Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

Dyna sprinted up the stairs to the fourth floor. She felt Cassiel’s anger then his shock and panic. It beat against her senses, making her heart race. The moment she heard the High King had come she had the sheer fear he had come to sever their bond. To erase their memories of each other again and take him away. Yoel had welcomed her into the family, but it had all been a ruse to lower her defenses for one thing.

To get her mate alone.

Dyna clutched her heavy gown as she ran to where the bond led her. The guards shouted at her to halt. Dyna threw them back with a green blast of her magic. Zev, Rawn, and Lucenna were right behind her, fighting back the guards, creating an opening. She bolted ahead and ripped open the doors with another explosion. Cassiel stood frozen; his eyes stretched wide as his father reached for him with his glowing hand.

“Stop!” Dyna screamed. She threw her arms protectively around Cassiel at the same time Yoel touched his cheek.

White light flared and stole her vision.

Then she sank.

A deafening roar split her ears. The terrible sound seemed to shake the earth and the Hyalus tree she hid in trembled.

The Shadow had come.

Dyna whimpered and burrowed into the warm body holding her inside the burrow. The tree’s light kept out the dark but not her fear.

“It’s all right,” he said. She looked up into the boy’s silver eyes who was no more than ten. He looked so beautiful in the trees light. He patted her head and his mouth curved with an encouraging smile. “I am here.”

A warmth filled her chest. It banished the cold for a brief moment as she looked at the Seraph. For once, she felt safe. Home.

The boy took his sheathed sword and crawled out of the burrow and marched into the snowstorm. He was a small soldier in the dark. His black hair and wings shimmered with winter’s frost.

Cassiel, he had called himself. Cassiel.

The name echoed through her heart and Dyna’s mind cleared.

This…this was a memory.

She gasped and tried to scream for him to come back. But no words came out. He walked across the white landscape as a black mist appeared from the barren trees. Those molten red eyes burned in the dark, piercing through her heart.

No. No!

The boy drew out his divine sword as he faced the Shadow demon. “I am Cassiel Soaraway and by the power of Elyōn, you will not touch my mate.”

The white flames of his sword blazed and they turned vivid blue. They burned so hot, Dyna felt it against her skin.

Cassiel flew at the demon. His sword slashed through its arm. What should have been smoke solidified beneath the Seraph flame. The Shadow screamed in pained fury. It regarded him now with a new intelligence and bared its fangs.

It whooshed in a gust of black smoke too fast for her eyes to track. It swiped at Cassiel. He dodged the first strike, but the second time those claws came they ripped through his small body and Dyna screamed. He went flying and hit the Hyalus tree with a sickening crack.

He dropped into the snow.

She scrambled out of the burrow to him and rolled him over. His torso was slashed. Hot blood poured out of him, painting the snow red. Dyna wept as she pressed on his wounds. His beautiful wings were splayed at odd angles, feathers scattered around them like black petals.

He coughed up more blood. “Run…”

But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t leave him. As Dyna felt his heartbeat slow, something inside of her cracked. The Shadow’s cold stare brushed her back, and she knew she would die here, too. Cassiel reached up, and he brushed the tears freezing on her cheek. His trembling fingers flickered blue.

“Do you cry for me?” he asked weakly. A hint of a smile tugged at his pale lips.

Don’t go, Dyna’s soul begged. Her child-self hadn’t known who he was to her, only that she was losing him again.

Life faded from Cassiel’s eyes like a star going out. Dyna felt the life leave his body and everything in her grew dark. A whimper shook out of her. Her fingers curled over one of his fallen feathers and it glittered gold faintly before the stars and the moonlight vanished. She looked up at the Shadow demon towering over her in the snowfall.

It had killed her family. It destroyed her innocence. It took half of her soul.

There was no more fear in her.

Power burned through Dyna’s body in a rising wave. Her hands reached for the creature and a scream tore from her throat. Green light burst out of her and hit the demon. It crashed into the snow with a screech.

The magic stole her breath and Dyna swayed, her vision blackening. But it hadn’t been enough. The Shadow rolled back to its feet. She dropped next to Cassiel, tears spilling down her nose. She hadn’t been enough.

Her weak heart quivered with each of the Shadow’s heavy foot falls.

It was coming.

A flash of white slammed onto the demon. Pearlescent wings spread wide as a male Celestial whipped out his sword of fire. “Stay away from my son,” he snarled.

King Yoel…

Like Cassiel, cerulean bled through white flames, turning them blue. He flew with a speed she had never seen. He slashed and cut the Shadow, fighting it back. It roared as it tried to cut Yoel out of the sky. He spoke the language of the Heaven’s, in a rising chant.

The same glowing red line she saw her father create formed in the snow. It grew as Yoel continued fighting the demon, developing into pickets made of black bone ending in sharp spindles. Its presence released something evil in the air.

The Netherworld Gate.

It creaked open and there was only darkness and frightening screams and growls beyond.

“Return to the pit from whence you came!” Yoel thrust out a hand and the demon was thrown backwards through the gate. Its roar cut off as the Gate winked out of existence.

Dyna cried from the relief as her vision dimmed. She was so cold. Her heart beat slowly, as if it didn’t want to beat anymore.

Yoel dropped next to them and his face melted into distress. “Cassiel?” He reached out with shaking hands and pulled him into his arms. “Cassiel?” His blue eyes welled as he brushed his pale face. “Son?”

But there was no waking him.

“He is gone,” she said faintly. Her lashes frosted with her frozen tears. “I will follow him through the Gates.”

Yoel started when he saw her, as if he didn’t know she was there until now. His other hand reached for her face, and she felt a trickle of electricity on her skin. “You…” he said, his eyes widening.

A white light began to glow around Cassiel’s body like starlight from within. Pain crossed Yoel’s features, his mouth tightening closed. He laid his son next to her and covered them with his coat. “Is this your justice?” he shouted at the night sky. “If so, I will lay upon your scales and pay for my sins. Not him.” Standing, Yoel faced away from her. His fists shook at his sides as Cassiel’s body glowed brighter. Dyna brushed his cheek only for her hand to go through his fading form.

The God of Urn was taking him.

Yoel’s voice called out in the language of the Heavens. The words reverberated through her soul and in that moment, she understood each one. “I call upon the Seven and the Seven Gates of old. Take from me my life and return that which was once whole.”

Instead of red, a golden line formed on the ground. It grew into massive luminous gates and they pulsed bright as they opened. Yoel went inside. She didn’t know how long he was gone. Her bleary eyes slowly blinked once, twice, then Cassiel solidified again, inhaling a deep breath. His father reappeared and he gathered the boy in his arms and wings.

But Yoel looked different. The gold of his hair looked dull, the luster gone from his wings, complexion weary and aged.

After wrapping Dyna in his jacket, he tucked her into the burrow. “You must stay here.”

She tried to take Cassiel’s hand but Yoel stood and her fingers only brushed his before falling to the snow. “Will I ever see him again?” she asked, her teeth shattering.

Yoel’s brow furrowed and a sad smile touched his lips. “If the fates are kind, dear one, I hope not.” His gentle hand came over her forehead and warmth seeped into her body. White light filled her vision as his power moved through her mind. Memories of the last hours were washed through and remade with others.

And the doorway to her magic was shut and locked away again.

“Don’t move…” a fading voice whispered in the darkness. “Don’t make a sound. The Shadow is coming…”

The Shadow is coming. It repeated in her mind, spoken through her lips over and over as a howl rang in the distance.

Dyna was yanked out of the memory when Cassiel shoved his father off of him. Yoel stumbled back a step. She slid her arms off her mate, her mind still dazed and slow. The King had been there on the night of the Shadow Winter. He had erased their memories, he made them forget. And Cassiel…

Cassiel stared at him, his eyes wild. “I died.”

“We cannot instantly heal wounds made by demons and magic,” Yoel said softly. “Divine blood would have kept you alive, but with your wings broken, you were mortal in that moment.”

Dyna’s vision blurred as she understood what happened. “You retrieved his soul from the Gates,” she whispered, looking at his aged face. “And the cost…”

“There is a balance to all things.” Yoel looked more tired and pale. His power had drained him further. “One cannot take without giving. Your time was lost when you died. The only way for you to live was to give you the time I had left.”

“Why did you do that?” Cassiel asked, his voice strained. “Why did you give your life to me?”

“So that you could have one.”

Cassiel sank to the sofa and dropped his head in his hands. Dyna sat next to him, resting a palm on his back. The bond trembled with all of the emotions roiling through him. Her guards and friends stood at the doorway, grim looks on their faces.

“Mirah sent me there,” Cassiel mumbled. “Did she know what would happen?”

“Someone sent you to North Star, but it was not her.”

“Gods. How much of my memory did you manipulate?”

Yoel sighed. “As much as I needed to. I do not tell you this to burden you.”

“How is this not a burden?” Cassiel snapped. “To learn that I—”

King Yoel swayed on his legs. Cassiel jumped up to catch him but Lord Jophiel appeared and supported his elder brother against him.

“I think that is enough for today,” Lord Jophiel said. He raised his hand when Cassiel’s eyes widened and he tried to argue. “Yes, I knew the truth. It was difficult to keep this a secret from you, but we did what was necessary.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There is much more I must tell you,” King Yoel said, his voice becoming weaker.

“It can wait one more day. Right now, you need sleep.” Lord Jophiel helped him to the large bed and made him lay down.

“Putting me to bed like a child.”

“I did say using your power so soon after Azure would take a toll on you, Yoel,” he chastised him gently. “You need your rest. We can convene tomorrow.”

There was no more protest as his father’s eyes drifted closed and his breaths immediately evened out with heavy sleep. Lord Jophiel motioned for them to step out with him. Cassiel took her hand and led her back into the hallway, quietly shutting the door.

“Amriel,” his uncle called to the male Celestial with short hair. The Royal Guard silently took his post outside of Yoel’s door, then Lord Jophiel headed for the stairs.

“What did you mean?” Cassiel hissed under his breath. “Why did he use his power in Azure? What is happening?”

“The Azure King was not content to accept your father’s apologies or the affirmation of the Accords,” Lord Jophiel said as they made their way down the second landing. “I think he merely wanted a reason to go to war, even though humans would clearly lose. Regardless, the losses on both sides would be great, and it would expose us further. That is not how your father wished you to start your reign. Therefore, he compelled the entire city of the Port of Azure to forget about what happened.”

Dyna felt Cassiel’s shock clash with her own. That was the power of the High King?

“Your father will discuss it with you later.” His uncle sighed. “But you must sense he does not have long.”

Cassiel’s hands squeezed hers as they stared at Lord Jophiel.

“He may not ask you to give up your journey to Mount Ida, but I will. For the sake of your father and the Realms, you must take the throne.”