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“Why are you tirelessly seeding halflings and renewing ancient alliances?” Hekate asked “To battle what foe?”

Nïx breathed, “The Møriør”

The other goddesses tensed at the ers of Doohtly

The Valkyrie seeers are there They descend upon us Though the Accession exists to cull the iods alike should fear this one”

Lalares

Skathi’s flarew “You took it upon yourself to plan a defense against the Møriør? You toy with the fate of the entire Lore, Valkyrie!”

“Not defense Offense Why co less? I’ue Which is why I’m here Only a divinity—with this pantheon’s resources—could unite all of the factions”

“You believe you can lead the charge? Against theue comment”

Skathi drew her head back “All of your sarcastic—”

“Multilayered”

“—ansill not help your cause You’re very flippant about these proceedings”

Nïx’s playful de, mercurial “Because I’ve already seen the outcome”

“And what is that?”

“You’llme that I must have a cause—an area of power, a specialization of sorts After all, you are goddess of the hunt, the Great She-Bear is goddess of shapeshifters, Laed “I calls ’eoddesses: “You believe that this area of power ht has been taken—hat tip to the goddess Pronoea—you expect I’ll co to reveal my specialization, and all of you will comprehend the inevitability of it”

Skathi pursed her lips “Thrall us, Valkyrie”

Nïx paused dramatically “I will rise frooddess ofaccessions”

THIRTY-NINE

In the belly of the beast, stygian darkness was interrupted only by glowing green filth

Thronos had awakened to find hiht by s

Oozing cavities covered each vein; at that rated clothing, his skin, his wings

Pain flared, s his lungs He thrashed—the need to fly surging inside hiiven hiet hiht Lanthe

She was in the same predica, surrounded by sizable glowing pustules She re them still in Feveris

Acid had eaten away parts of her skin as well, even old around her neck had protected her to a degree

A pustule burst beside her, thicker tentacles e from the sore to sweep up bits of her pale flesh

To consuht, yanking at his arazed out, spotting thousands more io on for miles

In a rush of bile, the tentacle vein around his ars, he hesitated, peering over his shoulders and then down Hundreds of feet below hied were his wings?

Praying they could support hi his wings, gri in pain But even in the dense h he heard eerie s, he couldn’t think about anyone but his mate Nïx had told hih, that he’d be drugged again before he could fight his way free She’d warned him he had only two hundred and forty seconds from the ti away hishim back to the place of his lance over his shoulder On the opposite wall of the stoland, at least twenty feet in dia out of time! A portal was their only hope He flew to Melanthe

Thronos wished he didn’t have to wake her until he’d taken her from this place—he’d heard of Loreans faced with such horror that they never recovered their faculties—but he had no choice

Gripping the tentacle vein coiled around her ar the acid-dripping end away from her body

Her eyes shot open She sucked in a breath—then released it in an earsplitting shriek

He redoubled his efforts, attacking another tentacle

“No, no, this isn’t happening” Her face cru ot to create a portal”

Her head thrashed against the putrid lining, searing strands of her hair clear away “That’s why it felt like I was burning in Feveris!” Once he’d freed her and taken her into his ar Just make me wake up!”

“We are awake But if we don’t leave this place, we’ll be here for eternity In Feveris, you restored your power”

“You said that wasn’t real!”

“Didn’t it feel real?” He wished to the gods it had been “You have power, right now I need you to use it Reaze at her surroundings, a series of cries bursting fro to burst

“No, look at me!” He pinched her chin “I know you can do this”

Her tears threatened to spill, wrecking him

He rasped, “You can do this, laan to glitter, hein his arms Despite her terror, she called up her power; he could perceive it welling, unstoppable

Could others? Unconscious captives rowing, blazing out froreen

Dimly, in the back of his ht of her sorcery anything butwondrous

Heartbeats passed

She sagged against hiasped