Page 30 of Scourged
Sebastian’s alarmed confusion slammed into him. “Your goddess? What goddess?—”
Pale blue light, as bright and vibrant as the day sky, flashed through the throne room, and Sebastian’s mind emptied.
Rylla was gone, and in her place stood a great black cat, hazel eyes gleaming as its tail swished through the air. The hint of fangs peeked out from beneath its jaw, its paws as large as a human hand.
“Oh, my gods …” Ciana breathed out. She stepped closer to the rest of them, hand covering her mouth.
This was impossible. This magic … it did not exist in Onita.
At least, not recorded.
“There is nothing to fear,” Kiira said, a smile in her voice. “She may have changed forms, but it is still my sister.” The black cat beside her sat back on its haunches. “This is the magic of Kreah.”
“Wait,” Ciana said. “Having Kreah magic … makes youshifters?”
Kiira nodded. “It is symbolic of our goddess, Rulene.”
Sebastian’s head spun, caught in a vortex. He considered himself read, but never in his over three decades of life had he read such things.
“If this is true,” he said, “than this would be the best kept secret on the continent.”
“It is not the end of the secrets kept from Onita, I fear.” Kiira grimaced. “But not by choice. Many thousand years ago, Onitadecided to isolate from the rest of the continent. No knowledge would enter or leave. The memories of the other magic, of the other gods, was quickly lost to time.”
Drystan crossed his arms over his chest. “Then how do your people remember?”
Kiira narrowed her near-black stare. “Our people never forgot.”
“I believe them,” Ciana whispered. Everyone again turned their attention to her, Sebastian’s mouth hanging agape once again.
Ciana swallowed. “Before the Winter Solstice, we met a woman from Leuxrith. She said she was a priestess of Callamus and told us of the other gods. I remember her mentioning Rulene, the patron goddess of Kreah.” She glanced at them all, stare lingering on Sebastian. “If this is what it takes to get Mariah back, then we don’t have any choicebutto trust them.”
Sebastian clenched his fists, more shock and misplaced anger rushing through him.
Ciana had known about this … and had not told him. She had kept this secret from him, this information that changed everything about what they knew of their world. And for that, he wasfurious.
But … he also knew she was right.
With a clipped nod to Ciana, he shifted to Kiira and Rylla, the latter’s hazel feline gaze sharp and unnerving as it prickled his skin.
“If you truly can help find our queen … then your aid is what we desperately need.”
Chapter 11
Mariah had thought she knew what it felt like to shatter.
She’d thought she’d known true pain. But really, she had no idea, not until she saw the hands of the man she loved wrapped around the body of a girl who wasn’t her. Saw his lips pressed against hers, saw something spark in his eyes that she’d thought had once been just for her.
She was such a fuckingfool.
The cell, already cold, dark, and wet, had fallen into further decay. Hope and any chance of leaving its captivity seeped from the walls along with Mariah’s tears. The moisture on her face had long since dried, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still feel it, right there behind her eyes, clawing for a way out they couldn’t find.
Just like she felt.
“I always warned you to remember your place, Mariah.”
She hadn’t even heard the approach of her latest tormentor. If she had anything left in her heart that could allow her to care, Mariah would’ve felt a streak of anger, of outrage, at Ksee’s voice echoing against the walls of her prison. Instead, all she felt was a slight surprise that faded into learned, defeated silence.
She was hardly shocked Ksee had chosen this moment, when Mariah was at her most broken and defeated, to show her face. To reveal where she’d disappeared to since the night she’d taken her priestesses and fled the city, days before the Winter Solstice.