FALLOCH

Prologue

"HE HAS HAD a child..." The shape-shifter paused. Clearing his throat before speaking again, he finished, "With a human." Sheina's face still taut, she gestured for him to continue with the wave of her hand. "He has cloaked her to look just as her mother does. She is a tyke now. Still too young to realize what she is."

"Still too young to realize she was ever alive at all." Nothing about her expression or voice gave way to her true feelings. But her eyes couldn't lie. "Well then." She glared at her servant. "You know what I want you to do with the girl. Bring back proof of her death. As for Praulian, he is to be banished from this Quarter the moment he returns."

The servant bowed. "As you wish, my liege."

Once he was gone, I stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Waiting for just the right moment, I caught the knife between my hands. I Saw the knife come at me before it ever left her touch. Sheina arched an eyebrow. "No one has ever dodged my dagger. Who are you, trespasser? Even outsiders know breaching my cities walls is a death sentence, let alone my castle. Mercy will not be found here. Especially not on this day of all days, I've just received terrible news."

"I know." Fiddling with the dagger, I caressed the jagged edges as I spoke. "I'm the one that sent word of your husband's affair." Knowing what she was planning next, I interrupted her, "Don't call the guards. I'm not here to hurt you. The opposite actually."

"Pain is all you've caused thus far. What are you? A finder of truths? An operative for another land? Yes, a more intriguing question has just revealed itself. It's not what you are that I should be concerned with— it's what you want. I will not aid you in anything. You've only called an adulterer out by his actions, and he will be punished justly. The only reward you earn is the breath that still enters your lungs."

"You are mistaken, Sheina." She narrowed her eyes at me for using her first name so casually. I corrected myself, "Your Majesty. It is neither about what I am nor what I want. I can See which has not yet come to pass. Just as I Saw Praulian's betrayal to you, I Saw your successes. I only wish to help you achieve those actions."

"No one can do that." I could tell she didn't trust me. Not yet. "Then tell me, Prophet, what do I get out of this?"

"A friend that offers you an advantage that no one else in this realm can. For I have forever been alone in this world with my power."

"You're claiming that you can see the future? That you have acquired the twelfth element?"

"I am Apollo." Watching her face light up, I took to my knee. Taking her hand in mine before flipping it over, I placed the dagger in her opened palm. "I can stop this pain from ever happening again. I'll keep the humans and their temptations locked away from us forever. I could close the portal linking our world to theirs. Never again to step on our lands..." I shook my head and whispered, "Or our hearts."

Sheina squeezed the handle of her dagger before looking at me with hungry eyes. She was playing the evil queen part of my plan as perfectly as I'd imagined she would. Dance, my little puppet, dance. "Do it." She licked her lips with the thirst for blood. "Once that little shit is dead, I want you to close it. No matter what it takes. If it calls for a sacrifice, have your pick of my people. It is for a greater cause." She grabbed my hand, almost pleadingly. "You have my full permission."

I bowed my head as I hid my smile. "So will it be done." Leaving Sheina to return to my family, I couldn't stop the grin that overtook my face. Scratching the scar on my chest, I let out a heavy breath. The ache could finally stop. I could finally be whole again. In due time, I would have the missing piece to my soul. I just had to wait for her. I had already waited what felt to be an eternity. What was a few more years?