The Throne of Broken Gods (Gods & Monsters, #2)

by Amber V. Nicole

“Dianna.” “Gabby, I love you very, very much, but if you don’t let me go⁠—” “No, listen. You can’t fight her. Not alone. She is too strong. Even Kaden fears her. Unir was the only one that could even wound her, and he’s dead. Do you understand? She is a goddess of war and destruction. One of the first.” “Okay, well, I have to try. I can’t let her get near him. She will kill him.” “I know, but you can’t fight her. Not yet. You have to go to Samkiel. Get to him first, no matter what. Revenge can come later.” “How do you know so much?” “I’ve had help. I met Samkiel’s dad and mom. They’re pretty cool, actually.” “You met Unir?” I gaped at her. She nodded. “I don’t think I am allowed in the Valley of the Kings, but he took me after… He needed my help since I was the only one besides Samkiel that could reach you.”

Ayla. Was that my name, my true name? “Yes, it’s me.”

Paradise, that’s what she was to me and what I’d so desperately miss. I knew that even in death, I’d find no peace in the afterlife, for there was no peace without her. My only regret was not telling her sooner how deeply she’d burrowed into my heart, becoming a piece of my soul.

“You are my whole world.” He looked up at me, and my heart shattered. His once vibrant gray eyes had darkened as his skin paled. “I-I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you. Being with you, I finally felt what I wanted and had searched forever for. You woke me up and gave me reason. You made me feel like I was enough. I never felt like the World Ender with you. I never felt less. You are what I’ve been searching for my entire life. You, Dianna, had my heart long before I ever touched yours.” “Sami.” I couldn’t hold back my tears. My chest heaved, and I tried once more to close his wound. He hissed in pain and grabbed my hand, stopping me. “I wish I had never left when my world fell. Maybe I would have heard you. Maybe it would have been me to find you and Gabby. I would have loved you then, too.”

“The first step in the ritual is blood.” Our blood deal. Blood of my blood. Reggie’s form wavered as if he struggled to hold himself together. “The second step is body.” Sex. I want you. “Last, and most important, is the soul. That is all the Mark of Dhihsin truly is. It is a sealing of a soul split. Your power becomes their power.” “Soul?” “Love is the purest expression of a soul you can share, and the words spoken seal the mark. It is the final step. I thought it would be spoken sooner, but you are both damaged, stubborn creatures.”

“If Roccurem is wrong, and I am truly out of time, if this doesn’t work, I want you to know that I am nothing like your father, Samkiel. I refuse to live without you. There will be no peace in this realm or the next. I will burn this universe down to embers for you. I will leave nothing untouched, taking apart anyone that’s ever hurt you piece by piece. So when you hear the screams from however far away you are from me. When you feel the very stars shake from the rage you aren’t here to pull me back from, when you hear them beg and plead for mercy, I need you to remember that it’s because you and your stupid, annoying persevering ways got to me. I want you to remember that you got under my skin when I hated you. I want you to remember that you made me happy and made me feel when no one else could. I want you to remember that you saved me in every way possible and never once gave up on me. So when the very fabric of the universe burns, I want you to remember that I love you.”

A seal. The Mark of Dhihsin.

“Nismera does not know he still lives. Since the realms are completely open, no one will suspect.” “Good. I want it kept that way.” “The Asclepius will not speak of it.” My head turned toward him, and I knew my eyes were blazing. “If they do, they die too, and I burn this city until it crashes to the ground.”

“We must focus on getting The Hand back and stopping his psychotic family.”

“Nismera is not one to be underestimated or trifled with. She has a legion, and now with Samkiel’s death, they will see her as king of all twelve realms and every world in between,” Roccurem said. “Not for long.”

I carefully slipped onto the bed, curling up next to Samkiel. I rested my hand on his chest, unable to keep myself from checking my finger, our mark nowhere in sight. But the steady beat of his heart matched mine, and that was enough. Samkiel’s body relaxed as if feeling me near comforted him even in sleep. He reached out and pulled me close, tucking me against his body and resting his head on top of mine. I inhaled deeply and fit myself against him, the world fading away as I listened to his heart beat, just as I had so many nights before. Resurrection has a cost. Dread filled my being, and I wondered as sleep claimed me if I had paid with more than just the mark.