Twilight of the Gods ✔️

Chapter 6: Dressed in White to Go to Hell

When the nuns had dumped her body on Myranian soil, Daeva was relieved. The warm air of the tropical climate embraced her skin, a delightful homecoming from her treacherous journey. Best of all, she didn't have to face Ezra.

Or so she thought.

They had dropped her near a carriage bound for Otherworld outside her home where she was reunited with Uriel and Haydn. It seemed that committing mass murder wasn't an adequate excuse to get out of an Elysian party.

Uriel rushed to her side, fury lighting up his gold eyes. He looked at her intensely as if debating whether he should scold her or be grateful that she was safe. He settled for holding her, using his metal arm to bring her closer to him.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice full of anguish. He repeated this a few times, refusing to let her go. Daeva awkwardly patted his back, unsure of how to feel about this gesture. It never occurred to her that if she were to disappear that she would be missed. Then again, she was an immortal God. Death would never touch her.

"She's never going to die," Haydn said. "I don't know why you worry for her so much."

Uriel pulled away, taking a second to glare at Haydn. "There are ways of living that are worse than death."

She could see Haydn's dark eyes slide over to the angel's metal arm. "I'd imagine you would know."

Uriel tensed, his jaw clenching. He seemed to seriously consider murdering Haydn.

"He's apologizing because I summoned him," she said. "And he didn't come." She yanked the arrows out of her leg, plucking them out one by one, sucking her breath in as she did so. She frowned, noting all the bloodstains on her coat. At least her dark ichor blended in with the color of the fleece.

"I couldn't perform my duties because I was restrained." Uriel held up the silver chain around his neck, pointing to an identical one around Haydn. "Ezra's servants made sure we wouldn't try to run like you did. But I suppose it's no excuse. You may punish me however you see fit."

She looked down at her neck. Sure enough, the same silver chain rested on her collarbone. One of the nuns must have placed it on her while she was unconscious.

"You said you would come with me," Haydn said. "You even convinced your stupid angel to join us. Then I hear you go off to blow up a monastery. What's wrong with you?"

Daeva was tired. Her limbs ached and with the chain around her neck, a chill had taken up residence in her bones. But Haydn's words burned her ears.

She got up and quickly struck him, watching the surprise register in his dark eyes as she knocks him down. "Stop acting like going was ever my choice. You're still getting what you want. Can't you be satisfied with that?"

"We're going there in chains," he said, getting up from the ground. A bruise blossomed on his cheek. "Couldn't you have at least pretended to go along with their plans?"

She scoffed. "You're the stupid one if you believed they were going to bring us there with no restraints. We're Gods, Haydn. Who do you think controlled things in Myrania and Ylivia before the Elysians? Who raised the two suns into the skies?"

"I know all this. And I know they know this. But they've been in power long enough to start underestimating us. They think we're weak. We could have taken them by surprise." He said the last part softly as if he were already there, getting his revenge.

The blood from her wounds had slowed to a trickle, dripping onto the grass. Daeva sighed, looking at her limbs helplessly. Who said they weren't weak?

Uriel took her hand, cleaning and wrapping her wounds. "We need to dress up before we go. The Elysians sent us some garments."