Beautiful Salvation Read Free

think of the bit about diverting you from your dark path?” Adonis drummed his claws on the ground as he peered up at the god. His eyes flickered with specks of scarlet. “How dark was your path?”
     
    The lines around Saamal’s eyes tightened. “I did what was necessary for my people to keep them strong. I—” The words died on his tongue and he closed his mouth abruptly, averting his eyes. He remained still for the span of several moments, body as stiff as a statue. “I ignored that part.” His voice was reserved, a hushed confession in the isolated glen. He paused, giving those around him time to form their own conclusions.
     
    Eurydice glanced around at the princes, searching their faces. Kirill’s face was as expressive as granite, chiseled white features guarding his thoughts as surely as Cerberus guarded Hades. By sharp contrast, Etienne’s face was an open book, suspicion etched in the creases around his severe mouth, the golden glint in his brown eyes. Adonis was guileless as ever, not a trace of judgment to be found, just blatant curiosity in the way he leaned closer to Saamal, his wings settled like a blanket over his back. Patricio stood like a silent sentinel, sword at his hip. He waited like a judge hearing evidence, calm and distant, but inwardly preparing to do whatever might be necessary once all the facts had been revealed.
     
    Eurydice took a deep, slow breath. She had saved Saamal for last for good reason. It had been her hope that the princes would bond, that loyalty would grow, alliances would be forged. She’d seen evidence of this already, perhaps most obvious in Kirill’s clear desire to teach Adonis to be less…carefree, and more strategic, more prince-like. And then there’d been the way they’d all come together to save Irina…
     
    Still, Saamal had the most gruesome past of any of them. Indeed, his kingdom had had a grisly beginning, and continued to stay closer to the flesh and blood of creation’s beginning than most kingdoms. It was time for the others to learn more of the kingdom of Mu , and she only hoped that they would be as willing to help the god then as they had been when the night started.
     
    “I was not the only deity to show up,” Saamal continued, not making eye contact with his audience. “Chumana, a lover I had taken in the past, had shown up as well. She was…not pleased with my reason for being there. She laid a curse on the child, condemning her to die on the day she reached the age for marriage.”
     
    “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for an infant.” Adonis’ voice lacked its usual humor, coming out more of a grim observation than a joke.
     
    Saamal’s eyes went dead, becoming the bottomless pits Eurydice had glimpsed earlier. The air crackled with unease, and she could feel it gripping her branches, embittering the wind. Saamal was no longer at full strength, he couldn’t bring the skies bearing down on them with all the fury of a winter storm, but he was still a god. It would be best if he remained calm and clear-headed. Easy, Saamal.
     
    Thankfully, the god merely flexed his hands and went on with his story. “It is a custom in my culture for each of the balam to grant a royal child with a gift—a blessing if you will. One of them arrived late, and had not yet given her blessing at the time Chumana laid her curse on the child. Although a fairy does not have the power to curb the curse of a goddess, I was able to further empower her blessing by giving up some of my own power to fuel her magic. The balam acted as a conduit and guided my power, and together we changed the outcome of Chumana’s curse. My future bride, Aiyana, would not die, but merely sleep.”
     
    “But you haven’t been able to wake her up.” Adonis shoved himself into a sitting position, raising his wings behind him to keep from crushing them. He crouched like a gargoyle on a church, face pinched with thought.
     
    The sharp smell of the air preceding a storm