“My hounds are missing too,” I offered. “I don’t know if it’s connected, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Fate is involved somehow. If it knows I have Ozzie back, it might have taken issue and retaliated.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Iszak said.
Nikhil shook his head and speared the turul brothers with a hard look. “If there’s something out there silencing turul, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you two leave here. You are Layla’s true fathers. Until we know what is happening, I won’t risk losing you.”
My eyes widened at the gruffness of my father’s tone. I’d always known he was close to Iszak and Lukas—they shared a mate, after all—but I’d never seen him display such emotion toward them.
“Maybe there’s another way,” I said. “Maybe we can call on someone who knows Fate better than all of us, who happens to be inside the Haven as we speak.”
I stared around at the collection of perplexed expressions and realized that they had no idea who I meant. The bastard must not have stopped to greet anyone on his way into the Haven. He probably didn’t even need to enter via the usual portals.
“Chaos is here,” I said. “And if he and the Diviner are done fucking, I intend to ask them both for answers.”
10
Deva
“Why does this feel like a terrible idea?” Bodhi asked as we made our way toward a roaring waterfall in the deepest part of the Haven’s forest. We’d been here just two days earlier, having followed the hounds toward what we’d hoped was another lead on finding Chaos his mate, only to have him show up and declare our quest complete. He’d entered the Diviner’s lair after insinuating that she was the mate we’d found for him.
I hadn’t been inclined to argue, and the Diviner’s field of power now extended far beyond the interior of the caves beneath the waterfall, so I was pretty sure he hadn’t been lying. Whatever had happened in there over the past two days had resulted in some pretty potent magic filling the air.
“They’re a pair of ancient, primordial beings who have probably been fucking for two days straight,” Dionysus answered, his voice laced with humor.
“She’s your daughter,” Nikhil said. “How are you all right with this?”
Dionysus ducked his horned head to avoid catching on a branch that stretched high across the path. “She’s not a creature I would get in the way of any more than Chaos is. When I offered my seed to Gaia and the Mother Dragon, it was to serve a purpose, not out of any sense of love or family. After Fate had betrayed us all, we wanted safeguards against being sucked into other schemes. We needed a being on our side who could stand outside Fate’s influence, to offer balance to the higher races who might need an alternate outlook. It’s really no surprise that she turned out to be the ideal mate for someone like Chaos.”
“More power to her, you mean?” Bodhi asked.
“Precisely,” Dion said.
“Well, this magic makes my skin crawl,” Bodhi muttered.
“That’s because it kind of is,” Keagan said, pointing at Bodhi’s tattoos, which were even more animated than before. The dragon tattoo that encircled one of his forearms twisted restlessly, and he winced as a gout of flame shot out from near his elbow. He smacked his hand over the thing and rubbed his arm as if trying to snuff the flame.
We reached the end of the path at the large, flat rock that extended behind the curtain of the waterfall. All the members of the Quorum had followed us, as had Llyr’s Thiasoi brothers, Kyril, Theo, and Dorian. The trio came up behind us looking more worried than the others, as if they might be expected to enter the place.
“Who’s going in?” Ozzie asked, eyeing the darkness warily.
“The six of us should enter as a group,” Llyr said. “I think the others can remain outside. It is our request that requires Fate’s intervention, and if Fate is responsible for this . . . situation, we are the ones who need to rectify it.”
Ozzie sighed, “I was afraid you were going to say that. Well then, let’s get this over with.”
I hesitated at the edge of the rock. The magic was even thicker in the misty spray of the waterfall.
A hand brushed my lower back, warm against my bare skin just above my sarong. Ozzie brushed past me, leaning in to whisper as he entered the cave, “I’ve got less to lose, honey. Let me go first.”
I’d have argued with him, if my heart hadn’t been pounding so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. Keagan and Rohan went next, then Bodhi slipped his hand into mine.
“Together?” he asked.
I looked over my shoulder at Llyr, who nodded solemnly. He looked calm, which eased some of my anxiety.
I’d heard stories about the Diviner, but had never visited her myself. The reactions of the three other satyrs told me enough about their general feelings toward the creature, though. They feared the Diviner, and all three of them had survived being Meri’s prisoners for thousands of years. Anything more frightening than our former enemy had to be terrifying.
Once inside the outer cave, we gathered, and Llyr pushed to the front just before the opening to a shadowy passage even thicker with potent magic.
“We must enter in truth—in our primal forms—but you can keep your human shapes until the last stretch . . .”
He trailed off just as a deep violet glow appeared in the darkness behind him. It grew in a swirling pattern like a spinning star, a vortex of gradually brightening light. The brighter it got, the more I felt I was being sucked in, the vortex pulling on the power of my very soul.
I let out a cry and grabbed at Bodhi to tether myself.
“What is it?” he asked, holding me close.
“What are you scared of, Deva?” Rohan asked.
“Can’t you feel that?” I asked. It continued to tug at me and I shifted my vision, hoping my soul-sight would give me a clue what was happening.
I could clearly see the bright orbs of the souls within my mates, though the threads that connected them to me were invisible. When I looked at Ozzie’s soul, the difference between his and theirs was striking. Where each of their souls were visibly missing pieces, his was whole.
But none of them seemed to be affected by the magic that still felt like it was stretching my soul and sucking it out of my body.
“I have to go or it will kill me,” I said, not sure whether that meant I should turn and run, or dive into the passage toward the power.
Gritting my teeth, I buried the fear. This wasn’t just for me. Something had happened to the turul out in the human world, in their own Enclaves—something serious enough that the Winds themselves were showing more caution than was typical. And they were looking to me for answers, since I had a stronger connection to Fate than any of them at the moment.
Even Fate’s own offspring didn’t have what I had—the ability to negotiate with it.
Before I could push into the thick, violet magic, a deafening crack overhead made me raise my arms defensively. Pebbles rained down, and before I knew it, Ozzie pushed me to the ground, body hunched over mine. The others followed suit, the five of them surrounding me as stones pelted their flesh, followed by trickling water, then a deluge as the cave collapsed on top of us and the waterfall rushed in.
11
Deva
At first I thought Llyr must have drifted us to safety, but the scents and sounds around us were vastly different from any part of the Haven. I smelled processed air and thick carpet pressed into my bare knees. Beyond the rapid breathing of the five men who still huddled over me, I heard the muted sounds of a city, complete with car horns. Then the sounds of a casino filtered up from far below, and I knew precisely where we were.
Pandemonium.
“This is a surprise, but then you are a girl after my own heart, aren’t you, Deva Rainsong?” Chaos said.
I pushed against the limbs wrapped around me and my mates gradually shifted off me to stand. When I was finally able to lift my head and see our host, I blinked in astonishment. Chaos wasn’t alone, but
his companion was decidedly not his assistant, Sergio.
Beside him stood a stunning woman in a shimmering sequined dress reminiscent of scales. The color deepened from a brilliant blue at the bodice to green at the hem and flashed silver when she moved. The skirt was split in several places, hanging down in a series of long, tapered panels that flowed across the floor like tendrils revealing long, shapely legs. Her hair, as luminous and variegated as her dress, cascaded over her ivory shoulders, jet-black at her crown but shifting through a spectrum of blues and greens down to the white ends curling over the tops of her breasts.
“Thisss is the girl, isn’t it?” she asked, tilting her head. She smiled, baring straight white teeth, including a pair of pointed canines. “I have long wished to meet you.”
Grit and dirt clung to my skin and I brushed it off, suddenly feeling extraordinarily underdressed. I’d have felt better equipped to deal with whatever had just happened if I wasn’t half naked and covered in dirt. A bath and some time to process would have been nice, but nothing had really gone my way lately, so I’d have to make do with my magic.
“Who are you?” I asked, exhaling a breath to clothe myself and tidy up my appearance.
“She’s the Diviner,” Llyr said, his voice filled with awe. “I didn’t think you wished to ever leave your home. Is the Haven intact? What just happened?”
“The Haven is fine,” Chaos said. “They’re just one resident short.”
He reached out and took the Diviner’s hand, bringing it to his lips in a reverent kiss. I had the sense that if we weren’t in the room, he’d have been on his knees before her right now. The small display of affection left me oddly satisfied. I’d helped bring these two together.
“I wasn’t expecting visitorsss,” the Diviner said. She gave Chaos a tender look and stroked his cheek before turning her attention back to us. “We were in the processs of departing when you arrived with your matesss. It was lucky we sensed you at the last minute. Easier to bring you with usss than remain behind to save you from the collapsing cave. I trust you are all whole and uninjured?”
I looked around at the other five. The men looked a little scraped up and covered in mud, but were otherwise unscathed. Mostly they were as bewildered by the shift in locations as I felt.
“We’re fine,” I said. “Just surprised. We came to you for help. Chaos owes me a favor.” I looked pointedly at him, and he nodded.
“I owe you everything for leading me to her,” he said. He tilted his chin at Ozzie. “But I see you’ve found the lost lover you were seeking. What else could I possibly do?”
“We need to find Fate. Ozzie returned to us missing his memories and with different ones in their place. Fate was able to unlock my hidden memories before. We need it to do the same for him. But there’s something else going on that’s worrying me more. My hounds have disappeared, and the turul have been uncommunicative all day. I’m afraid these things are related and point to something bigger at work.”
The pair were silent for a moment. Then Chaos turned to the Diviner. “What do you think, my love?”
She regarded me with a gaze every bit as disconcerting as any of the nymphaea’s, only hers reminded me more of that dark vortex that had tried to suck me in. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, then nodded.
“There isss more at work, yesss. Is there something elssse you wished to ask for, Deva? Something that may point to the reason for the turuls’ silence? You made another arrangement with Fate, did you not?”
My skin prickled at the way her gaze drilled into me. How she could know so much, I couldn’t fathom, but she had a reputation as a seer.
“I wasn’t prepared to ask for that yet,” I told her. “There are more pressing concerns. The turul could be in danger . . .” I stopped and glanced at Ozzie, a sudden realization hitting me.
His brows tilted inward and he whispered, “Ouranos?” Either he’d drawn the same conclusion on his own, or he’d heard my completed train of thought carried on my breath.
“The god who spawned the turul?” the Diviner asked.
“The one who raped a multitude of women to create his own race of higher creatures,” Ozzie said. “We all know of his deeds, unless somehow that was rewritten in this world too,” he added bitterly.
“It was not,” the Diviner said. “Though in this world, Fate was his victim and the mother of the turul race.”
“I had intended to reach out to you for help,” I said to Chaos. “Fate wishes vengeance on Ouranos, but lacks the ability to strike at the god. I offered to ask you for help as a favor to me. But if Ouranos discovered Fate’s intention, would he have done something? Could he be behind this silence?”
“Legend has it the bastard was always a step ahead of the other gods,” the Diviner said. “I will not defend Fate’s actionsss. I owe my very exissstence to the other gods’ need to protect themselves from Fate. But Ouranos chose a different path by preemptively attacking the creature that meant to assert control over him. It would not surprise me if he chose that path a sssecond time.”
She closed her eyes and stretched out her hands, palms up. The long tendrils of her hair shifted around her head as if alive. Around us the air moved, tickling my skin and giving me goosebumps, and a shiver snaked up my spine.
After a moment, she opened her eyes and directed her gaze at me. “Fate’s curse on the turul is no more. As such, they are fair game once again—pawns in the petty conflict between the two divine beings. They have been cursed by the god himself this time.”
Ozzie stepped forward and gave her a little wave. “Ah, turul standing right here. I feel fine. Aside from the missing memories, anyway.” He tapped his head with one finger.
“You were protected within the boundaries of the Haven,” the Diviner said, her eyes a deep violet swirl that seemed to see beyond the room and those of us in it. “Any turul within the realms of the other higher races would have been protected. Ouranos does not have access to the Dragon Glade, the Haven, or the Sanctuary, and for good reason. But the turul Enclaves were only protected by Fate’s magic.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you saying the turul curse was the only thing protecting them from turning into collateral for some power play by Ouranos? Why the hell didn’t Fate warn us?”
The Diviner nodded. “The god has not forgotten Fate’s schemes. He has a long memory. When the turul were born, Fate cast the curse to prevent their father’s influence. Fate maintained complete control over their lives for all that time. If Fate neglected to share that detail, it had a reason.”
“If this is him, we need to stop him. The turul could be in danger.”
Chaos crossed his arms. “Get my star performer back, and I’ll help. She seems to have gone off the grid.”
“No,” I snapped. “Aella can do what she wants. I did what you asked. You’ve already told me how grateful you are. No more negotiating. You owe me.”
Chaos’ lips quirked and he looked at the Diviner. “This is what you get when Fate doesn’t influence every outcome. Isn’t she remarkable? Almost as remarkable as you, my love.”
“Yesss,” The Diviner said. “You are a remarkable young woman, Deva Rainsong. I regret that I cannot resume my primal shape here. We would have fun together. May I have a small taste of your magic instead?”
“Tell me how to beat Ouranos,” I said through gritted teeth. The men closed ranks behind me and the Diviner’s brows arched.
“Your magic, Chimera,” she said, reaching out a long, graceful arm toward me as if what she requested was an object I could simply hand her.
Beside me, Llyr murmured, “Give it to her. I’d rather you didn’t tempt her into taking it her usual way. She can be quite ruthless with her attentions.”
Chaos made a rumble of agreement. “That is my favorite thing about her,” he said, grinning.
I swallowed and stepped forward, trying to ignore the rising panic that threatened to make me turn and run the closer I got to the woman.
I took her hand. Her fingers were surprisingly smooth and delicate, but her grip was strong. She tugged me gently toward her.
“Pull from your soul, Deva,” she said. “Let me taste your purest power.”
“How do you know I can give it this way?” I asked. “You’ve never met me before.”
“You are a true chimera,” she said, “a prism absorbing and giving off light in a spectrum. Your nature is not to simply hold onto the magic, but to release it into the world in its component parts, or as a whole of your own making. I wish to taste the potency of your power. I suspect you do not need Chaos to help with this task.”
She squeezed my hand again, and I could sense the controlled power within her. She was a little like me, I thought—a blend of powers. But she was clearly more confident in her use of magic.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, drawing on the place within me where the four fragments of my soul resided. They were in sync, thanks to Bodhi’s contribution, an almost complete whole, but the void where Ozzie’s piece had been still ached, and I had to suppress the urge to go to him, to beg him to make love to me here and now.
Shaking off that feeling, I pushed magic from the fragments I had through my hand and into the Diviner’s.
A strange sense of shame overcame me at giving her incomplete magic. I understood my own potential—what I might be capable of if I had that turul soul. I’d had it once, and recalled the power I’d wielded even without realizing it. It was all too obvious to me now that it was missing.
But she didn’t display any disappointment when the power flowed into her. She kept her gaze fixed on me, her expression inscrutable. After a few seconds, she drew her hand away and her eyes shifted over each of us. I wished I could gain some sense of her thoughts, her feelings, but her aura was a crystalline shell around her, unchanging except for a pleasant pink tinge where threads of her soul stretched out toward Chaos.
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