Twilight of the Gods ✔️

Chapter 27: A Perplexing Soul Bond

The red line led Haydn around the palace in circles. At first, he assumed it was because Evelyn was moving around. He imagined her in a frenzy, pacing around and waiting for him. But after his fourth rotation and seeing the same set of columns again, he suspected foul play.

"This line is an illusion," he said. "Either my soulmate is walking around in circles or she never entered Otherworld in the first place."

"Your soul bond is real," Odi hissed. "My payment for your services is no illusion. I wouldn't cheat you, even if you were my former Chosen One."

He slithered up Haydn's arm, bringing his fangs closer to his neck. Haydn did his best not to tense up, to show that Odi didn't scare him.

"I mean no insult," he said, hearing the venom dripping from his fangs. "I'm grateful for your gift. The ache that I feel in the absence of Evelyn is driving me mad. Forgive me for losing faith."

Odi continued to hover over his neck for a minute, the edge of his mouth scraping Haydn's skin. His pulse quickened, his heart thudding against his chest.

"I understand your pain," Odi said, retreating down his arm. Haydn relaxed unconsciously. "You've waited so long and committed so many crimes. But you must be patient. You were made for each other, born to live your small eternities together. She is only a few seconds away."

Haydn suppressed the urge to yank Odi off his arm. He had been nothing but patient ever since coming to Otherworld. He had sat through Nyx's ridiculous games, playing the role of the perfect pawn to lead Daeva here. He even did the bidding of his former master Odi, a God he had thought was long lost to the sands of time, to get to her. He was the very embodiment of patience, but he wasn't stupid. Something was afoot.

He continued to follow the line, the path suddenly changing. The red string brought him up a set of steps, leading into the dining room. Just as he crossed the threshold into the room, a bell tolled in the distance, signaling Nyx's return.

The red line flickered, disappearing and reappearing so quickly that Haydn thought it was a trick of the light. But Odi's grip on his arm tightened, a sure sign that something was wrong.

"A dark presence has entered the palace," Odi hissed. "Their magic is ... familiar. I have not felt it in this universe for some time."

"That's Nyx, the Lady of the Night," he said. "Maybe you met her when you took a different form in your years of wandering."

But Odi's words troubled him. Haydn had his own theories about what Nyx was. She was neither God nor Elysian, but she held a level of control over both groups that suggested that she was more powerful than both of them combined. He thought that she was a crafty sorceress, a mortal that gathered enough power to transcend her physical state. But if she had existed during Odi's early days, then she was more dangerous than he could ever imagine.

As the Elysians entered the room, Haydn saw the red line spin frantically around the center of the room. It created a scarlet whirlpool, the thread twisting into a wild funnel that Nyx emerged from. She smiled at the room, her mouth curving into an impossibly wide crescent. It reminded Haydn of how inhuman she was, that her true nature was that of a monster. She gathered the red thread in her hands, wearing his soul bond like a bracelet.

Immediately, Haydn felt his blood boil. How dare she ruin his plans! He wanted to walk up to her and slap the threads out of her hands. Before he could seriously consider the impulse, Daeva entered the room.

She looked tired, exhausted to the bone. That was the first thing Haydn noticed about his fellow God. The dark bags under her eyes seemed to make her whole face sag. It was as if she were carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.