love you, woman. I couldn’t ask for more than what you did today. You stood tall, and you kicked ass. No one else could have done what you did.”
I turned in my chair to study Erie. Her wild, red war braids were frayed from battle, and she made them look natural, wildly untamable, but she owned them. She carried the scent of fresh grass with a hint of rain. It reminded me of how Ireland smelled just before the brilliant blue skies would open, and a torrential downpour would come out of nowhere. Erie was as wild as the land after which Callaghan had named her. Much like its weather, she was unpredictable. Her vivid eyes held mine as she smiled, stepping closer.
“Goddess of the Fae, you will be a fucking menace when you learn how to handle your full powers. Honestly, Synthia. I had no idea how to even call the Raven Guard back to me, but you helped me today. You ignited my need to fight with you. I have avoided it without my memories, but now? Now I know I can fight beside you and totally kick some ass. Death is a part of war, I know. Trust me, I’ve been in so many battles they’ve all blended together, and I don’t even know if they’re my memories or those of the warriors within me.” Erie stared absently across the pyres and scowled from her silent position beside me. “Is that male an enemy? His head would be perfect for my freezer.”
I followed her gaze to where Asher stood and furrowed my brow. “That’s Asher, the Light King, and he’s family now.”
“Damn,” she muttered, turning to stare at the man moving toward us, who stopped to stand beside Ryder. Callaghan’s heated blue eyes settled on Erie, slipping down her slight frame with longing burning in their depths. “That’s my cue to go.”
“You guys are good, right?” I questioned, observing their stiffened body language.
“We’ve called a truce for now,” Callaghan admitted, his tone rumbling through me as Erie let her gaze rove over his armor-covered frame. “See anything you like, woman?”
“I see something that belongs to me. I’m deciding if I should claim it or not.” Erie smirked, shrugging her porcelain shoulders covered in woad.
“Callaghan,” Thanatos called, staring at the warrior before his head turned toward Erie.
“What the fuck do you want?” Callaghan asked, observing Erie, who narrowed her eyes on Thanatos as if she was trying to place him.
“Erie, you look wild and untamable as usual,” Thanatos said.
Erie’s lips pursed together, her gaze slowly sliding down Thanatos before dismissing him outright as uninteresting. “Peace out, bitches. I’m going to go drink until I forget the taste of birds flying out my mouth. I seemed to have forgotten how they taste as they’re freed, and it isn’t pleasant.” Wiggling her fingers in the air, she spun on her heel and headed to where Zahruk stood quietly in front of Darynda’s pyre, staring at Savlian, who stood sentinel over his brother Sevrin in death.
“Erie didn’t know who the fuck you were,” Callaghan said to Thanatos cryptically, drawing my gaze to his. Thanatos studied Erie’s back as she skipped away with the carefreeness of a child instead of a millennium-old goddess.
“The Mórrígan didn’t remember my name until Synthia had growled it, calling me out of the shadows. I thought it was strange that she didn’t say more or try to murder me. All things considered, she isn’t my biggest fan.”
“If you two are finished, I need to say a few words to the crowd and send our dead off.” Ryder stood, and I watched him moving to address the crowd, grief marring his features. He looked defeated, and it was unsettling to